International Journal of Higher Education Management

Purpose This paper illustrates the usefulness of an appreciative inquiry (AI) approach and design in bringing about change. It reports on a case study of a review of a school within a higher education context using AI to engage staff, assess the need for change and make recommendations on this basis. AI is a qualitative approach focusing on potential strengths, and is an important approach in the current economic climate of austerity. Design The paper is organized as a case study. It provides contextual background, argues for and outlines an AI approach, and reviews the literature which makes a strong case for AI in engaging staff with change, and promoting positive aspects like reflective team working. The actual review process is then described and how the AIapproach was applied. What follows is a discussion of issues which arose in applying the approach. It concludes that there are clearly very positive benefits to using AI. There may also be a need to modify how it is applied in order to maximize staff potential for trusting the process, and to enable the airing of alternative, more complex views, whilst still maintaining a positive focus. Practical/social implications and originality/value The paper illustrates how an AI approach can be used in effective change management in the current climate of austerity and change in the public sector in the UK. AI can offer a way of restoring staff participation in change, and a way of enhancing communication and trust. The material in this paper is original and has not been published elsewhere.

Today’s world requires a professional working life in which there are individuals equipped with different skills, and using composition of those skills. Thus, person-job fit, difficulties individual faces in the job and the overall process during their career paths have become important phenomena. In this process, some of the factors make positive contributions to people’ both personal and professional life. In this study, among those factors, Emotional Intelligence, Creativity from both potential and practice perspective and Emotional Self Efficacy have been investigated. The main objective of this study is to unravel the stated untapped pathway between Emotional Intelligence and Creativity in educational context-in University subject domain. In this respect, the mediating role of Emotional Self Efficacy in explaining Potential and Practiced Creativity has been mentioned. Data for this study was collected from a sample of 265 students receiving education both from state and private universities located in Istanbul, Turkey. Snowball sampling was applied in order to reach as much students as possible. The data were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 22.0 software. Firstly, Factor and Reliability Analyses of all measurement instruments were conducted and their factor structure was revised based on the results. Then hierarchical regression analysis was done in order to test the mediating effects. The results show that; Emotional Self Efficacy mediates the effects of Adaptability on only Creative Potential for students. In other words, individuals who; have problem solving ability, are flexible and realistic can have a potential for being creative. When they have a belief in their capability of perceiving emotions in self and the others, using emotions to facilitate thought, understanding emotions and emotional knowledge in the self and the others and regulating emotions in the self and the others (Mayer, Salovey and Caruso, 2004 cf. Kirk, Schutte and Hine, 2008) effect of adaptable abilities lost its effect in explaining their creative potential.

Through the educational teaching practices of two educators (the authors), this paper illustrates how their professional practice of university teaching of accounting has been informed by reference to education theory and associated research literature. It does so in the context of the use of educational technology, set against a backdrop of a turbulent environment in the UK. That environment has seen higher fees for students, a degree of marketization of education, and demand for perceived value for money by students. There have been consequences for perceptions of professional practice. Those implications have resulted in institutional policy initiatives, with consequences for the delivery of the education curriculum. This paper sets out reflections by the authors on the influences on and consequences for their professional practice, drawing conclusions which set out future steps on their way forward in an increasingly challenging world.

The Harvard website (http://www.hbs.edu/teaching/inside-hbs/) has the following to say on the Case Method: “To create leaders, Harvard Business School creates the context in which leaders are formed: real-life challenges, wrapped in complicated and sometimes insufficient information. Each challenge confronts our students with a rich web of consequences-and a demand for a prompt, responsible plan of action. These challenges are our cases. Through the case method, every Harvard Business School classroom becomes a crucible for participant-centred learning. A crucible in which students not only assume responsibility for their education, but exercise the fundamentals of leadership that they will practice the rest of their lives. The case method is rooted in Harvard Business School's original vision. Edwin Gay, first Dean of HBS, called it the "problem method" and foresaw its value in creating leaders able to adjust as necessary to ever-changing business climates. From its inception a century ago, the School established two important pedagogical principles. First, it would use cases as teaching vehicles and not rely on lectures and readings. Second, it would engage the students in the learning process by getting them to teach themselves and each other. Today, although we also make use of lectures, simulations, fieldwork, and other forms of teaching as appropriate, more than 80 percent of HBS classes are built on the case method.

Unemployment and under-employment played a pivotal role in the dissatisfaction that resulted in the countries directly affected by the so-called Arab Spring. Promoting entrepreneurship can help these countries in moving towards the “entrepreneurial society”; a significant factor in economic growth. This study examines what drives entrepreneurial skills and encourages entrepreneurial intentions among students in Tunisia; the first Arab spring country. The objective is to understand the impact of individual traits of the Tunisian student on his entrepreneurial intentions. The conceptual model postulates an effect of personality traits (according to the Big-Five theory) and risk tolerance on entrepreneurial intentions. Data were collected through a survey of 300 students. The results indicate that the personality traits of openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and risk tolerance encourage entrepreneurial intentions. However, introversion and agreeableness reduce these intentions. The implications of these results, limitations, and future avenues of research are presented in the conclusion.

Social media tools have become universal because the majority of population worldwide tend to use diverse social media applications. The advancement of technology has provided a chance to accommodate the needs of individuals to stay connected with each other. This paper explores the importance of social media tools perceived as essential learning resources in the contemporary educational field (Alwi, Mahir, & Ismail, 2014). It has been argued that technology has advanced the static information and provided viable opportunities for individuals to increase their learning skills and enrich their learning horizons. Technology is not only one-time investment, but is progressively advancing day by day by introducing different types of infrastructure expansion and growth in social media applications.

Through a document analysis, this paper describes the problematic of faculty diversity at Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, McGill, UBC, and the University of Toronto. Existing studies suggest that these institutions have not succeeded to proportionately increase the representation of VMA. The ratio between VMA and racialized student population is still low. Whereas white academics continue to be over-represented in tenure positions. Ipso facto, the present paper suggests that these universities need to identify and address structural barriers against faculty diversity.