Four tiers

Abstract

This paper posits a classification of tertiary education institutions into four tiers: world research universities, selecting universities, recruiting universities, and vocational institutes. The distinguishing characteristic of world research universities is their research strength, the distinguishing characteristic of selecting universities is their strong student demand, the distinguishing characteristic of recruiting universities is their lower student demand, and the distinguishing characteristic of vocational institutes is their predominance of vocational programs. Yet there is one general characteristic that underlies the whole classification: positional value. The classification is put within a theoretical framework which generates tests of the classification proposed in the paper.

Eyes on the enterprise: problematising the concept of a teaching-research nexus in UK higher education

“…Although many university typologies are functional (Moodie 2009 ) and rest on assumptions of cohesion around institutions’ logics (Shields and Watermeyer 2020 ), we see this as over-simplistic, and agree with Trowler and Wareham ( 2007 ) who argue that academics’ practice in teaching and research are undertaken in relation to ideologies, that is, values, ideas, and beliefs that guide their working practices and shape the university as an institution. To discuss the nexus without recognising these shaping forces is to perpetuate the limitations in the field we noted above.…”

“…The Complete University Guide 2018 that uses TEF and REF scores served as an index to classify universities by their orientation: research-strong ( N = 3), teaching-strong ( N = 3), or balanced ( N = 4). We understand that TEF and REF ratings are limited indicators (Forstenzer 2016 ), but following Moodie ( 2009 ), the Guide was considered useful in characterising universities in ways that extended dominant university typologies. Universities’ participation was further dependent on our ability to secure appropriate senior management participants within the project time frame.…”

“…In the UK, the Robbins Report ( 1963 ), for instance, categorised the ‘ancient’ universities separately from London, with its federation of colleges, the older civic universities separated again from teaching colleges and so forth. Differences in ‘types’ of higher education have also been categorised in accordance with their function (Moodie 2009 ; Tight 1996 ); and, under a ‘binary’ system of higher education (Scott 2014 ), teaching, rather than research, has been viewed as central to the post-1992 universities (MacFarlane and Hughes 2009 ). Where the institutional primary task is understood to be one or the other, the conditions for bringing both together will be more challenging than in institutions which value both equally and may jeopardise the existence of a nexus.…”

Colleges and the Governance of Higher Education

“…The problem is highlighted when a specific measure of volume is employed to identify vocational establishments. In the four‐fold classification of tertiary education institutions posited by Moodie (), ‘vocational institutes’ are identified as the fourth tier, beneath a first tier of world research universities, a second tier of selecting universities and a third tier of recruiting universities. Vocational institutes are those enrolling 75 per cent or more of their ‘load’ in vocational education programmes and, with this threshold, they are held to include the community colleges of the US and Canada as well as the further education colleges of the UK and Australia.…”

Differentiation in higher education and its consequences for social inequality: introduction to a special issue

“…In many countries higher education institutions also vary in reputation and prestige (e.g. Teichler 2008, Moodie 2009) and in some countries these differences have even been reinforced by educational policy during the last decades. Besides this vertical differentiation of institutions, horizontal differentiation within institutions of higher education can be observed also, i.e.…”