Profile of Prof MACFARLANE, Bruce John 麥博思 - The Education University of Hong Kong


Chair Professor	Department of Education Policy and Leadership
Dean	Faculty of Education and Human Development

Contact

ORCiD

0000-0002-9399-6155

Phone

(852) 2948 8282

bmac@eduhk.hk

Address

10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong

Website

https://pappl.eduhk.hk/rich/web/person.xhtml?pid=284776&name=MACFARLANE, Bruce John

Research Outputs


Scholarly Books, Monographs and Chapters Oleksiyenko, A., Macfarlane, B., Bhowmik, M. and Oldac, Y.I. (2024). Inevitable Inequalities or Mismanaged Academic Recognition? In Pursuit of Epistemic Justice in Global Higher Education. Universities & Intellectuals, 11-18. Macfarlane, B. (2022). Re-framing the freedom to teach. In Olssen, M., Watermeyer, R. and Raaper, R., Handbook on Academic Freedom (147-159). UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-academic-freedom-9781788975902.html Macfarlane, B. (2022). The distrust of students as learners: myths and realities. P. Gibbs and P. Maassen, Trusting in Higher Education (89-100). UK: Springer. https://www.amazon.com/Trusting-in-Higher-Education_-A-multifaceted-discussion-of-trust-in-and-for-higher-education-in-Norway-and-the-United-Kingdom-_Higher-Education-Dynamics_-57_/dp/3030870367 Macfarlane, B. (2022). The Distrust of Students as Learners: Myths and Realities. In P. Gibbs and P. Maassen (Eds.), Trusting in Higher Education (89-100). Dordrecht: Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-87037-9_6
Journal Publications Bruce Macfarlane (2025). A typology of critique about higher education teaching: functional pragmatists, learning theorists, and critical theorists. Studies in Higher Education, -, -. Bruce Macfarlane (2024). The ideology of crisis in higher education. Higher Education Quarterly, 88, 1381-1402. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hequ.12500 Bruce Macfarlane (2024). Why choice of teaching method is essential to academic freedom: a dialogue with Finn. Teaching In Higher Education, 29, 536-548, Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.2007473 Bruce Macfarlane, Xiao Han (2024). The duty to explain: a positive defense of academic freedom in the social sciences. Teaching in Higher Education, 30, 1208-1220. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2024.2420935 Bruce Macfarlane, Shuangye Chen (2024). Academic Integrity in China. Springer International Handbooks of Education, -, 23-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-079-7_32-1 Bruce John MACFARLANE, Jason YEUNG (2024). The (re)invention of tradition in higher education research: 1976–2021. Studies in Higher Education, 49(2), 382-393. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2237691 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Bruce John MACFARLANE, Xiao Ivy HAN (2024). The duty to explain: A positive defence of academic freedom in the social sciences. Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2024.2420935 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education MACFARLANE, B. J., BOLDEN, R. & WATERMEYER, R. (2024). Three perspectives on leadership in higher education: Traditionalist, reformist, pragmatist. Higher Education, 88, 1381-1402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01174-x SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Prof Bruce Macfarlane (2023). The academic sabbatical as a symbol of change in higher education: From rest and recuperation to hyper-performativity. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2022.2140888 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Macfarlane, B. (2023). Academic leadership is important – and it has many pleasures. Times Higher Education, 9th May. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/academic-leadership-important-and-it-has-many-pleasures Macfarlane, B. (2022) The academic sabbatical as a symbol of change in higher education: from rest and recuperation to hyper-performativity, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management Macfarlane, B. (2022). Universities’ Sacred and Profane Terms are Blunting Critical Thinking. Times Higher Education, 9 June, p. 29. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/universities-sacred-and-profane-terms-are-blunting-critical-thinking Macfarlane, B. (2022). Methodology, Fake Learning, and Emotional Performativity. ECNY Review of Education, 5(1), 140-155. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2096531120984786 Macfarlane, B. (2022). A Voyage around the Ideological Islands of Higher Education Research. Higher Education Research & Development, 41(1), 107-115. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.2002275 Macfarlane, B. (2022) A voyage around the ideological islands of higher education research, Higher Education Research & Development, 41:1, 107-114 Macfarlane, B. (2022). Debating Higher Education. Journal of Praxis in Higher Education, 4, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.47989/kpdc.vol4.1.2022 Macfarlane, B. (2022). The closed academy? Guild power and academic social class. Higher Education Quarterly, 76(1), 36-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12305 Macfarlane, B. and Jefferson, A.E. (2022). The Closed Academy? Guild Power and Academic Social Class. Higher Education Quarterly, 76(1), 36-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12305 Macfarlane, B (2021). In Praise of Quiet Leadership, Universities & Intellectuals. Universities and Intellectuals, (1), 36-42. https://cerc.edu.hku.hk/universities-and-intellectuals/1-1/in-praise-of-quiet-leadership/ Macfarlane, B. (2021). Why Choice of Teaching Method is Essential to Academic Freedom: A Dialogue with Finn. Teaching in Higher Education, Online publication, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.2007473 Macfarlane, B. (2021). Why choice of teaching method is essential to academic freedom: a dialogue with Finn. Higher Education, N/A, N/A. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.2007473 Macfarlane, B. (2021). The Conceit of Activism in the Illiberal University. Policy Futures in Education, 19(5), 594-606. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F14782103211003422 Macfarlane, B. (2021). The Spirit of Research. Oxford Review of Education, 47(6), 737-751. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2021.1884058 Macfarlane, B. and Eriksen, M. (2020). The Right to Teach at University: A Humboldtian Perspective. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 53(11), 1136-1147. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1783245 Macfarlane, B. (2019). The Neoliberal Academic: Illustrating Shifting Academic Norms in an Age of Hyper-Performativity. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 53(5), 459-468. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2019.1684262
Conference Papers Bruce Macfarlane (2025, June). Academic Leadership and the Duty to Serve: Challenging Dystopian and Careerist Stereotypes. 1st Annual CHELPS Conference, Hong Kong, China. Bruce Macfarlane (2025, June). De-colonising what makes an academic ‘international’: developing criteria for evaluating global professorial talent. Seminar, Xiamen, China. Bruce Macfarlane (2025, June). Leading academics with a moral purpose: reimagining the duty to serve. 7th annual conference of the Philosophy and Theory in Higher Education Society (PATHES), Ireland. Bruce Macfarlane (2025, May). De-colonising and re-imagining the concept of the ‘international academic’. Seminar, Beijing, China. Bruce Macfarlane (2025, May). Identifying, nurturing and evaluating ‘international academics’: beyond post-colonial assumptions. Seminar, Beijing, China. Bruce Macfarlane (2025, May). Re-imagining academic leadership Beyond the Career/Obligation Dualism. Online dialogue series of the Global Education Deans Forum (GEDF), Online (China). Bruce Macfarlane (2024, November). The leadership of university internationalisation and (re)defining the ‘international academic’. APATE International Conference, Taipei, Taiwan. Bruce Macfarlane (2024, October). Re-examining the use of the term ‘international academic’: challenging post-colonial assumptions. Seminar, Macau, China. Bruce Macfarlane (2024, September). What is an ‘international academic’? Critically evaluating the assumptions of national identity and post-colonialism. Peking University Education Forum, Beijing, China.
All Other Outputs Macfarlane, B. (2022). Teaching awards are for losers, not winners. UK https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/teaching-awards-are-losers Macfarlane, B. (2022). Universities' scared and profane terms are blunting critical thinking. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/universities-sacred-and-profane-terms-are-blunting-critical-thinking

Projects


Diversifying Leadership in Elite Universities: The Development of an Empirically Grounded Recruitment Framework for the Global Higher Education Sector The project aims to identify any implicit biases in the recruitment processes and how this might impact on the appointment of leaders in elite universities; and to develop a recruitment framework for diversifying university leadership in elite universities Project Start Year: 2025, Principal Investigator(s): Sarah Jane Aiston (MACFARLANE, Bruce John as Co-Investigator)
Academic in-Breeding and Publication Patterns: An International Comparative Study This research project will research the publication patterns of early career academics (ECAs) working in selected research-intensive universities in Hong Kong, Canada and the UK in a cross-national empirical study. It will investigate the role of academic patronage in the publication profile of assistant professors via network analysis. Conceptually the study will build on the literature concerning academic cronyism and academic inbreeding to which the principal investigator has contributed. It will further build on the work of the PI in respect to issues concerning academic ethics and integrity and the effects of academic social class (Macfarlane & Jefferson, 2021). Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): MACFARLANE, Bruce John
Responsibility for Knowledge – A Collaborative Project with Boras University, Sweden This project will focus on student transition in higher education in terms of their development as learners, analyse student and staff expectations. It will make recommendations for strengthening learner autonomy and responsibility distinctive to the higher education context. The project represents a collaboration between the FEHD and the Faculty of Caring Science, Work Life & Social Science at the University of Borås, Sweden. Project Start Year: 2021, Principal Investigator(s): MACFARLANE, Bruce John

Prizes and awards


World's top 2% of scientists Standford University's list of "World's Top 2%" scientists is based on a 2% or above percentile rank, or the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations). This prestigious list identifies the world's leading researchers, representing approximately 2% of all scientists worldwide. It encompasses standardised data on citations, h-index, and a wide range of bibliometric indicators. Researchers are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields, drawing from Scopus data provided by Elsevier through ICSR Lab. Date of receipt: 7/10/2024, Conferred by: Standford University

World's top 2% of scientists
Standford University's list of "World's Top 2%" scientists is based on a 2% or above percentile rank, or the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations). This prestigious list identifies the world's leading researchers, representing approximately 2% of all scientists worldwide. It encompasses standardised data on citations, h-index, and a wide range of bibliometric indicators. Researchers are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields, drawing from Scopus data provided by Elsevier through ICSR Lab.
Date of receipt: 7/10/2024, Conferred by: Standford University