This research aimed to explore the dynamics of counsellors working cross-culturally with diverse clients in the context of counselling international students at Higher Education Institutes. A particular emphasis on exploring challenges of working cross-culturally with such a diverse group and the solutions to meet those challenges was investigated. Current trends in globalisation of education and the increasing numbers of foreign students entering universities create both problems and opportunities for how to meet the needs of this growing student population. Higher risk factors for distress and crisis are present for international students due to having additional pressures of adapting to a novel environment, establishing support networks, and overcoming culture shock in addition to the more common academic and financial stressors of college and university. The methodology of choice is a collective instrumental case study design that operates within a critical theory paradigm to develop an in-depth understanding of how different cases provide insight into working with diverse clients. Five British counsellors and five international students were recruited within the UK using purposeful convenience sampling through adverts and the professional networks of the researcher. Counsellors were interviewed within a single focus group and international students were interviewed individually in order to understand the researched phenomenon from both counsellor and client perspectives. Thematic Analysis was chosen to generate two separate streams of themes from both counsellor and international student groups in relation to identified challenges and solutions of working together. A second level of overarching themes was produced from comparing and contrasting responses across all participants. The findings highlight a rich heterogeneity within both groups of participants, showcasing the perspectives on both sides of the therapeutic encounter. Counsellors and students held similar and different perspectives on what they identified as challenges of working together -counsellors' vocalised a higher number of relational challenges and students' identified greater institutional barriers. Novice international students experienced increased challenges compared with seasoned international students suggesting that development of risk factors within this sub-group is a high priority to take into consideration when addressing international student needs. Viewing diversity as a positive resource was a shared solution discussed in both participant groups that relied on counsellors demonstrating liberal value systems. Both groups identified the need for institutional support to be increased with students requesting a more proactive community outreach. A dominant finding in terms of recommendations for working with diversity included the use of the pluralistic approach noting that there is no one right answer or model to work with diversity within people and that flexibility to adapt to each client was essential. The findings are not presented as definitive generalisable truths due to the small sample size, but provide contribution to a case-based understanding of how to provide support for diverse groups of students within Higher Education Institutions in order to reduce risk and increase well-being among the international student population.

This empirical study explores Chinese scholars’ conceptions of the characteristics of quality in research. It follows a phenomenology approach and uses four mixed qualitative methods (online survey, interview, focus groups and document analysis). Phenomenological coding strategies and Pierre Bourdieu’s field and cultural theory are utilised to analyse the data and achieve a theoretical understanding of the findings. It is found that the participants viewed quality via multifarious lenses and identified diverse actual criteria. They nominated many ‘normal’ criteria that were similar to the western standards of research quality, especially the methodological ones, and some ‘abnormal’ ones which were indigenous and contextual in nature (i.e., related to the particular context of educational research in China). The participants elaborated their criteria through 3 layers: methodology (technical quality criteria), contextualisation (i.e., criteria that were about the relationship between the research and the context), and criteria related to the impact of research. The contextual issues (e.g., job title evaluation system, research policy and administrative interference) generated “unscholarly” criteria, and hindered the academics’ good intention to consider and follow the conventional criteria in action. They influenced the academics’ opinions of quality and their ways of conducting research. In the participants’ eyes, doing research in China was tantamount to writing papers, and it was not about assuring quality but reflected the academics’ struggles to meet all sorts of requests at institutional and national levels. The participants looked for an impact of research at the practical level (e.g., teaching and learning), and suggested a combination of both theoretical and practical significance of research. Powerful academics have not created cultural and scholarly debates to consider and select the criteria nominated by other academics, and have not used them in the government and institutional documents. In Bourdieusian terms, quality as reflected in some aspects of the habitus of participants has been greatly influenced by the field, the capital and the symbolic power; but the habitus of most scholars has not yet managed to affect the field. There is much in the field that could be altered to enable the habitus to affect and develop the quality of educational research. This current study provides recommendations for educational research, university-teachers’ research and practice, researcher development, as well as research policy and management in the Chinese context, and/or abroad.

This project studies how one should design a course evaluation survey used at the technological university, KTH. A single survey multi-platform approach has been used in the design stage, with the aim to develop an optimized survey for the two platforms mobile and PC. To clarify, instead of there being a solely mobile-oriented or PC-oriented design process, any design features implemented where considered in the greater scope of how they would fit both mobile devices and PC, thus providing a wider multi-platform optimization. The reason for undertaking the study was the perceived lacking mobile optimization of the current survey system, LEQ used at KTH. This was seen as a significant area of development due to rising numbers of mobile users globally, especially among younger generations. The survey was developed with the aim to have a high usability and providea positive user experience across the platforms. An iterative design process with three cycles of prototype testing focusing on the themes: grading systems, design features and usability was conducted. At the conclusion of each cycle, incremental improvements were made as a result of feedback from prototype testers and a new prototype was developed. Lastly, a final design was developed. During the comparison of the final design with the LEQ survey at the later stages of the study, not many significant differences were found, and non affecting the functionality of the survey. This can partly be explained by the simplistic nature of surveys. While a general PC optimization had been reached, the mobile optimization was still lacking. The study concluded that the multi-platform approach did not allow for a true mobile optimization. Any new features being implemented would have to be beneficial for both platforms, consequently, potential improvements which would result in a better mobile optimization could not be implemented if they were less suitable for to the PC. However, in a mobile oriented design process a mobile optimization could have been reached since any decision regarding design would only be judged as to whether they were beneficial for the user experience on mobile devices. The design of a truly mobile optimized survey could be an area for further research, both in regards to the design process itself and the final product. / Detta projekt ämnar att studera hur en kursutvärderingsenkät som ska användas vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan bör utformas. En single survey multi-platform metodologi har använts inom designen med målet att utveckla en optimerad enkät för de två plattformarna mobil och PC. För att klargöra, istället för att det använts en helt mobilorienterad eller PC-orienterad designprocess, har alla designfunktioner som implementeras värderats i den bemärkelse att de passar både mobila enheter och PC för att ge en multi-plattforms-optimering. Anledningen till att studien genomfördes var den upplevda bristen på mobiloptimering av det aktuella kursutvärderingssystemet, LEQ som används vid KTH. Detta betraktades som ett betydelsefullt utvecklingsområde på grund av det ökande antalet mobilanvändare globalt, särskilt bland yngre generationer. Enkäten utvecklades med målet att ha en hög användbarhet och ge en positiv användarupplevelse över plattformarna. En iterativ designprocess med tre cykler av prototyptestning med fokus på teman: betygssystem, designfunktioner och användbarhet har genomförts. Vid slutet av varje cykel gjordes stegvisa förbättringar som ett resultat av feedback från prototyptestare och en ny prototyp utvecklades. Slutligen utvecklades en slutgiltig design. Under jämförelsen av den slutliga designen med LEQ-undersökningen, i de senare stadierna av studien, hittades inte många signifikanta skillnader, samt inga skillnader alls som påverkade enkätens funktionalitet. Detta kan delvis förklaras av enkätens simplistiska natur. Rent generellt gick det att se att i den slutliga designen hade en PC-optimering uppnåtts men det saknades en mobiloptimering. Anledningen till detta var var att multi-plattformsmetoden som användes begränsade möjligheterna för att uppnå en verklig mobiloptimering. För att förtydliga, på grund av att alla nya funktioner som implementerades behövde passa båda plattformarna, kunde potentiella förbättringar som skulle resultera i en bättre mobiloptimering inte implementeras om de var mindre lämpliga för datorn. I en mobilorienterad designprocess kunde emellertid mobiloptimering ha uppnåtts eftersom varje beslut om design endast skulle bedömas utifrån huruvida de var användbara för användarupplevelsen på mobila enheter. Utformningen av en verkligt mobiloptimerad undersökning kan vara ett område för vidare undersökning, både vad gäller själva designprocessen och slutprodukten.

Solicitud de envío manuscrito de artículo científico. / Este estudio focalizado en la problemática de la deserción en el contexto de los institutos de educación superior, específicamente aquellos que imparten programas de formación técnica profesional en el Perú, que esta tomando cada vez más auge en la agenda pública nacional, fenómeno de carácter social que impacta el ámbito educativo y desarrollo de las fuerzas socioproductivas, que se ha visibilizado mediante el incremento sistemático del abandono de los estudiantes de las aulas de clases en las distintas, fases o etapas del proceso de formación educativa, disminuyendo significativamente los ingresos por los servicios académicos que ofertan en el mercado este tipo de centros, que se encuentran en riesgo e incertidumbre ante la posibilidad de cierre técnico por la reducción de los recursos para sostener el funcionamiento y operatividad. El objetivo general es proponer un modelo analítico administrativo eficiente para la reducción del índice de deserción en la educación técnica en el Perú. El trabajo se sustenta metodológicamente en el enfoque cualitativo propio de la corriente del paradigma interpretativo, mediante un diseño no experimental de campo de corte transversal, un tipo de investigación descriptiva con un nivel analítico-comparativo. Los informantes claves lo integran (10) sujetos que proporcionarán información intersubjetiva a partir de las experiencias y conocimientos cultivados, a los cuales se les aplicó un guión de entrevista como instrumento, que fue sometido al proceso de categorización, triangulación e interpretación de la información. Los resultados evidenciaron que la deserción está vinculada con factores económicos, laboral, académico, personal y familiar. El estatus económico de los estudiantes que desertan en los centros de educación técnica del Perú, provienen en la gran mayoría del segmento C o D, situándola como media a baja con menor proporción en el segmento B, luego él E y A. Las causas de la deserción, son por los aspectos económicos, laborales, académicos, personales y familiares. De allí que se diseñó un modelo analítico administrativo innovador y eficiente para contribuir con la reducción de índice de deserción. / This study focused on the problem of dropout in the context of higher education institutes, specifically those that provide vocational technical training programs in Peru, which is increasingly booming on the national public agenda, a social phenomenon that impacts the educational field and development of socio-productive forces, which has become visible through the systematic increase in the abandonment of students from classrooms in the various phases or stages of the educational training process, significantly reducing the revenue from the academic services offered on the market by such centres, which are at risk and uncertainty at the possibility of technical closure by reducing resources to sustain the operation. The overall objective is to propose an efficient administrative analytical model for the reduction of the attrition rate at technical education in Peru. The work is methodologically based on the qualitative approach typical of the current of the interpretative paradigm, through a non-experimental cross-sectional field design, a type of descriptive research with an analytical-comparative level. Key informants integrate it (10) subjects who will provide intersubjective information based on cultivated experiences and knowledge, to which an interview script will be applied as an instrument, which will be subjected to the process of categorization, triangulation and interpretation of the information. The results showed that the desertation is linked to economic, labor, academic, personal and family factors. The economic status of students who defect at technical education in Peru, come in the vast majority of segment C or D, placing it as average down with lower proportion in segment B, then he E and A. The causes of the desertion are because of the economic, labor, academic, personal and family aspects. From there, an innovative and efficient administrative analytical model was designed to contribute to the reduction of the attrition rate. / Trabajo de investigación

Construction is an investment intensive industry which has been notoriouslyknown to be cost and time ineffective. Further, the construction industry isknown to be the world’s largest resource utilizer and the largest polluter.Hence sustainability in construction is necessary.Since Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) are one of the most importantstakeholders in construction, this research aims to determine the sustainabilityaspects taught in Swedish construction programmes. On comparing the aimsand outcomes of all construction courses to the United Nations SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs), this research found that Swedish constructioneducation programmes lack political and social sustainability in theirconstruction curricula. Further, this research investigates the challenges toimparting sustainability education due to present research andpedagogical/teaching methods. Data to investigate the results was collectedthrough interviews with programme directors from various SwedishUniversities.The findings of this research show a connection between practical application,research and traditional education. Further, the factors affecting research andpedagogy are also inter-related and convoluted. A large cause and effectnetwork arising due to the interplay of the factors is addressed in thediscussions section. This thesis finds that sustainable development inconstruction requires development of sustainability evaluation methods as wellas combined efforts from various stakeholders and professions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the motivations for international academic alliance development, the configuration of alliance networks and their sustained management in Business Schools within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). A purposive sample of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) engaged with international alliance activities was selected from seven Business Schools within the target markets of France, Germany and Scotland. In order to investigate issues inherent within international alliance development this sample provided access to academic and administrative elites competent to discuss their alliance portfolios, from a strategic perspective, through semi-structured interview conducted in their home institutions. A key feature of the research was that, in the interest of minimising the potential for superficial or pre-conceived conclusions to be drawn, interviews with participants from two respondent institutions were positioned outside the researcher's direct ‘preferred partner' network. This insider-outsider perspective reduced potential bias through over-familiarity with solely networked institutional respondents when analysing the development, configuration and management of international academic alliances and alliance portfolios (APs).The study identifies three key findings on the basis of the analysis of institutional alliance activity. Firstly, that HEIs, operating within an appropriate regulatory environment can utilise both exploitation and exploration alliance strategies simultaneously to extend their resource base. The two strategies can be mutually reinforcing, and are not contradictory in tertiary education. Secondly, the analysis indicates that the extent to which resource extension may be achieved is reflected in the alliance strategy employed as HEIs internationalise. The movement from exploitation to exploration alliance strategy signifies a fundamental change in strategic intent and direction of the Business School, so new internationalisation strategy definitions are proposed for tertiary education. Thirdly, alliance management capability has the potential to develop, within complex partnership scenarios, as an institutional core competence, providing the potential for sustainable competitive advantage. On the basis of this analysis tools are developed which can assist in the strategic decision-making process for further evolution of alliance networks within institutional internationalisation strategies. The resultant application of these strategic tools allows for Business Schools to determine the characteristics of appropriate alliance partners to fill the gaps identified within their alliance network or portfolio.