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Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education

Sarah Pickard editor James E Cote editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:25th Sep '23

Should be back in stock very soon

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education cover

Higher education has come under increasing public scrutiny in recent years, assailed with demands for greater efficiency, accountability, cost reduction, and, above all, job training. Drawing upon examples from across the world, with an emphasis on Anglo-American higher-education systems, this handbook employs sociological approaches to address these pressing concerns. The second edition is thoroughly updated and adds several new chapters to shed further light on the transformations wrought by the interrelated processes of massification, vocationalization, and marketization that have swept through universities in the wake of neoliberal reforms introduced by governments since the 1980s.

The handbook explores recent developments in higher-education systems and policy as well as the everyday experiences of students and staff and ongoing problems of inequality and diversity within universities. In doing so, the chapters address a number of current issues concerning the legitimacy of higher-educational credentials, from the continuing debate regarding traditional pedagogies and the role of universities in social class reproduction to more recent concerns about standards in mass systems.

Collectively, this handbook demonstrates that the sociology of higher education has the potential to play a leadership role in improving the myriad higher-education systems around the world that are now part of an interrelated set of subsystems, replete with both persistent problems and promising prospects. This book is therefore necessary reading for a variety of stakeholders within academia as well as professionals and policy-makers interested in understanding higher education and the acute challenges it faces.

'Work and the experience of learning in Higher Education are changing dramatically on a global scale. This insightful and comprehensive collection addresses those changes and provides an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand them. Drawing on a variety of disciplines and perspectives the handbook is the perfect starting point for undergraduate and masters courses on contemporary Higher Education.'

Stephen J. Ball, Emeritus Professor of Sociology of Education, University College London, UK

'This volume offers a foundational contribution to the field. The second edition reflects an impressive array of topics, thereby elucidating significant issues, debates, and transformations underway in higher education. The insights and information conveyed in these thoughtful chapters will be valuable for those who study higher education as well as participants in the enterprise writ large.'

Patricia J. Gumport, Professor of Education, Director of the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research and the founding Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs at Stanford University, USA

'The second edition of the Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education provides a valuable and authoritative account of scholarship in the sociology of higher education today. Making clear the developments and trends in higher education, the volume situates them within established ways of conceptualising and understanding the field, and will make a valuable reference point for scholars of higher education and those who work in the sector.'

Professor Clare Brooks, Pro-Director for Education at the UCL Institute of Education, UK

ISBN: 9781032201542

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 453g

428 pages

2nd edition