Transparency in Higher Education: An Investigation of University Students’ Perceptions in Italy and Russia

Abstract

The primary purpose of this research is to investigate students’ perceptions of the presence of transparency in their university teaching/learning processes. Effects of transparency in achievement, motivation, and anxiety were explored from the perspective of teachers’, one’s own, and peers’ behaviour. The secondary objective of the study was to create a valid tool for investigating “transpa- rency” perception in university educational practices, based on the theoretical assumption that transparency reduces performance anxiety, stimulates study mo- tivation, and represents a universal construct across universities, countries, cultures and courses of study. A sample of 439 undergraduates from leading research universities in Russia and Italy completed self-report scales and reported demographic data. The scales showed internal consistency and structural invariance in both countries. Research results confirmed the hypothesis from which the investigation originated. Based on the findings, essential tips for future investigations of transparency perception at universities have been developed.