Previous research suggests that through engagement with Higher Education (HE), mature women students experience identity change and transformation which could lead to conflict and strain on marital relationships. The aims of this thesis are to explore the effects of identity transformation on mature women and the family unit as a whole, through a consideration of the impact of HE on family life. Qualitative methods were adopted using a narrative inquiry methodology of focused interviews, mind mapping and a student led mosaic approach to gather the data. Women with families were selected from one Foundation Degree in Early Years in a College Higher Education (CHE) environment. The views of their husbands were also gathered through interviews. This thesis argues that HE study had transformative effects on the whole family, not just the identity of the women students. Previously to HE, the women’s identity was firmly placed in the home as mothers. HE could be seen to change and reconstruct their position as a mother. These transformations and positional changes concerned family routines, relationships and parenting approaches. The women participants believed that their husbands benefitted from the secondary effects of transformation as a result of their wives’ HE studies and identity change. My thesis contributes to knowledge on this topic through the development of a model of family capital which consists of emotional, economic, cultural and social capital. Time is recognised as an important aspect of capital production and identity transformation. Husbands were viewed as reliable providers of family capital; however children who are normally viewed as consumers of family capital also became providers of capital. Through accessing capital support and having their studies valued by their family, women were able to justify their time spent on HE and minimise their feelings of guilt. This thesis is of relevance for women students and HE tutors. Using the findings of this study, HE staff can highlight the transformative effect of HE study on women students. Through raising an awareness of the importance of family capital and support networks, then HE success is more likely to be achieved.

Göran Streiffert: Om akademins frihet och nytta: en studie av tjugo års forskningspolitik. Uppsala universitet: Institutionen för idéhistoria, masteruppsats, vårterminen 2024. This thesis is a study of the research and innovation policies of three Swedish governments at the beginning of the 21st century. I examine five of the research propositions the governments presented during the first two decades of the century with the aim to chart and analyse the governments ambitions to transform the universities in accordance with the concept of knowledge society. Each research proposition presents the overall direction and orientation for the ensuing four years.  Allocations of resources and changes of laws are generally proposed in separate propositions. My focus is to describe how the transformation has affected the liberties and the productive outcomes of the universities. My starting point is two separate and conflicting norm systems which I explain in the thesis. My account demonstrates how the governments try to balance between two conflicting interests: to maintain the liberty of the university and gain the commercial and welfare benefits created by the researchers and teachers at the universities.  One conflict of interest that is constantly neglected in the propositions is that the normative structure for science, described by the sociologist Robert K. Merton, is not compatible with cooperation between scientists and commercial or political interests as research design and results could be affected. In what looks like concerted efforts by the three governments, they identify some issues, i.e. that basic research is regarded to differ from applied research, with the latter having more immediate applications for markets. The governments argue that the discrepancy between basic and applied research is small and should be neglected.  I argue that profound conflicts of interests and competing targets regarding the transformation of the universities to fit commercial and political standards of the knowledge society neither have been identified nor problematised in the propositions.

This study investigates transformational leadership at a higher education institution. The systems paradigm serves as the point of departure, while the construct `leadership', which forms the driving force of change in the organisation, and the concept `transformational leadership', are integrated to yield a mechanism for the optimal positioning of the organisation in the ambit of transformation. The results indicate that the leadership style at the higher institution in question is transformational in nature. From the literature review it became evident that although it is possible for transformational leaders to fail in the transformational strategy, the transformational leader may exhibit the most `ideal' leadership style for the higher education institution engaged in a turnaround strategy. Based on the results of the study, additional proposals are made regarding further study in the area of transformational leadership as well as possible decisions regarding human resource management for the higher education institution in question. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

This study investigates transformational leadership at a higher education institution. The systems paradigm serves as the point of departure, while the construct `leadership', which forms the driving force of change in the organisation, and the concept `transformational leadership', are integrated to yield a mechanism for the optimal positioning of the organisation in the ambit of transformation. The results indicate that the leadership style at the higher institution in question is transformational in nature. From the literature review it became evident that although it is possible for transformational leaders to fail in the transformational strategy, the transformational leader may exhibit the most `ideal' leadership style for the higher education institution engaged in a turnaround strategy. Based on the results of the study, additional proposals are made regarding further study in the area of transformational leadership as well as possible decisions regarding human resource management for the higher education institution in question. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)