Higher education: Change, churn and challenges -- Changing notions of risk: The realities of studying in a post-92 university -- Transitioning from higher education stories from students in a STEM discipline -- 'Academics online': Self promotion, competition and celebrification -- 'Higher standards and better informed students or false promises and 'gaming' the system?': Competition, metrics and the consumerism of students in UK higher education -- Weaving through the Web: How students navigate information online in the twenty-first century -- Academic diversity and its implications for teaching and learning -- Let's keep it casual? Rising precarity and acts of resistance in UK universities -- Meanings, models and muddles: Two tales of the pursuit of teaching excellence -- Mental health and wellbeing in higher education -- The development of knowledge in the modern and postmodern universities -- Disability, diversity and inclusive placement learning -- How to promote real equality in higher education -- Higher education: Contemplating the contradictions, complexities and challenges.

"This insightful book offers a wide-ranging collection of lively discussions on contemporary issues, policies and practices in Higher Education. Bartram integrates contributions from experienced academics, teachers and students in a unique approach and structure, designed to enable students with both specific and wide-ranging interests in Higher Education to extend their understanding. Including discussion points, research tasks and suggestions on further reading in each chapter, Understanding Contemporary Issues in Higher Education discusses a range of topics, such as: Universities and the mental health 'crisis'; Knowledge, the state and the market; The role of technology in teaching and academic celebrification; Disability, diversity and inclusive placement learning. Written specifically for Education Studies students, this book constitutes a timely addition to student-focused themed studies looking at aspects of higher education"--