Author: rachelbrooks

New article: Asserting the Nation

We are pleased that the latest article from the project has just been published in Sociological Research Online. In it, we draw on the 26 interviews we conducted with higher education ‘policy influencers’ across Europe and explore the ways in which students were understood by this particular group of social actors. We argue that, although many of the characteristics of students identified by our interviewees are evident across various nation-states, they were frequently discussed and explained in terms of very distinct ‘national narratives’.

The article is called ‘Asserting the Nation: the dominance of national narratives in policy influencers’ constructions of higher education students’ and you can read the full version here.

ESA conference

We are looking forward to giving two papers at the European Sociological Association conference at the University of Manchester in August. The first paper is about the extent to which students see themselves, and are seen by others, as political actors. In it, we identify some commonalities across our six countries, but also some interesting differences by nation-state, higher education institution and subject of study. The paper is entitled ‘Constructing Youth As Political Actors: A Comparative Study Across Higher Educational Institutions In Europe’ and we’ll be presenting it in the Youth and Generation stream.

The second paper is called ‘Constructing The Spanish Higher Education Student: Evidence From A Six-Nation Comparative Study’ and we’ll be giving this in the Regional Network on Southern European Societies. In the paper, we tease out some of the ways in which students were conceptualised in Spain noting, amongst other things, a marked resistance to viewing students as consumers and some disagreement between policymakers, on the one hand, and students and staff, on the other, about the extent to which consumerist practices are evident in the Spanish higher education system.

Students in Changing HE Landscapes conference

We would like to thank all those who came along to our ‘Students in Changing Higher Education Landscapes’ conference at the University of Surrey on 14th June. It was a thoroughly stimulating day, with a great keynote by Rille Raaper on ‘Troubling the notion of student as consumer: Fabrications, contradictions and political engagement’, and then 23 fascinating parallel papers. You can access the full programme here.

Conference registration now open

‘Students in Changing Higher Education Landscapes’

Friday, 14th June, University of Surrey

Across many countries of the world, higher education landscapes have changed significantly over recent years. Market mechanisms have become more prominent, and politicians have become increasingly concerned about graduates’ transitions into the labour market. In some nations, although not all, students are now expected to make a substantial contribution to the cost of their higher education and, across mainland Europe, the Bologna Process has reshaped the nature of students’ experiences considerably. This one-day conference seeks to explore understandings of students in this shifting context.

We have an exciting programme of talks from scholars across the UK and beyond, as well as a keynote from Rille Raaper (Durham University). You can view the full programme here and can register for a place (£50 fee) here.

New article in ‘Compare’

We’re pleased to announce that a new article from the project has just been published in the journal Compare. In it, we explore some of the dominant constructions of students that emerged from our analysis of higher education policy documents in the six European countries. We consider students as, variously, ‘objects of criticism’, investors or investments, and bearers of rights or duties. We also assess how students are positioned spatially and, in particular, the extent to which they are seen as Europeans. You can read the full article here.

Call for papers

Students in changing higher education landscapes

One-day conference, University of Surrey, 14th June 2019

Keynote by Rille Raaper, Durham University: Troubling the notion of student as consumer: Fabrications, contradictions and political engagement

Across many countries of the world, higher education landscapes have changed significantly over recent years. Market mechanisms have become more prominent, and politicians have become increasingly concerned about graduates’ transitions into the labour market. In some nations, although not all, students are now expected to make a substantial contribution to the cost of their higher education and, across mainland Europe, the Bologna Process has reshaped the nature of students’ experiences considerably. This one-day conference seeks to explore understandings of students in this shifting context.

We welcome papers – focussing on the UK, mainland Europe or further afield – that cover any aspect of the topic, including (but not restricted to) the following: representations of students in policy or media; the nature of students’ lives; staff understandings of students; staff-student relationships; students as consumers; students as political actors; student mobilities; comparative studies of students; and the impact on students’ experiences of their social characteristics, discipline of study and/or institution.

We hope to include papers from all career stages and a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. It is intended that the papers will provide the basis for a proposal for a journal special issue.

Abstract Submission: Please send abstracts of up to 250 words by 15th April 2019 to Rachel Brooks at the University of Surrey: r.brooks@surrey.ac.uk There will be a £50 registration fee for attending the conference (to include lunch).

Reimagining the higher education student – call for chapter-abstracts

Higher education is of considerable importance to policymakers across the world, frequently viewed as a key mechanism for achieving a range of economic, social and political goals. Nevertheless, despite the importance attributed to higher education within policy, we have no clear understanding of the extent to which conceptualisations of ‘the student’ are shared across and within nation-states.

A central aim of the proposed edited collection is thus to bring together a range of scholars from different parts of the world and various disciplinary backgrounds (e.g. education, sociology, geography, media, political science, social policy) to investigate the ways in which contemporary higher education students are understood. The chapters will bring empirical evidence to bear on a range of dominant constructions of the student – for example, as consumers, significant political actors, future workers, dependent adults-in-the-making, as well as learners – and explore the extent to which these are patterned by nation-state, higher education institution, and the social characteristics of students themselves. Of particular interest is the ways in which these conceptualisations sometimes ‘jostle uncomfortably’ in relation to each other, with different stakeholders portraying students in somewhat contradictory or divergent terms

A proposal will be submitted to the Routledge/SRHE Research into Higher Education Series (see http://www.routledge.com/books/series/SRHE/) in spring 2019.

If you would like to have your work considered for inclusion in this edited collection, please send an abstract (of approximately 500 words) and a brief biographical statement to Rachel Brooks at the University of Surrey, UK (r.brooks@surrey.ac.uk) and Sarah O’Shea at the University of Wollongong, Australia (saraho@uow.edu.au) by 28 February 2019. Chapters could focus on one or more of the following areas:

  • Dominant understandings of higher education students within policy (either national or international policy) and the ways in which this reflects (or not) the relevant context
  • Perceptions of ‘being a university student’ as articulated by one or more of the following groups: students, higher education staff, policymakers
  • Media and /or marketing representations of students
  • Differences in understandings of students by particular social characteristics e.g. social class, ethnicity, gender, nationality
  • How understandings of students differ across national contexts and/or within particular national contexts
  • Ways in which academic scholarship has theorised students and the critical implications of this within the sector
  • Differences by academic discipline in the conceptualisation of students

New article: policy influencers’ narratives of difference

A new article from the project has just been published in Studies in Higher Education. In it, we explore how key policy actors conceptualise diversity with respect to the student population, and the extent to which such understandings are shared across national borders. Drawing on in-depth interviews with a range of ‘policy influencers’ in six European countries and an analysis of relevant policy documents, we suggest that dimensions of difference are not always valued equally – with those relating to ‘age’, for example, foregrounded in ways that differences by social class are not. We explore the reasons for this variation and consider the extent to which diversity narratives are underpinned by a social justice agenda. You can read the full article here.

SRHE annual conference 2018

We are looking forward to giving three papers from our project at the 2018 annual conference of the Society for Research into Higher Education, to be held in Newport, Wales, from 4-7 December. Anu and Jessie will be giving a paper on ‘Students: Being and Becoming Students of Higher Education’ (9am session on 7 December), while Rachel will be talking about ‘The Construction of Higher Education Students within National Policy’ (on 6 December at 11.30am). In addition, Rachel will be giving the keynote address at the Newer Researchers’ Conference on 4 December, entitled ‘Higher Education Mobilities: a cross-national European comparison’. Do come along and join us for one or more of our sessions!