Education in times of fiscal constraints and globalization

Abstract

Purpose -The global age is characterized by demographic changes that challenge the feasibility of democratic states' redistribution mechanisms. This paper aims to rethink the strategies commonly used by states (via their resource allocation to education) to promote social cohesiveness and competitiveness, and to suggest an alternative strategy. The purpose of this paper is to provide useful insights into the relationships between education, social cohesiveness, and competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach -The common strategies utilized to promote social cohesiveness and competitiveness via alternative allocation methods are analyzed and the theories of political philosophies underlying these strategies are discussed. Additionally, an empirical analysis carried out using OLS regressions in order to explore the relationships among a state's future cohesiveness and competitiveness, its SES, and the global demographic changes. Findings -Results reveal that a state's future cohesiveness may be predicted by the demographic diversity of its student population and its interaction with SES. Furthermore, a state's future competitiveness may be predicted by its SES. Originality/value -The paper develops and suggests an alternative allocation mechanism, based on a comparative perspective of justice, as an innovative strategy to achieving both state cohesiveness and competitiveness. This strategy can be used by democratic states aimed at improving future competitiveness and, at the same time, to maintain their social cohesiveness.

Equity in education: the Israeli case

“…The findings of our research also contribute to enhancing existing knowledge on the issue of inequity in academic achievement (Browning and Johnson, 1984;Rawls, 2001;Yilmazer, 2008;BenDavid-Hadar and Ziderman, 2011;BenDavid-Hadar, 2013a, b, c, 2014a. This issue has been the focus of research literature, as well as the center of public debate.…”

(A)moral Agents in Organisations? The Significance of Ethical Organisation Culture for Middle Managers’ Exercise of Moral Agency in Ethical Problems

“…This empirical study has been conducted in the field of higher education, which in recent years has been under increasing pressure, for example in terms of finance and more intense competition (Middlehurst, 2010;Hotho, 2013). According to some research (Folch and Ion, 2009;Preston and Price, 2012;Ben-David-Hadar, 2013), these recent economic, demographic and managerial changes have affected the organisational cultures of educational institutions, resulting in new organisational practices, corporate values and norms as well as changed identities for people working in the sector, all of which might also have given rise to ethical problems.…”

School discipline, investment, competitiveness and mediating educational performance

“…Surprising only a few studies attempted to include a larger number of the countries that participate in the OECD PISA. For example, BenDavid-Hadar (2013) used 34 countries participating in the 2009 PISA assessment in her study into social cohesiveness and competitiveness, Chiu and Chow (2011) investigated 41 countries for impact of school, economic and cultural differences on classroom discipline, and Baumann and Winzar (2016) included a majority of the PISA countries in a study about how a country’s competitiveness could be predicted by a change in educational achievement. This study picks up on such work, and on a recommendation by Cohen et al (2009) that more of the PISA participating countries should be examined and, in particular, the authors’ suggestion to look at countries with high scores such as Korea and Japan.…”