OR

Browse By

Dr Ravinder Sidhu

Associate Professor

School of Education
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
r.sidhu@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 56649

Overview

My research interest may be seen to lie within one or more of the following areas

· Postcolonial sociologies of education

· Critical governmentality studies

· Student mobilities.

· Studies of globalization and transnationalism in relation to education institutions, policies and practices

· International higher education governance

· Development and education

These interests probably have something to do with my personal biography. I am a first generation ‘education migrant’ whose parents migrated to Australia at the tail end of the 1970s, their postcolonial dream unraveled by the cultural politics of new nationhood. We came to live in Western Australia at the end of one mining boom (this one was Japan driven), and the start of a major economic restructuring project that would transform the Australia economy, and the lifestyles and livelihoods of many of its citizens. I finished high school and then majored in Microbiology at the University of Western Australia, before working for two years in a genetics laboratory on the molecular aspects of change in anaerobic bacteria. I subsequently moved disciplines to the social sciences, completed a degree in Social Work, and worked for a decade in a number of areas ranging from child protection and juvenile justice to ‘educational development assistance’, multicultural counselling, refugee settlement and international student advising. In 1999, I commenced my PhD studies. My thesis investigated the workings of the education export industry using postcolonial and poststructuralist frameworks. It critically appraised the concept of globalisation and its use to govern international education. Through this work, I developed an interest in the different actors in the cast of globalization - international students, transnational scientists, and refugees and asylum seekers.

My more recent research has focused on emerging education hubs in Singapore and Malaysia and the transnational mobilities of ‘knowledge workers’ recruited to these emerging knowledge spatialities. I am also investigating the temporal reach and recontextualisation of colonial knowledges and practices on assembling ‘postcolonial’ subjectivities in the context of Southeast Asia. I have a strong interest in empirical work and welcome enquires from students who are interested in deep and substantive engagement with theoretical frameworks. Being a cultural, professional and disciplinary hybrid, I am keen to work across disciplines.

I am actively involved in three research projects at present, all concerned variously with investigations of mobility:

  • Globalising Universities and International Student Mobilities in East Asia, Funded by the Ministry of Education, Government of Singapore
  • Transnational Knowledge Workers in the Life-and Technosciences, Funded by the University of Queensland
  • Inbound and Outbound Student Mobility, Funded by the University of Queensland.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Masters (Coursework) of Education, Queensland University of Technology
  • Bachelor (Honours), The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Science, University of Western Australia

Publications

View all Publications

Grants

View all Grants

Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Book

Book Chapter

  • Internationalization and Education-Related Mobility in Asia-Pacific Universities

    Ho, K. C., Sidhu, Ravinder and Yeoh, Brenda S. A. (2023). Internationalization and Education-Related Mobility in Asia-Pacific Universities. The Oxford Handbook of Higher Education in the Asia-Pacific Region. (pp. 268-C13.P115) Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192845986.013.13

  • Governing the international university: the intellectual and ethical challenges of leadership

    Sidhu, Ravinder and Ishikawa, Mayumi (2022). Governing the international university: the intellectual and ethical challenges of leadership. The Palgrave handbook of educational leadership and management discourse. (pp. 83-99) edited by Fenwick W. English. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan; Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-99097-8_95

  • National policies on education abroad outcomes

    van Gaalen, Adinda, Huisman, Jeroen and Sidhu, Ravinder (2021). National policies on education abroad outcomes. Education Abroad: Bridging Scholarship and Practice. (pp. 203-217) edited by Anthony C. Ogden, Bernhard Streitwieser and Christof Van Mol. Abingdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429431463-13

  • Emotional Geographies of International Students: Beginning an East Asian Conversation

    Sidhu, Ravinder K., Kong Chong, Ho and Yeoh, Brenda S. A. (2020). Emotional Geographies of International Students: Beginning an East Asian Conversation. Mobility and Politics. (pp. 1-29) Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-27856-4_1

  • International Branch Campuses

    Sidhu, Ravinder (2020). International Branch Campuses. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education. (pp. 838-841) Thousand Oaks, CA United States: SAGE Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781529714395.n313

  • The Cultural Politics of Emplacement

    Sidhu, Ravinder K., Kong Chong, Ho and Yeoh, Brenda S. A. (2020). The Cultural Politics of Emplacement. Mobility and Politics. (pp. 85-114) Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-27856-4_4

  • Singapore: building a knowledge and education hub

    Sidhu, Ravinder, Ho, Kong-Chong and Yeoh, Brenda S. A. (2014). Singapore: building a knowledge and education hub. International Education Hubs: Student, Talent, Knowledge-Innovation Models. (pp. 121-143) edited by Jane Knight. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-7025-6_8

  • Australian universities and the challenges of internationalisation

    Hickling-Hudson, Anne and Sidhu, Ravinder (2011). Australian universities and the challenges of internationalisation. Universities and global diversity: Preparing educators for tomorrow. (pp. 157-175) edited by Beverly Lindsay and Wanda J. Blanchett. New York, USA: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203839690

  • The global schoolhouse: Governing Singapore's knowledge economy aspirations

    Sidhu, Ravinder, Chong, Ho Kong and Yeoh, Brenda (2011). The global schoolhouse: Governing Singapore's knowledge economy aspirations. Higher education in the Asia-Pacific: Strategic responses to globalization. (pp. 255-271) edited by Simon Marginson, Sarjit Kaur and Erlenawati Sawir. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-1500-4_13

  • The 'Singapore Sling': When world class universities come to town

    Sidhu, Ravinder (2010). The 'Singapore Sling': When world class universities come to town. Re-positioning university governance and academic work. (pp. 35-51) edited by Jill Blackmore, Marie Brennan and Lew Zipin. Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

  • A tale of two cities: Globalisation, education, and governmentality in Singapore and Hong Kong

    Cheung, Wing-leong and Sidhu, Ravinder (2001). A tale of two cities: Globalisation, education, and governmentality in Singapore and Hong Kong. Creating New Dialogues: Policy, Pedagogy and Reform. (pp. 127-136) edited by Ros Capeness, Anne Kolatsis and Annette Woods. Flaxton, Qld: Post Pressed.

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • The Paradox of University Autonomy: Power and Politics in University Governance

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

Completed Supervision

For Media assistance please contact The Office of Marketing and Communications, (07) 3365 1120

Links

ResearcherID:

ORCID: 0000-0001-8790-021X

Scopus ID: 19934369900

Google Scholar ID:

Unit Links
Other Media

Related Resources

Similar Staff
Researchers in Associated Units
Fields of Research