Autonomy has been considered both as a precondition and a crucial learning outcome of higher education. Recent research has been focusing on measuring university students’ autonomy or its development. However, whether and how students’ autonomy can be measured quantitatively is still debatable. Although autonomy is known as a changing process and varies among individuals, it is agreed that students’ learning behaviours are largely affected by their perceptions; very few studies, however, have examined students’ own perception of autonomy. This study, therefore, adopts a longitudinal qualitative approach to investigate the changes in students’ own perceptions of autonomy over five different times during their first-year study in a Hong Kong University, and examine the relationship between the perceptions and behaviours of their autonomy. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews with eight first-year students, the study found that although the participants held some common understanding of autonomy, they also demonstrated various interpretations of this concept. They also had a slightly different focus on different dimensions of autonomy, which were affected by their own individual experiences. An individualistic approach is therefore proposed to understand students’ development of autonomy. Copyright © 2022 Taylor & Francis.

The growing complexity of doing a PhD necessarily demands candidates to robustly exercise their agency in navigating the doctoral journey. However, the conceptualisation of how students use their agency across multiple facets of their studies has yet to receive due scholarly attention. Drawing on the subject-centred sociocultural view on agency, this study analysed life story interviews conducted with 16 doctoral students in Hong Kong. Findings show that participants’ agency was manifested both in socially and collectively organised enterprises (proactive engagement in a wide array of developmental opportunities, responsiveness to situational research problems, contestation against unsupportive institutional cultures) and as individual-level strategic perspectives and actions (self-management of everyday emotions, imaginative construction of post-graduation prospects). Concurrently, the results shed light on the inextricable and complex linkages between the enactment of agency and the personal, relational, institutional, and broader higher education conditions delimiting students’ lived experiences of candidature. Implications for educational practices and future research beneficial to develop doctoral agency are discussed. Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited.

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is often seen to be constraining and focused on specific skill development for specific occupations. This goal is at odds with the demands of a knowledge economy that requires more general educational outcomes for an uncertain and unpredictable labour market. For this reason, Hui (2012) has adopted a broader definition of student learning outcomes and assessed the extent to which ‘cultural literacy’ might be a preferred goal for TVET to supplement the skills training element. Cultural literacy refers to an individual’s world view, ways to interact with people, character, personal ethics, values and style. Hui’s study highlighted the need for TVET to emphasise the development of these generic outcomes, students’ comprehensive attitudes and personal qualities in particular. To achieve greater control over the quality of outcomes, this study aims to investigate the influence of students’ participation in institutional activities on their growth. Through modifying the well-known National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), this study examines the relationship between the five benchmarks of effective educational practice and students’ cultural literacy and their self-reported academic performance. Results of a survey study of 238 Hong Kong TVET students indicated that some of the benchmarks could predict to a strong and moderate degree these two important outcomes. It is argued that proper planning and facilitation of educationally purposive activities could enhance both their learning and development. This article will contribute to the discussion on how to advance TVET students’ learning performance.
[Copyright © 2014 Behalf of UCU.]

In response to the early Education Reform Proposal's recommendation to provide more diverse opportunities for lifelong learning at the senior secondary level and beyond, there has been a considerable expansion in the post-secondary education sector -- Professional and Vocational Education (PVE) -- in Hong Kong over the past ten years. The curriculum intention underlying these PVE programmes is straightforward: to equip youth with the necessary knowledge and skills to face future work challenges and continue their studies. However, this ideal is being challenged with regard to the extent to which students are 'culturally literate'. This paper reports 214 Hong Kong PVE students' views about how important it is for people to possess the knowledge and skills for cultural literacy, and how well they think they are performing in relation to the corresponding indicators. Supported by qualitative interviews, the results indicated that the proposed eight constructs are critical to understanding cultural literacy in the Hong Kong PVE context. Also, while students agreed that these sets of knowledge and skills were important, they were not performing them well. A paired samples t-test suggested a significant difference between their perceptions and performance, and large values of Cohen's d confirmed the size of the effect was medium to large. Among the measured eight constructs, nurturing students for 'social and civic responsibility' was found to be critical. This paper will contribute to the discussion about how to better position the PVE curriculum in Hong Kong to nurture students' cultural literacy.
Copyright of Journal of Further and Higher Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd.

The transition into university life is crucial to the future achievements of the students. However, the experience of the transition may be different between male and female students, but this has not been empirically investigated in previous research. The purpose of this study is to examine the gender differences in the perception of university support. This research is based on a survey of 265 students from five universities in Hong Kong. The findings show that (i) more female students perceive the university as being supportive in their academic adjustment than male students; (ii) more male than female students perceive the university as being supportive in their social adjustment; and (iii) more male than female students perceive the university as being supportive in their psychological adjustment. Finally, the implications of the study are explored and discussed.
[Copyright of Journal of Further and Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2011.645460]

An examination of the literature suggests that universities play a part in developing generic capabilities needed nowadays for societies, through immersing students in a stimulating campus environment. Part time students, though, spend less time on campus than their full time counterparts, and far less time than on-campus residents, so could be expected to experience a less rich study environment. It might, therefore, be questioned whether there is a mechanism by which universities can influence to any great extent the development of these capabilities in part time students. The aim of this study was to determine the mechanism by which the study environment influences the development of eight qualities for part time students. An instrument was developed to seek the perceptions of the development of the eight capabilities and of eight variables identified as important elements in the part time study environment. The sample consisted of 1149 graduates from part time programmes of one university in Hong Kong. The inter-relationship of the 16 scales was then examined through a three-step procedure by utilizing structural equation modeling. The result showed that there were a number of significant paths between factors on the study environment side of the model and latent factors linking the eight capabilities. The resulting model showed that there were viable mechanisms by which the part time study environment can influence the development of these generic capabilities through the establishment of relationships between staff and students and between student peers, and through producing an atmosphere conducive to interaction in part time study.
[Copyright of Journal of Further and Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03098870500103101]