Partisans, Professionals, and Power: The Role of Political Factors in State Higher Education Funding

McLendon, Michael K.; Hearn, James C.; Mokher, Christine G.

doi:10.1080/00221546.2009.11779040

Cited by 115 publications

(80 citation statements)

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“…This is to observe and illustrate that the Omani HE policies do get affected and reformed by the structure of the political regime and by political actors in Oman who operate outside the HE system. This argument concurs with scholars who have argued that the political systems of nations are a determinant of HE policies and funding (see Dar, 2012;McLendon, 2003a, McLendon et al 2009Tandberg, 2010), but also that regional politics today also have policy impacts. Here, with the admission policy, pressures from the GCC region also played a role in the move towards massification of HE, as did the political pressure for more HE seats encouraged by the Arab Spring.…”

Section: The Political Systemsupporting

confidence: 84%

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Higher education policy architecture and policy-making in the Sultanate of Oman: towards a critical understanding

Al’Abri¹

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The higher education (HE) system in Oman is governed and controlled by the state and is thus a government managed sector in which the state is the chief policy player. The main aim of this study is to provide a critical understanding of the policy architecture and policy-making processes in Omani HE since 1986. More specifically, the study seeks: to describe the Omani HE policy-making architecture and its operation; to analyse the impact of this architecture and its operations on the HE system; and to investigate national, regional and global factors affecting HE policy.The study employed a qualitative methodology. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis were the methods used for generating data. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 43 policy-makers and others involved in Omani HE. The documents included:Royal Decrees, Ministerial decisions, Organizational charts of HEIs, Legislative documents, strategic plans, and meeting minutes. Those documents were from the post 1986 period, aligning with the time frame of the study. These documents are ready for use as they are published for the public. The data generated through interviews and document analysis were analysed thematically according to an inductive approach and through the lens of the theoretical framework.The study finds that the Omani political system results in a hierarchical approach to policy-making for the HE sector. This architecture has three levels-the top level of government, specialized bodies, and the field-with strong control concentrated at the top level of the government and weaker control available to agencies at the lower levels of the system. The study conceptualizes the policy-making architecture of the entire Omani HE system as a cascade of principal-agent games, showing that the Omani Government is a highly powerful controller of HE policy-making. The relationships between the different policy actors and bodies within this hierarchical architecture are documented and described in terms of four different scenarios: (1) policy development by the Education Council; (2) policies emanating from the Sultan; (3) policies emanating from the Cabinet and the Supreme Council for Planning; and (4) policies proposed by the Oman Council.A key argument of the study is that the Omani government developed and reformed its HE system in relation to national pressures for development, student demand, and regional and global pressures. The Omani HE system is situated in relation to national, regional and global contexts and thus, its policies were made and implemented in responses to complex intersections of these contexts. Nationally, pressure has been placed on HE policy by the political system of the state, the economy, the labour market, the schooling system, the history of the HE system, and broader social changes. Regionally, the study finds that Oman learned from, and borrowed much HE policy from, neighbouring Arab Gulf States, motivated by dynamics of both competition and cooperation. The ii Cooper...

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Section: The Political Systemsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…The existing literature on HE policy-making shows that this area of research globally has begun recently to gain attention and become more attractive and popular among researchers (Dar, 2012;McLendon, 2003a, b;McLendon & Ness, 2003;McLendon et al, 2005;McLendon et al, 2009;Tandberg, 2006Tandberg, , 2010.…”

Section: He Policy-makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher education policy architecture and policy-making in the Sultanate of Oman: towards a critical understanding

Al’Abri¹

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“…Institutions of higher learning are operating in conditions of a bad economy and dwindling financial assistance from governments (Archibald & Feldman, 2006;McLendon, Hearn, & Mokher, 2009;Weerts & Ronca, 2006) and are increasingly relying on private charitable giving to meet their financial needs (Drezner, 2011). In 2012, alumni giving constituted 24.8% of total voluntary giving and rose to 26.6% in 2013 (Voluntary Support for Education, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-Structural Intergroup Characteristics as Predictors of Intention to Join University Alumni Association

Mazambani¹,

Reysen²,

Gibson³

et al. 2017

WJSS

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We examined the association between socio-structural intergroup characteristics (i.e., permeability of group boundaries, legitimacy of status difference between ingroup and outgroups, stability of status difference) and students' intention to join the university alumni association. Prior theory and research suggests that group members assess the intergroup context to direct identity management strategies (e.g., leave group, collective action). College students in their last semester at a university were asked to rate the perceived socio-structural characteristics of the ingroup (compared to other universities) and their intention to join the alumni association. The results showed that perceiving one's ingroup as legitimately high status and in a stable intergroup context predicted greater intention to join the alumni association. Consistent with prior theory, the results suggest that viewing one's ingroup as legitimately high status predicts endorsement of actions to maintain a positive and distinct identity.Keywords: alumni association, socio-structural characteristics, permeability, legitimacy, stability, social identity IntroductionInstitutions of higher learning are operating in conditions of a bad economy and dwindling financial assistance from governments (Archibald & Feldman, 2006;McLendon, Hearn, & Mokher, 2009;Weerts & Ronca, 2006) and are increasingly relying on private charitable giving to meet their financial needs (Drezner, 2011). In 2012, alumni giving constituted 24.8% of total voluntary giving and rose to 26.6% in 2013 (Voluntary Support for Education, 2013). An alumni association, a group of former students, assists the institution with raising funds and fosters connection between alumni and the university (Arnold, 2003;Gill, 1998). Alumni associations typically organize social events with the dual purpose of fostering relationships for its members and to provide cultivation that encourages future giving. For recent graduates, the alumni association allows professional networking that can provide career opportunities as well as a group of people who share similar experiences. Joining the alumni association thus provides a way for alumni to contribute towards the success of their alma matter and to connect with other former students. In the present study we examine predictors of students' intention to join the alumni association. Predictors of Alumni Association MembershipThe characteristics of the university and the quality of experiences for students influence alumni giving (Baade & Sundberg, 1996;Clotfelter, 2001;Gaier, 2005;Holmes, 2009). University characteristics such as age (Duronio & Loessin, 1990), quality of career services provided (McDearmon, 2010;Pryor, Hurtado, Sáenz, Santos, & Korn, 2007), graduation rate (Gunsalus, 2004), perceived academic quality and prestige (Baade & Sundberg, 1996;Belfield & Beney, 2000;Hanson, 2000;Leslie & Ramey, 1988;Mael & Ashforth, 1992), and success in athletics (Coughlin & Erekson, 1984;Holmes, 2009) are predictors of giving back to the univers...

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“…Facing strong competition for quality students, these educational leaders are challenged to find new ways to attract attention, market the quality of their educational experience, and be certain that student return on investment is high. In addition to these challenges, leaders in higher education face hurdles associated with decreased state and federal funding (McLendon, Hearn, & Mokher, 2009;Tandberg, 2010) and increased accountability from accrediting agencies, students and families, and the federal government (Cowan, 2013).…”

Section: Challenges For Institutions Of Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Resources from both federal and state sources have decreased significantly as institutions of higher education face competition for limited funding from healthcare, the prison system, and K-12 education systems (McLendon, Hearn, & Mokher, 2009;Tandberg, 2010). Though the total amount of resources has increased, the amount of the total cost of higher education covered by state and federal student financial aid has decreased since 2001 while the need for graduates with bachelor's degrees and more specialized training has grown.…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Job satisfaction of professional staff and administrators within the associated colleges of the south : a study of HerzbergÆs duality theory of motivation in higher education.

Noltemeyer

Patrick²

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Partisans, Professionals, and Power: The Role of Political Factors in State Higher Education Funding

Cited by 115 publications

References 40 publications

Higher education policy architecture and policy-making in the Sultanate of Oman: towards a critical understanding

Higher education policy architecture and policy-making in the Sultanate of Oman: towards a critical understanding

Socio-Structural Intergroup Characteristics as Predictors of Intention to Join University Alumni Association

Job satisfaction of professional staff and administrators within the associated colleges of the south : a study of HerzbergÆs duality theory of motivation in higher education.

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