Abstract Unintended policy consequences in higher education may arise when reforms targeting specific student groups interact with stratified institutional landscapes, with potential spillover effects on structurally disadvantaged domestic populations. This article examines a policy reform aimed at international students—specifically, the 2014 tightening of admission criteria at a Swiss elite STEM higher education institution (HEI)—and its broader, unforeseen impact on first-generation domestic students. Using administrative data and a quasi-experimental design, we find lower attrition among international students after the policy change and no observable change in Swiss students’ graduation rates. At the same time, enrolment of Swiss students declines—most notably among first-generation students—with a compensating increase in enrolment at less selective institutions, concentrated in fields that overlap with the elite programmes affected by the policy. These patterns suggest that the reform altered both formal access and perceptions of attainability, risk and institutional fit, aligning with arguments of constrained educational choice. The findings highlight redistributive costs of regulating international student inflow—shifting opportunities away from first-generation domestic students—and call for system-level governance that anticipates indirect effects on equity.

Abstract This article offers a critical and historically grounded analysis of Nigeria’s university admission policy by interrogating its claims to equity through the lens of rural student representation. It draws on as reported by Bowe et al. (Reforming education and changing schools, Routledge, London, 1992) policy cycle model, and reframed to examine how inclusion is constructed, mediated, and ultimately undermined across four key dimensions: context of genesis, articulation, mediation and outcome. The current admissions policy allocates places through a single quota framework comprising merit, catchment, and Educationally Less Developed States (ELDS). Although designed to balance representation across ethnic and regional divides and meritocracy, this article argues that these provisions mask rather than remedy structural exclusion. Rural students are misrecognised within state-centric categories, with gendered and spatial inequalities rendered invisible by the policy's silence on intersectionality and its reliance on technocratic parity. Through critical analysis and interpretive engagement with policy texts, the paper reveals how administrative logics reproduce colonial legacies of segmentation, transforming the rhetoric of equity into a performative gesture. The article concludes by advocating a paradigmatic shift towards a justice-based model of inclusion, one that centres rurality not as a logistical anomaly, but as a historically situated and politically urgent axis of educational reform.

Abstract Affirmative action programs aimed at empowering female students have become a cornerstone in Ethiopian universities, yet their true impact remains largely unexplored. This study critically examines the implementation of such a program within the College of Natural and Computational Sciences at Madda Walabu University, using a qualitative case study rooted in empowerment theory. Through in-depth interviews with 27 purposively selected participants, the research uncovers a disconnection between the program’s intended empowerment goals and its real-world application. Despite broad support for affirmative action, dissatisfaction with its current execution was widespread. The findings call for urgent action by the college administration, urging collaboration with faculty to provide essential support mechanisms—tutorial classes, financial aid, and guidance counselling—to truly uplift and empower female students.

Abstract How did digital transformation and digital inequality manifest in South Africa’s higher education institutions during COVID-19, particularly comparing historically disadvantaged universities (HDUs) with historically advantaged universities (HAUs). This study is significant because it explores the direct impact of digital transformation on South African public universities and how digital inequality worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative research techniques were used in the study. The literature was collected from online repositories, and it was analysed using content analysis. The study covered all public HDUs and HAUs in South African public sector. Findings indicate that in terms of the state of digital transformation, HDUs lag behind HAUs for various reasons. The causes of digital inequality are multifaceted and include a lack of technology expertise, unredressed apartheid policies, poor network coverage, lack of access to information technology and poor infrastructure. These challenges can be addressed through policy reformulation, infrastructure development and institutional collaboration.

Abstract Contract cheating is a complex, growing, and now criminalised phenomenon, engendering debate and scholarship across academia, politics, law enforcement, and the community. Using Carol Bacchi’s (2012) “What’s the problem represented to be?” framework, this paper interrogates whether cheating is characterised in social, academic, and policy discourses as a problem of individual students’ academic integrity or reveals a more concerning, systematic crisis for international higher education and criminal justice, linked to traditional conceptions of crime and its associated harms. While often perceived as another product of intergenerational or cultural decay, we argue the criminalisation of cheating must be viewed within the context of socio-political debate about higher education. Knowing what the problem is, and how and/or why it is represented is crucial to finding comprehensive and long-lasting solutions, where the lessons learned from the Australian context can inform the next steps for international higher education.