Higher Education Research & Development

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40 years of research and development in higher

education: responding to complexity and
ambiguity

Stephen Marshall, Susan Blackley & Wendy Green

To cite this article: Stephen Marshall, Susan Blackley & Wendy Green (2022) 40 years of
research and development in higher education: responding to complexity and ambiguity, Higher
Education Research & Development, 41:1, 1-6, DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2021.2012879

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.2012879

Published online: 09 Feb 2022.

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HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
2022, VOL. 41, NO. 1, 1–6
https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.2012879

EDITORIAL

40 years of research and development in higher education:

responding to complexity and ambiguity

Introduction
From its inception, Higher Education Research & Development has been focused on exploring
and promoting change across the higher education sector. In his editorial in the journal’s first
issue, John Powell (1982, p. 1) explained:
The focus of this journal is upon change, that is, with research and development which
extends our understanding and thus justifies what we do or indicates what we ought to
be doing, and with those developments in educational practice which explore or exemplify
more satisfactory ways of conducting the enterprise of higher education.
The changes that Powell envisaged were changes to educational practice. Reflecting on the
journal’s first three decades of publication in HERD’s 30th anniversary Special Issue,
editors Barbara Grant and Bruce Macfarlane (2012, p. 2) concluded that HERD had indeed
maintained its focus on ‘work that seeks change in practice’. At the same time, they noted
a growing curiosity and sophistication in our thinking about change, ‘(beyond ‘technique’
for example)’ (p. 2) towards an appreciation of the complex and often unpredictable
nature of change within the sector. They looked forward to a deeper and broader engagement
with new methodologies and theoretical frameworks that would enable us to ask different
kinds of questions in our pursuit of change. In the decade that has passed since that
Special Issue, the need for new questions and new ways of thinking has never been greater,
as the sector has faced a raft of new challenges, most recently, of course, the ongoing
impact of the global pandemic.
For HERD’s 40th anniversary Special Issue, we invited authors to engage with the history
of higher education research as represented by 40 years of HERD publications, particularly
over the past decade. In doing so, we hoped to mark the various watershed moments that
have impacted on higher education and reflect critically on the complexity, change and ambi-
guity that have challenged, and continue to challenge, the sector.
A focus on change, and the associated shifts in the scale of complexity of academic work
are key themes in all of the papers in this Special Issue. The challenge this represents to indi-
vidual academics leads our first author, Shelda Debowski to observe “it isn’t easy being an
academic” (Debowski, 2022, p.x). Debowski’s contribution critically examines what it
means to be an academic today and how this has changed, as evidenced by publications in
HERD since 1982. There is an acknowledgment of an escalating pre-occupation with ‘aca-
demic performance’ despite increased workload, the casualisation of the academic workforce,
uncertainty about the future, and the fallout of the pandemic. Debowski notes that it is no
longer enough for an early career academic to establish their academic identity; they also
need to create a narrative about the impact of their teaching and research. Academics need
to provide evidence of their effective performance often through the use of institutional
instruments and metrics, including teaching evaluations that must be regarded as a flawed
process. Further, Debowski suggests that a ‘successful academic’ now needs to be
© 2022 HERDSA
2 EDITORIAL

entrepreneurial and undertake ‘complex strategic positioning’ in national and international

contexts. This is inextricably linked to the economic-rationalisation of higher education insti-
tutions, and little to do with growing generations of innovative researchers and deep thinkers.
In contrast to the numerous articles published in HERD regarding the tensions experienced
by mid-career academics as they assume more formalised governance and leadership roles,
Debowski observes that the role of the professoriate has had little exploration. The article con-
cludes with valuable suggestions for ways in which academics can be supported to traverse
the, at times, hostile territory that is academia and to develop into senior leaders who can
drive change in higher education.
The ways that the sector shapes and recognises effective teaching is one of the areas that
has evolved a great deal over the last forty years, with the pace of change accelerating in the
most recent decade. Devlin and Samarawickrema (2022) examine how the role of the teacher
has been significantly affected by such changes as widening participation and increased
student diversity, increasing accountability, the growth of transnational education and
ongoing uncertainty, digital transformation, the rise of data analytics, evolving assessment
philosophy and practice, work-integrated learning, the students-as-partners movement, the
trend away from solo teaching, and new pedagogies for an unknown future. All of these com-
bined means that historical solutions and traditional practices are no longer sufficient or even
helpful. They conclude that ‘the criteria that have so successfully defined effective teaching to
date now need to be re-interrogated, reconsidered, revised, and updated’ (Devlin & Samara-
wickrema, 2022, p. x).
The remaining contributors to this Special Issue interrogate a number of other key areas of
inquiry in the field of higher education. Their work covers the history and development of
feminist thought in higher education (Bosanquet & Fredericks, 2022); the role that higher
education plays in addressing systematic inequality and social justice (Heffernan, 2022);
changing conceptions of student engagement (Gao et al., 2022); the internationalisation of
higher education (Mittelmeier & Yang, 2022); and the tense and evolving relationship
between education and economic drivers such as employment and work (Jung, 2022).
Bosanquet and Fredericks (2022) review 40 years of HERD publications that have been
written from a feminist perspective. In doing so they hope that they will not only ‘provide
a starting point for a sustained analysis of feminist scholarship in higher education’ (p. X),
but also that their methods of analysis might be adapted to examine the scholarship of inter-
sectional feminisms, and the marginalised voices of queer, non-binary, Indigenous, and
global south women higher education researchers. While recognising the extensive body of
feminist scholarship in explicitly feminist publications, their intention is to interrogate the
place of feminist scholarship in the broader field of higher education, and in HERD in par-
ticular. Based on Acker and Wagner’s (2019) definition of feminist scholarship, the authors
used titles, keywords, and abstracts to sift through the 1472 articles to date, resulting in 52 that
were considered to be ‘feminist’. In contrast to the paucity of feminist research during the first
30 years of HERD’s history, feminist scholarship has begun to emerge as an area of interest in
the issues of the past decade, and this interest has been accompanied by a theoretical sophis-
tication that less-recent articles lacked. The authors conclude by underscoring the need to
extend the body of feminist research in higher education by building a community of feminist
scholarship within the field.
Troy Heffernan’s (2022) systematic literature review of research on marginalised groups
(students and academics) published in HERD over the past 40 years focuses on four
primary fields – race, gender, sexual identity, and disability – through a Bourdieusian lens,
primarily one of social capital. Heffernan skilfully develops the metaphor of open and
closed gates to explore questions of privilege in higher education spaces. He finds that in
 HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 3

the journal’s first 20 years, papers focused on alternative pathways entry and disabilities. The
next 20 years saw HERD publishing increasingly more articles on social justice, in particular
on issues pertaining to Indigenous and First Nations people in the Australasia area. However,
Heffernan questions the assumption that the increase in social justice research is a positive
trend, pointing out that the sector has relied heavily on additional measures, such as bridging
programmes and financial assistance, to solve equity issues rather than seeking systemic
change. In broad terms, this systemic change would alter the premise upon which universities
were first established – white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual students with a high level of
economic and social capital behind them who may graduate into academia. Considering
the current state of economic upheaval with which universities are dealing, and will continue
to do so in the foreseeable future, Heffernan raises important concerns about the potential
halting or limiting of these ‘additional measures’, thereby undoing the original intention of
enabling.
Interest in ‘student engagement’ is another area of higher education research that has
grown substantially in the midst of significant upheavals within and beyond the sector. In
their review of HERD’s contribution to the research on student engagement and success,
Hamish Coates, Xi Gao and Fei Guo (2022) track the evolution of the concept of ‘engagement’
and lay out the changing conditions in which this concept has developed. Of particular sig-
nificance has been the commodification of international education, the rise of online edu-
cation, the shift from elite to mass to universal levels of participation, the expansion of the
Asian higher education sector, economic volatility, the growth of global research networks,
and of course, the global pandemic. According to Gao et al., the growth in student engage-
ment research has developed in response to these pressures in three distinct historical
phases: (1) a foundational phase (1980s–1990s), which set the methodological foundations
in qualitative work; (2) early 21st century developments (2000–2018), which saw more tech-
nology-enabled evaluations of performance and regulation; and (3) 2018 onwards, where
there has been a shift in attention from researching whole student groups, to more
dynamic and fine-grained ways of appreciating individual differences.
The complex, shifting, and often troubled relationship between the contexts in which
research is conducted and the research which is produced is also foregrounded in Jenna Mit-
telmeier and Ying Yang’s (2022) survey of developments in the research on internationalisa-
tion. Their analysis situates this ‘often contextually driven’ (p.–) body of work within the
complexities of globalisation, neoliberalism, and the marketisation of HE, as well as the
more recent COVID-19 pandemic. They chart a number of significant shifts in this area of
interest, not only in terms of what has been researched, but also why and how. Although
HERD began to publish papers on internationalisation in 1994, there was relatively little
focus on the topic until 2000 – a year of significant growth in enrolments of international stu-
dents in Australia and globally. Mittelmeier and Yang suggest that HERD has mirrored the
broader community of HE researchers in its publication of articles promoting a ‘persistent
deficit narrative’ about international students. In line with publications across the field
(Tight, 2021), HERD’s authors have been based primarily in the Global North. More recently,
however, Mittelmeier and Yang detect a growing criticality and nuance through ‘the recog-
nition of underlying power differentials and inequalities in HERD publications’ (p.), and a
more diverse range of geopolitical contexts in which the research is conducted.
This shift towards criticality, nuance, and diversity is also evident in the research on the
relationship between universities and the world of work. Jung (2022) examines HERD’s 40
years of papers focusing on the intersection of work and learning drawing on the idea of
working to learn and learning to work suggested by Barnett (1999) with his question
‘whether we learn better through work or we learn to work more effectively’ (p. 29). Jung
4 EDITORIAL

detects a marked shift in HERD publications in the 1990s towards a more active and direct
concern with employability and, with a nod to the Australasian focus of the journal at that
time, relates this to the Australian Government’s increasing focus on the university-work
nexus from that time onwards. The shifting conceptualisation of work and its relationship
to higher education is reflected in the language used by authors over the past four decades;
pedagogical and employability concerns have become blurred, for example in the objectives
used to shape programmes and courses. In recent years, Jung notes, there has been an expan-
sion of approaches used to explore this topic. Researchers are turning to cross-disciplinary
perspectives to develop more complex and nuanced understandings, which integrate
macro and global issues with curricular and pedagogical concerns. This reflects a broader
trend in higher education research as scholars recognise the value of multi- or inter-disciplin-
ary research in tackling complex and ‘wicked’ problems.
Bruce Macfarlane’s (2022) contribution to our 40th anniversary Special Issue offers one
way of reflecting on change, and on researchers as agents of change in the field of higher edu-
cation research, particularly as it has been reflected in HERD. This contribution reminds us of
a playful piece Macfarlane published a decade ago in HERD (Macfarlane, 2012) in which he
mapped out the field of HE research as a seascape consisting of two main islands – policy and
teaching and learning – divided by the Sea of Disjuncture. While there is an acknowledgement
of the continuing disjuncture between these two research areas, the author proposes a new
map, this time seeking to explain why particular research topics are chosen, rather than
simply outlining what is investigated. This new map is offered as a heuristic device for explor-
ing the changing ideological orientations of HE research and reflecting on ways that research-
ers’ value positions influence their methodology. These changing orientations are represented
as three islands: Reformists Rock (signifying a gradual radicalisation); Dystopians’ Retreat
(indicating a more dystopian outlook); and finally, Pragmatists Peninsula (where he sees a
reorientation of pragmatist research interests, from micro/ departmental level to strategic,
institution-wide studies). There is also Isla Methodology, which signifies the growing interest
in methodology. Macfarlane traces this growing interest in HERD over the last 10 years,
acknowledging that it has been nurtured by HERD’s special issues on theory-method
relations (2012) and alternative methodologies (2013). Finally, Macfarlane observes, along-
side these value-driven shifts in the field, changes in the work of individual researchers
over time, as we ‘hop’ between these islands, responding to the changing personal and pol-
itical contexts in which we work.
In the final contribution to this Issue, Vaugh et al. (2022) consider the implications of the
pandemic for universities, and introduce an approach to navigating the complexity and ambi-
guity of Higher Education Institutions. The complexity and scope of the challenge posed by
the pandemic meant that carefully considered, discrete, and incrementally adopted changes
were no longer viable. In responding to this unprecedented global phenomenon, the
authors note the need for both empathy and appropriate scaffolding to support change at
the micro (individual practitioner and course), meso (institutional structures), and macro
(institutional leadership, policy, and strategy) levels simultaneously. They outline the
ARRIVE framework (Audit, Research, Reframe, Ideate, Validate, Execute) (Devitt et al.,
2017) and show how this can be used to help institutions respond effectively. While this
final article represents a departure from the careful historical analyses of the previous contri-
butions, we believe that brings the issue to a fitting close because it proposes one approach to
navigating change in the future, by drawing on the experience of the past two years.
 HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 5

Concluding remarks
This Special Issue looks forward as much as it looks back. It marks 40 years of HERD pub-
lications and considers the current and future challenges and opportunities that face the scho-
larly community we inhabit collectively, as authors, researchers, students and readers. This
Special Issue offers more than the opportunity to review 40 years of HERD publications; it
also invites reflection on the HERD community itself. Beginning as a small, tight-knit
group of scholars based in, and firmly focused on the Anglo-Australasian context, it is
now an international network of increasingly diverse authors, reviewers, and readers.
Many of the authors contributing to this Special Issue have observed this transition in
their own sphere of interest, noting increasingly diverse voices, interests, and perspectives
on topics ranging from employability to internationalisation and student engagement.
When we look at articles published in HERD last year, for example, we find papers that
have considered the place of women in Saudi Arabian universities, the evolving conceptions
of graduate attributes and outcomes from multiple perspectives and contexts, the stress of the
modern research and scholarly environment with its unrelenting performativity that extends
even to the clothes academics wear, the challenges facing students of different ages, cultures,
economic, educational backgrounds, and levels of study from entry through to the doctorate.
To a large extent, this broadening and deepening of the research published in HERD
reflects systemic changes in higher education within and between nations. In an analysis of
the distribution of authors’ country affiliations in six elite higher education journals (includ-
ing HERD) from 1996–2018, Marek Kwiek (2021, p. 507) found that while authors in the US,
Australia and the UK are still in a ‘hegemonic position’, there has been a steady rise in
research from authors in Continental Europe, East Asia, and the cluster of 66 other countries.
However, the changes in HERD specifically have also been driven by the HERD editorial
team, as we have proactively sought to make space for previously under-represented voices
through, for example, the recruitment of colleagues from more diverse backgrounds as
reviewers, associate editors, and as members of our Editorial Advisory Board. Special
Issues are another way we, as editors, can foreground marginalised voices, as for example,
in the 2021 Special Issue, Ō tātou reo, Na domoda, Kuruwilang birad: Indigenous voices in
higher education. We know that more can be done, and we continue to scrutinise our own
practices, looking for ways we might continue to shape the field so that it is more diverse,
inclusive, and reflexive.
Where to from here? We cannot conclude this Special Issue without reflecting briefly on
the impact of the global pandemic. The full implications of this global event are yet to be
understood, despite the legion of papers appearing in higher education journals over the
past twelve months. Early in the pandemic there may have been a sense that the pandemic
would pass allowing us to abandon the ad hoc and disruptive technologies of emergency
online teaching and restore ‘normality’. This seems increasingly unlikely. Questions about
the pandemic’s impact on students, academics, universities, and the wider expectations of
the role that we play in society and the economy beg to be addressed. We look forward to
publishing more thoughtful and thought-provoking reflections on, and interrogations of,
the changing context of higher education and its role in addressing the complex challenges
facing our planet.

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Stephen Marshall
Centre for Academic Development, Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand
Stephen.Marshall@vuw.ac.nz http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1404-9254

Susan Blackley
School of Education, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia

Wendy Green
School of Education, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia