Journal of Research and Innovation in Higher Education

Beyond Academics: Understanding the Well-Being Crisis in Brazilian Higher Education

2026-09-09T20:38:33+00:00

Brazilian higher education faces a deepening well-being crisis among its student population, marked not only by psychological distress but also by entrenched socio-economic inequalities and institutional governance dynamics. Despite extensive documentation of mental health challenges among Brazilian university students, a critical research gap remains: existing studies focus predominantly on prevalence rates and individual risk factors while neglecting the institutional and governance mechanisms that mediate these outcomes. This paper explores how socio-economic vulnerabilities, beyond individual psychological factors, shape undergraduate student well-being and analyses the mediating role of institutional arrangements and governance practices. Framed by contemporary literature on student mental health, socio-economic inequality, and higher education governance, the analysis synthesizes recent empirical and theoretical findings from Brazilian and international contexts. The discussion is anchored in a governance perspective, examining how decision-making structures, resource allocation, accountability mechanisms, and organizational culture interact with persistent inequalities to shape well-being outcomes. The paper concludes with specific policy recommendations aimed at institutional reform, resource redistribution, and governance strategies to promote equity and improve student well-being across Brazil’s higher education system.

The Third Space in the Neoliberal Higher Education Systems of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan: Serving Society or Servicing the Market?

2026-09-09T21:16:58+00:00

In recent years, the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Asia have undergone major systemic reforms. Whether it be Bangladesh’s Vision 2041, which aims to develop global human capital, with potential risks of moving towards the commodification of education, to India’s National Education Policy (2020) which introduces a ‘light but tight’ governance framework, thereby inviting private players in the market and Pakistan’s modernization agenda of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), such reforms risk stifling academic freedom and fuel debates between scholars and industry professionals. With the emergence of private players, the competition among HEIs has increased significantly, resulting in high tuition fees. The question arises, how can higher education continue to remain equitable for the underserved sections of society? We look at the higher education systems in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan to get insights from higher education professionals on the challenges faced by HEIs in the dynamic higher education landscape and the growing need for ‘third space’ individuals to balance academic autonomy with growing market needs. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the higher education institutions in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, and how third-space individuals can play a crucial role in navigating the innovation versus efficiency debate in higher education institutions.

Research Governance and Capacity Building in Peruvian Public Universities: Navigating Autonomy, Quality, and Regional Disparities

2026-09-09T21:32:46+00:00

Following the 2014 university reform and subsequent legislative shifts introduced in 2022 through Law 31520, Peru’s higher education system is navigating a critical tension between state-led quality assurance and institutional autonomy. While scientific production tripled between 2015 and 2020, over 80% of public university output remains outside high-impact quartiles, highlighting a divergence between volume and excellence. Furthermore, acute structural asymmetries persist, with 60% of researchers and 40% of doctoral programs concentrated in Lima. This paper analyzes how current governance structures shape research capacity and argues for a transition from bureaucratic compliance to a differentiated governance framework. Grounded in the Holistic Maturity Model (MMU-PE), the study proposes a shift toward maturity-based performance funding to optimize public budget execution for research development in Peru’s peripheral public universities. This risk of institutional "autarchy" or a severe rollback of quality metrics stems from a specific governance mechanism introduced by Law 31520: the structural restructuring of SUNEDU’s board of directors to directly re-incorporate active university rectors and institutional representatives into the regulatory body. By dissolving the independent, competitive selection process of regulators, this composition creates an inherent conflict of interest, transforming an external supervisory body back into a self-regulating guild. This structural shift allows underperforming institutions to block external accountability measures, threatening the enforcement of Basic Quality Conditions (CBC). Finally, the paper advocates for institutional alliances where established research hubs act as anchors to serve as administrative proxy handlers for joint research funds, protecting peripheral partners from procurement backlogs without breaking national financial codes.

Publish or Perish? Academic Publishing Pressure, Sustainability, and Institutional Research: A PRISMA-Based Systematic Review

2026-09-09T21:47:34+00:00

Academic publishing pressure has evolved into a defining feature of modern higher education, driven by a global shift toward metric-based evaluation regimes and performance-oriented governance. While the “publish or perish” culture is a frequent topic of debate, much of the existing research remains fragmented. Studies often treat academic publishing pressure as personal issues, separating from mechanisms of institution management, which makes it difficult to see how they truly interconnected. Thus, this review aims to address this gap by examining academic publishing pressure together with its impact on sustainability and Institutional Research (IR) in higher education.

Using a PRISMA-based review approach, this paper synthesizes 15 peer-reviewed and policy-oriented publications. Guided by three research questions, it analyzes how academic publishing pressure is described and measured, how it affects sustainability at individual, institutional, and knowledge-system levels, and how IR mediates these dynamics. The findings indicate that academic publishing pressure is the structural outcome of metric-driven evaluation and governance systems, and has impact on individual academics, institutional priorities, and knowledge production. Among these, IR functions as a key mediator that can either reinforce the status quo or help transform research evaluation toward more sustainable practices.

Decoupling and the Reconfiguration of Higher Education Governance in Georgia

2026-09-09T22:05:23+00:00

Since joining the Bologna Process in 2005, Georgia has aligned its higher education system with European Higher Education Area (EHEA) standards, including three-cycle degrees and external quality assurance. This article examines the 2025 National Concept for Reforming the Higher Education System, introduced amid stalled EU accession negotiations, the quality assurance agency's suspension from the European Quality Assurance Register, and university protests. Because the reform remains before parliament, the analysis concerns its design rather than its realised effects. It argues that the reform retains the formal instruments of European participation while its centralising measures weaken the institutional autonomy they were intended to protect.

To account for this pattern, the paper applies the External Incentives Model in reverse, from rule adoption to rule retreat. For two decades, Georgia adopted European rules because the expected rewards of EU integration outweighed the domestic costs. As the credibility and proximity of those rewards have declined, while the political costs of conceding university autonomy have risen, the incentive for substantive compliance has weakened. Yet because openly abandoning those structures would forfeit the legitimacy already accrued, the government retains them while reducing their substantive function. Drawing on neo-institutional theories of isomorphism and decoupling, the paper shows how formal structures can persist after the purposes they served are withdrawn. The Georgian case indicates that EU conditionality loses its effectiveness once domestic costs exceed the benefits of integration.