Cultural Perspectives on Higher Education

This book analyses higher education from cultural perspectives and also to reflect on the uses of intellectual devices developed in the cultural studies of higher education over the last decades.

The first part of the book presents fresh perspectives to integrate cultural studies in higher education with wider societal processes. Professor William G. Tierney speaks about trust and culture in higher education, whereas Professor Imanol Ordorika opens a political perspective to higher education institutions.

The second part of the book studies the internal life of higher education. Relying on a variety of cultural perspectives, the chapters explore the actual day-to-day practices taking place in higher education, ranging from student socialisation, student consumerism, tensions in combining academic and market-oriented targets in knowledge production to the formation of academic identities in different disciplinary and organisational cultures.

The focus in the third part of the book is to use cultural perspectives developed in previous studies on disciplinary and organisational cultures as a framework to understand a variety of processes and reforms taking place at the institutional level of high education. The chapters in this part of the book analyse the Bologna Process, the evolution of scientific fields in American universities, organisational cultures in Chinese post-merger universities, and doctoral education and cooperation with industry.

• Bologna
• Cultural Studies
• Disciplinary Cultures
• Higher Education
• Organizational Cultures
• Professor
• Social Sciences
• Student Cultures
• education

From the reviews:

"The book offers a comprehensive and in-depth exploration of culture within higher education. … One of the book’s major strengths is a range of perspectives from scholars in various parts of the globe in seven countries. … The book would appeal to scholars and students of higher education and organizational studies. The book can also serve as a useful course textbook for focused seminars on higher education culture." (Jenny J. Lee, Higher Education, March, 2009)

• Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

  Jussi Välimaa

• Research Unit for Science Technology and Innovation Studies, University of Tampere, Finland

  Oili-Helena Ylijoki

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