States, demographics and competitiveness of America's best universities
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the US News and World Report's competitive ratings of US universities with various state level demographic variables using cross‐sectional data.Design/methodology/approach – Secondary data for the study were collected from the US News and World Report, Demographics USA, other US statistical sources. Regression and correlation analysis determined the relationships.Findings – Findings indicate that the competitive rating of the US News and World Report universities can be explained by the Buying Power Index (BPI) of the state in which the university is located, per capita federal transfer payments in education, and proportion of out‐of‐state students. International students and ethnic enrollment also show some relationship with competitive rating. Diversity adds to competitiveness. The ratings of the universities are related to the BPI of the state and per capita federal transfer, both of which are uncontrollable variables for th...
Providing a Desirable Model of Competition for Educational Progress in University (Case study: Islamic Azad University)
Article Info Introduction: Many phenomena have changed and changes is no longer an opportunity for higher education and universities, but it is a necessity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve the future competitiveness of Islamic Azad University units . Methods: The research was developmental and applied with a mixed approach. The statistical population and sample in the qualitative section include scientific and academic experts with managerial positions and in the quantitative section include the faculty members of the Islamic Azad University of Tehran. Sampling method was selected in qualitative and quantitative sections as possible and non-probabilistic sampling. The instrument was made from a researcher-made questionnaire and the validity of the research were based on standard, content and construct validity. For structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis, SPSS and LISREL
Religiosity and Secularization in the Academic Professions.
Data on present and past religiosity of university faculty members in six major academic fields suggest that the relatively high present religiosity of members of "applied" fields is the result of a selective process and a low rate of secularization. This also accounts for the lower religiosity of natural scientists. But low religiosity in the humanities more often is due to late secularization. Both the latter and a selective process underlie low religiosity among social scientists. Religious beliefs are a better predictor of perceived conflict between religious convictions and academic knowledge and of concern about it than is academic field. Academic field, however, is the better predictor of modes of relating these two spheres of ideas to each other.