We will be helping to launch the Forum for International Education and Pedagogical Issues in the School of Education at the University of Birmingham on 8 November. Rachel will be giving a talk entitled ‘Students as “objects of criticism”? Variations in the construction of higher education students across six European countries’, drawing on our analysis of policy documents across Europe. You can find out more about the event here.
Author: rachelbrooks
New article: Students and university websites
A new article from the project has just been published in Higher Education. It is by Predrag Lažetić, and is called ‘Students and university websites—consumers of corporate brands or novices in the academic community?’. It compares the positioning of students and corporate branding features on higher education institution websites within the higher education systems of Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Spain and Poland, and argues that there is considerable diversity in the portrayal of student applicants, rather than a common construction as only consumers. You can read the full article here.
New article: constructions of students in English policy documents
An article from the project, entitled ‘The construction of higher education students in English policy documents’ has been published (open access) in the latest issue of the British Journal of Sociology of Education. The article argues that, contrary to assumptions made in much of the academic literature, students are not conceptualised as ‘empowered consumers’; instead their vulnerability is emphasised in documents by both government and unions. It also identifies other dominant discourses, such as students as ‘future workers’ and ‘hard-workers’, 
which articulate with extant debates about both the repositioning of higher education as an economic good and the use of the ‘hard-working’ trope across other areas of social policy. You can read the full article here.
Two research fellow posts available
We are currently looking for two new research fellows to join the project, to start as soon as possible (details below). Please do contact Rachel (r.brooks@surrey.ac.uk) if you have any informal queries about the roles.
Salary: £32,236 to £36,261
The Department of Sociology at the University of Surrey invites applications for two post-doctoral research fellows to join the ‘Eurostudents’ project, funded by the European Research Council. The project began in August 2016, and explores the different ways in which higher education students are constructed across and within six European nations.
The first research fellow post will initially be responsible for the strand of work that focuses on institutional perspectives, i.e. the ways in which the higher education student is constructed through official university texts and staff understandings. S/he will be required to: conduct a small number of remaining interviews with members of university staff; analyse all the staff interviews; and then contribute to the analysis of data and dissemination of findings from the project as a whole.
The second post will initially be responsible for the strand of work that focuses on student perspectives. S/he will be required to: analyse transcripts of focus groups with undergraduate students (in the six European countries); and then contribute to the analysis of data and dissemination of findings from the project as a whole.
The successful candidates will have a doctorate in a relevant topic area, and experience of analysing qualitative data and writing for publication. They will also have the ability to work well independently and as part of a team and, ideally, knowledge of one or more higher education systems in the countries covered by the project (Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Spain).
Closing date: 14th October 2018
Interviews: 6th and 7th November 2018
Further details and the online application form for the first post can be found here and for the second post here. Please do apply for both, if you are interested in both.
Creative and visual methods in comparative research
In June, we ran a successful seminar at the University of Surrey exploring the ways in which creative and visual methods can be used to research across difference. We are pleased to announce that various materials from the seminar (including films, audio recordings and slides) are now available here for all to watch and/or listen.
The mobility of students across Europe – evidence of policy convergence?
UK higher education students feel less empowered than their Irish counterparts
Presentation at World Congress of Sociology
We are looking forward to talking about our research this week at the International Sociological Association’s World Congress of Sociology in Toronto. Our paper will outline some of the key themes from our analysis of policy documents, including the extent to which students are ‘objects of criticism’ in the six countries in our sample. Do join us on Thursday at 08.30am if you are interested!
New article: students as political actors
This week, our paper about students as political actors has been published in the Journal of Youth Studies. This draws on the focus groups we conducted with undergraduate students in three Irish higher education institutions and three English HEIs. In the article, we draw out some similarities between the students in both countries, but also point to significant variation – particularly in the extent to which they believed they could make a difference, politically. We suggest that this is related to the structure of the higher education system in the two countries and, specifically, the degree of marketisation. You can read the full article (which is open access) here.
REGISTRATION OPEN: Using creative and visual methods in comparative research. 15.6.18
Increasing use is made of both creative and visual methods in social research. Nevertheless, to date there has been very little discussion of the extent to which such methods can be used in comparative research. This seminar will explore some of the challenges of using these methods cross-nationally, examining the different cultural associations that may be brought to bear in different national contexts, and how these are accounted for in research design, data collection and analysis. It will also draw on the experiences of researchers working in this area, to explore how such challenges can most effectively be addressed.
The seminar features two parallel streams of exciting papers speaking to these themes alongside keynote papers from:
Agata Lisiak (Bard College, Berlin) and Rita Chawla-Duggan (University of Bath)
Full programme can be accessed here
The seminar is taking place at the University of Surrey on Friday 15th June 2018 from 9:30am – 5pm followed by a wine reception.
The event is free and lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Limited places are available so do register early.