Conference Theme

Exploring Freedom and Control in global higher education

The theme for SRHE Conference 2016, on which the Conference Keynotes will focus, is an exploration of issues around freedom and control in global higher education. As higher education has expanded and internationalised, it has become the site for collaboration and debate, contestation and struggle over resources, reforms, access, equity and more. This has opened up new opportunities for providing education, pursuing research and developing careers, but it has also closed down options and raised barriers, provoking opposition in some quarters. What are the implications of this tension between freedom and control for those studying, working, managing and leading in higher education? What are the key points of challenge, and what possibilities are created?

The growth of higher education globally highlights in new ways tensions between freedom and control that have always been present in higher education. As national systems expand in countries with widely differing political and social norms, the role of the university is always in contention. Governments that seek to make universities more productive may prefer a route of tight control or to trust market forces. Each has implications for institutional and individual autonomy. Global competition offers new roles and markets but puts pressures on systems and institutions to compete and to conform to norms in ways that may not always be beneficial.

For all, communication technologies offer new ways of connecting globally. However, as knowledge flows more freely, the traditional role of the university in generating and sharing knowledge is threatened. How should universities respond? Technology also enables closer control, as digital data is captured and analysed, for a range of reasons that may be beneficial or may put freedoms at risk.

For the individual academic, questions of the purposes of teaching and research become more obvious: what is the balance between teaching for economic and social and personal ends? What is the place of curiosity-driven research in a world that privileges immediate impact? Where is the space for independent thought when academic staff are increasingly accountable and subject to direction?

For the individual academic, questions of the purposes of teaching and research become more obvious: what is the balance between teaching for economic and social and personal ends? What is the place of curiosity-driven research in a world that privileges immediate impact? Where is the space for independent thought when academic staff are increasingly accountable and subject to direction?

Through an exploration of these issues of freedom and control, this conference will seek to improve our knowledge and understanding of the dynamics at work, recognising different local and national contexts, and acknowledging how these tensions play out over time. This will involve investigations of political ideology, global economics, national governance, ethics, regulation and bureaucracy, among other aspects. In doing this, we hope to assist those challenging the obstacles to participation and equality in higher education and support those seeking new opportunities for advancement and innovation.

The SRHE Conference welcomes research submissions on every aspect of higher education.
Addressing the conference theme is not a requirement or expectation for research paper submissions.

Papers for submission are sought under 10 Research Domains:

• Academic practice, work, careers and cultures (AP)

• Access and widening participation (AWP)

• The Digital University and new learning technologies (DU)

• Employability, enterprise and graduate careers (EE)

• Higher education policy (HEP)

• International contexts and perspectives (ICP)

• Learning, teaching and assessment (LTA)

• Management, leadership, governance and quality (MLGQ)

• Postgraduate scholarship and practice (PGSP)

• Student experiences (SE)