This Is Why They Leave You: Workplace Bullying and Insight to Junior Faculty Departure (Published)
Workplace bullying may be an understudied area in higher education, yet the most vulnerable population, junior faculty members, receive even less attention. Based on a data collection in late 2016/early 2017, this data analysis of 257 graduate students and junior faculty from nine countries considered the question, what is the frequency of workplace bullying for junior faculty and graduate students? A second research question was, does workplace bullying influence career decisions for junior faculty and graduate students. Findings showed that close to 63% of respondents faced workplace bullying. Many of their comments revealed shock and dismay that administration turned a blind eye to bullying behaviors. Further, close to 80% of the respondents stated that the organization did not take action when learning about bullying, and 32% considered leaving the higher education sector. For further consideration, this study included the open-ended comments of junior faculty as they reflected on workplace bullying and how it had an impact on their career trajectory.
Keywords: Higher Education, Workplace bullying, junior faculty
Down the Road to “Bahrain 2030”Internship Programs and Graduates’ Employability (Published)
This paper aims at identifying how the higher education internship programs affect meeting the demands of labor market in Bahrain and contribute to the employability of graduates. A designed survey was developed and distributed among a sample of the Bahraini higher education graduates, the analysis of which showed that the Internship Programs adopted by the different Bahraini higher education institutes contribute to meeting the demands of the labor market in Bahrain. Quantitative data was supported by qualitative information gathered through structured interviews with officials in charge of the internship programs in some of the higher education institutes to help explain the quantitative results. The study recommended the sustainment of the coordination and integration between the higher education from one side and the labor market from the other, to develop academic and internship programs that are compatible with the skills required by the labor market. Moreover, the study recommended a periodical evaluation for the higher education institutes to assure the provided internship programs are aligned with the labor market’s objectives and strategies, in addition to the contribution such programs have to the Kingdom’s development aimed by its 2030 vision.
Keywords: Bahrain 2030 Vision., Graduate Attributes, Higher Education, Internship Programs, Labor market
The Practical and Theoretical Underpinning of Inclusion for College Students amidst Diverse Intersectionality (Published)
American higher education is facing another major transition with escalating costs, an influx of diverse students, and an over all question about the return on investment for higher education. Within these complexities, this essay will consider the practical history and theoretical underpinning which inform the experience for students with complex intersectionality. After reflecting on the higher education legal issues and Duboisian theory, the essay will provide recommendations for students and higher education personnel
Keywords: Higher Education, intersectionality, race
The Degree of Commitment of the Higher Education Institutions in Jordan to the Strategic Planning Standards (Published)
The main purpose of the present study is to identify the importance of strategic planning, the strategic planning standards and the obstacles against the commitment to strategic planning in the higher education institutions. Thereafter, to shed light on the degree of commitment of the higher education institutions in Jordan to the strategic planning standards. The study has produced a cluster of results and recommendations, the most significant of which is that the higher education institutions in Jordan are highly committed to the strategic planning standards. The researcher also recommends conducting more spaced out studies on all the educational institutions in Jordan to specify the best strategies used in those institutions to be generalized on the rest of the educational institutions.
Keywords: Degree of Commitment, Higher Education, Institution, Jordan, Strategic Planning
The Evil that Men Do in Academics: Understanding Plagiarism and Its Extenuating Circumstances (Published)
This study was premised to explore the causes of plagiarism and its extenuating circumstances in Higher Educational Institutions in Ghana. The study focused on Tertiary Students in the Kumasi and Sunyani Metropolis and Municipality respectively, 200 students were selected deploying a cluster sampling technique. The underpinning research paradigm was a cross sectional descriptive survey. Questionnaires were the main instrument used in eliciting primary data for the study. Secondary data were obtained from academic journals databases including EBSCO, and Google Scholar. The analyses were presented using Means, Standard Deviations, Unweighted Means, Relative Important Index (RII), Frequencies and Percentages. The study discovered the causes of student’s plagiarism as follows; poor writing skills, to obtain better marks, poor understanding of plagiarism, cost of quality education materials, Pressure from family and friends to offer help. The plagiarism extenuating factors were also discovered as follows; educate students on writing methods, assign different questions to different individuals, give tests quizzes or assignments more, assigning more in-class activities, not allowing students make up tests, rotate curriculum and trust building. It is recommended that deploying plagiarism detective software under covert study will help understand the causal factors better in order to inoculate student’s plagiarism effectively.
Keywords: Causes, Extenuating Circumstance, Ghana, Higher Education, Plagiarism
Instructional Leadership In Higher Education: How Does It Work? (Published)
Instructional leadership is in a separate place from the other forms as it has a key role in the effective teaching and learning processes together with the changing social structure and idea. The roles of the faculty members in the higher education institutions are one of the important factors for the success within the institution. In this study it is aimed to determine the opinions related to the instructional leadership of the faculty members working in higher education institutions. Within the scope of the study, thirteen faculty members were interviewed. The data of the study was obtained through qualitative research method. In addition, the study was carried out with phenomenological method which is one of the qualitative research methods and in the study semi-structured interview technique was utilized. As a result of the study, it was understood that the faculty members’ opinions about the instructional leadership are based more generally on some ideas such as attributing importance on using visual materials and method variety in their courses, trying to participate in the national and international activities in order to obtain a professional development, keeping in touch with their colleagues for raising the students’ success level and being a role model for students through their behavior and attitudes.
Keywords: Faculty members, Higher Education, Instructional Leadership
The Perceptions of Distance Education Personnel of the Relationship between Work Conditions and Their Job Satisfaction in Kenya’s Christian Higher Education (Published)
The study originally based on a doctoral exploration, sought to establish the relationships among spirituality, working conditions and job satisfaction of extension studies personnel in Kenya’s Christian higher education. The study employed a mixed method approach to answer the questions raised by the researcher. This paper thus reports the findings on one of the research questions: What are the perceptions of administrators and faculty of extension studies of the impact of work conditions on their job satisfaction? Data was collected using a survey instrument comprised of the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) and the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), from 146 administrators and faculty of extension studies from 6 selected Christian universities in Kenya. Statistical tests were carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), including ANOVA/Kruskall Wallis, and Tukey HSD/Mann-Whiteny U applying a Benferroni adjustment to the p value. In regard to demographic profiles, work conditions, and job satisfaction, the findings of this study indicated significant differences between faculty personnel and administrators’ perceptions of their global job satisfaction, and work itself. Work evaluation mean scores were based on level of education, job rank, level of work involvement, and monthly salary. Moreover, there were significant difference between faculty and administrative responsibilities in regard to satisfaction through work itself and satisfaction through promotion opportunities. Faculty without administrative responsibilities reported higher scores of satisfaction in the two scales.
Keywords: Christian Universities, Distance Education Personnel, Higher Education, Job Satisfaction, Work Conditions
Expanding Private Higher Educational Institutions in Africa: Implications for Good Governance (Published)
The conventional wisdom is that the proliferation of and concomitant increase in access to, tertiary education is central to bridging poverty gap in developing country and fast-tracking development. Scholars have also proposed the existence of a nexus between such educational advancements and good governance, especially in terms of the multiplier effect on political education, public participation and public accountability. The proposed paper assessed the conventional wisdom on the nexus between education, development and democracy in Africa drawing key insights from cross-sectional data obtained from national universities in the sub-region. The paper challenged the orthodoxy dominant within the international development community that increase in tertiary education is directly related to improved development and good governance. Although the number of universities have grown over the decade, the paper is keen to show that aside from increasing enrollment and improving access (to the neglect of quality) the preponderance of privately-owned universities, many of them with constricted visions on the open knowledge production and ideals that universities are supposed to represent and pursue, is problematic; indeed, as the paper argues, the political economy that drive their establishment and proliferation does not automatically translate into improved access due to skyrocketing school fees and sundry charges in a continent with a record of about 70% poverty ratio. Furthermore, the peculiar teaching curriculum and authoritarian management styles of the growing number of private universities have the potential to blunt the political and civic consciousness of their students and, in the final analysis, deepen the festering governance crisis in the country.
Keywords: Africa, Education Funding, Governance Crisis, Higher Education, Nigeria, Public Financial Management
THE EFFECT OF DIARY WRITING ON EFL STUDENTS’ WRITING AND LANGUAGE ABILITIES (Published)
In the field of teaching EFL students the process of writing an essay, this study was conducted to investigate the influence of diary writing on the students’ writing and language abilities. 52 student participants enrolled in two Advanced Writing classes wrote a daily diary for 14 weeks. During this period, they were given essay writing lessons, and were asked to write four essays throughout the semester. At the end of the semester, the students were given an open-ended questionnaire requesting information about the students’ method of diary writing and its benefits. The analysis of the data obtained showed that the students’ language abilities significantly improved especially the grammar and vocabulary. The students also reported their satisfaction in the free-writing method which allowed them to learn more on self-expression and organization of ideas. The researchers believe that a skilful writing teacher would be able to provide maximum benefit from this experience. This study is believed to be extremely beneficial to language teachers, and more specifically, EFL writing teachers.
Keywords: EFL, Higher Education, diary writing, journaling, writing
EVALUATING THE STUDENTS’ LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, COLLEGE OF BASIC EDUCATION IN KUWAIT (Published)
In the context of English language programs and the evaluation of such programs, this study analyzes the usefulness of the program taught to English-teachers-to-be students in the English Department, College of Basic Education in Kuwait. Based on the calculation of grades obtained in the initial placement test and a replica test conducted four years later, the change in the students’ language proficiency was measured. The paper reviews the results of the 50 participant students in both tests in five main testing categories based on the four language skills. The findings reveal very little improvement in language proficiency, which also seems to be very weak initially for an English teacher. This finding implies a major problem with the current program. Finally, a number of recommendations for program and student improvement for the College of Basic Education, and English programs in other colleges and universities, are considered.
Keywords: Curriculum Design, English Language, Evaluating Language Skills, Evaluation of Program, Higher Education, Testing Language Programs