What do positioning paths of universities tell about the diversity of higher education systems? An exploratory study

Abstract

What do positioning paths of universities tell about the diversity of higher education systems? An exploratory study Abstract Diversity in Higher Education system has been a central topic for both scholars and policy-makers for decades. Several studies have investigated how to measure diversity and the nature of its determinants so far; however, contradictory empirical evidence has emerged. This paper contributes to this literature by adopting a methodological approach that starts from the analysis of positioning paths of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in order to explore the diversity of HE systems. A comprehensive quantitative analysis performed across two HE systems over time shows how detecting the positioning of HEIs can provide information that an analysis of diversity at the level of the entire system might hide, in particular (I) if and how compliant and distinctiveness are concurrently displayed (II) in which dimensions positioning shifts are more likely to occur and (III) which groups of HEIs influence more the level of diversity in a HE system.

Higher education in the resource-type regions: Between the aims of departmental and regional development

“…Данное направление в настоящее время привлекает все большее число исследователей. Предпринимаются попытки измерить разнообразие и характер детерминант системы высшего образования (Barbato, Turri, 2019), типологии институционального разнообразия в системе (Harris, 2020). Ряд авторов выделяют конкуренцию за престижные и государственные и частные субсидии, исследуя последствия этих процессов в США, ЕС и Канаде.…”

Evolución e incidencia, en WOS, de la diversidad en el ámbito educativo

“…Esto se debe al carácter intrínseco y extrínseco del concepto, el cual abarca aspectos propios del ser humano, asociado a los aspectos que su propio entorno. En el ámbito educativo, mediante la aplicación de diversas normativa, trata de adecuar y dar respuestas a estas necesidades, mediante la aplicación de diversos programas de intervención, los cuales se centran en cambios a nivel metodológico, para poder desarrollar una educación inclusiva, o en medidas sociales que permitan atender las necesidades existentes en el estudiante (Airton y Koecher, 2019;Barbato y Turri, 2019;De Araujo et al, 2019;Jurado et al, 2020;Leseth y Engelsrud, 2019;Preece, 2019;Riediger et al, 2019;Zhuwao et al, 2019).…”

“…La diversidad en el ámbito educativo ofrece un campo muy amplio. Esta alberga diversas temáticas de estudios, ya sea diversidad cultural, discriminación o racismo (Leseth y Engelsrud, 2019), diversidad lingüística (Preece, 2019), por cuestiones de capacidad educativa (Azorín, 2017) e incluso diversidad sexual y de género (Airton y Koecher, 2019) en cualquier etapa educativa (Barbato y Turri, 2019). El término de diversidad suele ir asociado al de equidad (Byrd, 2019).…”

Studying the heterogeneity of European higher education institutions

“…The comparability of the units of analysis is a necessary condition for any meaningful relative assessment or quantitative evaluation. Attention to the topic has been dedicated for long from both scholars and policy-makers; nevertheless, the diversity in higher education systems results to be difficult to tackle, a general conceptualization is still lacking (Huisman et al 2015) and the empirical analysis of the related literature seems to lead to contradictory outcomes (Barbato and Turri 2019).…”

“…Finally, Barbato and Turri (2019) compare two European countries, namely England and Italy, by considering different dimensions (core functions, subject mix, market size, structural information). Institutional positioning has been defined by Fumasoli and Huisman (2013) as the process through which HEIs locate themselves in specific niches within the HE system, reflecting the activities, resources (e.g.…”