Studies in Higher Education
This journal has a wide ranging interest in higher education and the social and institutional contexts within which it takes place, but gives particular emphasis to education as practice, with a view to influencing its development.
Published by: Taylor & Francis
Frequency: Twelve issues per year
Print ISSN: 0307-5079
Online ISSN: 1470-174X
Celebrating 50 Years of Studies in Higher Education
In 1976, the Society for Research into Higher Education established Studies in Higher Education. To mark the Journal’s 50th Anniversary, and with the support of our publisher, Taylor & Francis, we are pleased to present two complementary publications.
The 50th Anniversary Issue
A special 50th Anniversary Issue of the Journal, comprising 17 new research articles will be published in November 2026 and will soon be available via the Journal’s website and to subscribers. The issue is introduced by an extended Editorial discussing the evolution of Studies over the period.
The Collection: reflections on influential articles
This Collection invited eight scholars from around the world to select a previously published article from the Journal’s history (including, if they chose, one of their own). Each contributor discusses the article’s contribution and considers how it has informed scholarly debate to the present day.
The Collection is introduced by Professor Rob Cuthbert, Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of Studies in Higher Education. In Origins and evolution: academics thinking outside the bot/x, he reflects on the development of the field and on the articles chosen by contributors.
The Collection is available to read here.
| Contributor | Reflection | Article selected |
| Elizabeth Balbachevsky | Variation under pressure: strategic identity management in research-intensive universities | Morphew, Fumasoli & Stensaker (2016), Changing missions? How the strategic plans of research-intensive universities in Northern Europe and North America balance competing identities |
| Shuangmiao Han | Academic mobility research amidst global shifts | Han (2021), Empowered or disempowered by mobility? Experience of international academics in China |
| Jung Cheol Shin | Reflecting on “Institutionalization of competition-based funding under neoliberalism in East Asia” | Shin, Watanabe, Chen, Ho & Lee (2020), Institutionalization of competition-based funding under neoliberalism in East Asia |
| Omolabake Fakunle | Structural inequalities in internationalisation: constraints and possibilities | Altbach (1989), The new internationalism: Foreign students and scholars |
| Paul Ashwin | Reflecting on “Can universities change?” | Elton (1981), Can universities change? |
| Sarah O’Shea | Reflecting on “Discourses of betterment and opportunity: exploring the privileging of university attendance for first-in-family learners” | O’Shea, Stone, Delahunty & May (2016), Discourses of betterment and opportunity: exploring the privileging of university attendance for first-in-family learners |
| David Mills | The narcissism of small distinctions? | Becher (1994), The significance of disciplinary differences |
| Rajani Naidoo | Reflecting on “Free speech on US university campuses: differentiating perspectives using Q methodology” | Ramlo (2018), Free speech on US university campuses: differentiating perspectives using Q methodology |
Editorial Team
Editor in Chief
Professor Creso Sá
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada.
Senior Editor
Professor Maria Slowey
Higher Education Research Centre (HERC), Dublin City University, Ireland.
Associate Editors
Professor Luca Cattani
Department of Law, Politics and International Studies, University of Parma, Italy.
Dr Emma Harden-Wolfson
Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE), McGill University, Canada.
Professor Molly Lee
School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia.
Dr Giulio Marini
Department of Economics and Business, University of Catania, Italy.
Dr Christine Teelken
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Special issues Editors
Professor Kate Black
Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK.
Professor Ming Cheng
Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University, UK