Key words: student-staff partnership, student participation, higher education

"Building student-staff partnerships in higher education"

The aim of this PhD dissertation was to explore student-staff partnerships (SSPs). SSPs can be defined as a collaboration between students and staff members in which they contribute equally, although not necessary in the same way to decision-making processes and educational improvement. This research examined students’ current experiences and preferences regarding SSPs, staff members’ conceptions of SSPs and the prerequisites of SSPs. Five studies were conducted using qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods and literature study designs. These studies showed that students would like to be more actively involved as partners in the process of improving education. This held true for both students who were already actively involved in improving education and those who were not. Staff members were also open to SSP formation as long as they would still have the final say in decisions about improving education.

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