Session 2: Careers, Strategies and Motivation
Session 2: Careers, Strategies and Motivation
Chair: Frank McMahon
Professional Career Perspectives for Young Scholars in Russian Regions
Natalia Forrat
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy, Tomsk State University, Tomsk , Russia
The challenges underwent by Russian academic community and higher education in the last 15 years have altered them remarkably. First, Soviet science and higher education was affected by the downfall of communist ideology (in which scientific vocation was treated as highly prestigious) and suffered from drastic cuts in governmental financing. Then it has been submerged by Western theories and grant opportunities. Now, when initial shock (and era of preferential treatment by the West) seem to be gone, Russian academic industry gradually enters world academic market, with its unrestricted competition.
This paper aims to reveal career perspectives available for young Russian scholars (postgraduates, doctoral students) in the fields of social sciences and humanities. It is based on the multiply case study conducted in five Russian cities ( St. Petersburg , Tver, Kazan , Tomsk , Ulan-Ude ). The research focuses on regional higher educational establishments and academic institutes (one in each case), because of their restricted access to both intellectual and financial resources and more or less closed character of academic community depending on geographical position.
The two main questions of the paper are as follows:
- What kind of career possibilities Russian regional academic institutions provide for young scholars?
- How do young scholars use these possibilities in their professional strategies?
It is shown that the institutes select young scholars by different criteria depending on local academic ethos and communicational patterns. An interplay between personal goals, institutional commitments and broader “market” demands young Russian scholars display a whole array of academic career strategies. Some of them may seclude themselves in ivory towers of some obscure research topic while others stage a hunt for opportunities to study abroad, get in contact with Western colleagues and so on. In general, the informants are used to reaping the befits of both worlds, be it still prestigious status and salary (small but stable) provided by the state (universities/Academy of Sciences) or grant financing from independent, usually foreign foundations (a common tactic is to reformulate one’s own topic of interest to make it sound more “up-to-date” – connected with gender or minority issues, for instance).
Challenges in a Cross-Cultural University Setting: Students and Teachers’ Adaptive Strategies
Susan Holland
School of Education, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
This paper takes a phenomenological approach to look at how a group of teachers and students cross cultural educational boundaries in their daily teaching and learning interaction. The aim of the study was to investigate how the contrasting socio-cultural values and associated perceived differences of South East Asian students and their Anglo-Saxon teachers affected teaching and learning processes. The findings discussed suggest that both students and teachers, perceived participatory behaviours in the classroom as mutually challenging and also the most difficult behavioural adaptation. The focus of the study on adaptive strategies revealed how both groups addressed their respective challenges.
Differentiating Schools through Subjective Measures: The Role of Student’s Academic Motivation and Satisfaction
Fernanda Martins and Liliana de Sousa
Faculdade de Letras, Universidade do Porto, Portugal and Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
In order to pursuit their changing role, universities normally evaluate the factors involved in this need. To promote these changes, measuring objective aspects like the quantity of learning and the success of student’s further careers, are important features. But subjective factor must also be taken into account as they also indicate institutional quality. For instance, the way students feel about the richness of their experiences, about having learned useful things, and the levels of their satisfaction are also important variables. Students are differently engaged in their learning process and the social context in which learning occurs is partly responsible for these divergent levels of motivation. Besides motivation clearly influence academic performance which in the end may contribute for dissatisfaction. In this study we analyze and discuss the possible relations between motivation and satisfaction levels in university students and we reflect about the importance of using them when studying the quality and the need for change in educational institutions. To evaluate motivation levels we used the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS-28) (Vallerand et al., 1992) a Canadian Scale with seven sub scales (amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, intrinsic motivation knowledge, intrinsic motivation accomplishment, and intrinsic motivation stimulation). For measuring satisfaction we used the Academic Satisfaction Scale (Martins, 1998) a three factor scale (applicability, instruction, and opportunity of developmental promotion) we had already developed. Results are discussed in terms of: (1) the interaction between levels of academic motivation and satisfaction; (2) the importance of those two factors when evaluating subjective factors of institutional quality.
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