Trends In Global Higher Education: Tracking An Academic Revolution

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Trends in Global Higher Education:Tracking an Academic RevolutionA Report Prepared for theUNESCO 2009 World Conference on Higher EducationPhilip G. AltbachLiz ReisbergLaura E. RumbleyPublished with support from SIDA/SAREC

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page 1Trends in Global Higher Education:Tracking an Academic RevolutionA Report Prepared for theUNESCO 2009 World Conference on Higher EducationPhilip G. AltbachLiz ReisbergLaura E. Rumbley

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page 2The editors and authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the factscontained in this document and for the opinions expressed therein, which are notnecessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.The designations employed and the presentation of the material throughout thisdocument do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part ofUNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of itsauthorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.Published in 2009by the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SPSet and printed in the workshops of UNESCOGraphic design - www.barbara-brink.comCover photos UNESCO/A. Abbe UNESCO/M. Loncarevic UNESCO/V. M. C. VictoriaED.2009/Conf.402/inf.5 UNESCO 2009Printed in France

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page iTable of ContentsTable of ContentsExecutive SummaryiiiPrefacexxiiiAbbreviationsxxvi1. Introduction12. Globalization and Internationalization233. Access and Equity374. Quality Assurance, Accountability, and QualificationFrameworks515. Financing Higher Education676. Private Higher Education and Privatization797. The Centrality and Crisis of the Academic Profession898. The Student Experience979. Teaching, Learning, and Assessment11110. Information and Communications Technologies and DistanceEducation12311. Research13912. University-Industry Linkages15313. Future Trends165References173Appendix: Statistical Tables193About the Authors243About the Contributors245i

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page iiExecutiveSummary

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page iiiExecutive SummaryAn academic revolution has taken place in higher education in the past half centurymarked by transformations unprecedented in scope and diversity. Comprehendingthis ongoing and dynamic process while being in the midst of it is not an easy task.Arguably, the developments of the recent past are at least as dramatic as those in the19th century when the research university evolved, first in Germany and thenelsewhere, and fundamentally redesigned the nature of the university worldwide. Theacademic changes of the late 20th and early 21st centuries are more extensive dueto their global nature and the number of institutions and people they affect.This report is especially devoted to examining the changes that have taken place sincethe 1998 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education. While many trendsincluded in this report were discussed in 1998, they have intensified in the pastdecade. Here we examine the main engines of change and their impact on highereducation.Much of this report is concerned with the ways in which higher education hasresponded to the challenge of massification. The "logic" of massification is inevitableand includes greater social mobility for a growing segment of the population, newpatterns of funding higher education, increasingly diversified higher education systemsin most countries, generally an overall lowering of academic standards, and othertendencies. Like many of the trends addressed in this report, while massification is nota new phase, at this "deeper stage" of ongoing revolution in higher education it mustbe considered in different ways. At the first stage, higher education systems struggledjust to cope with demand, the need for expanded infrastructure and a larger teachingiii

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page ivExecutive Summarycorps. During the past decade systems have begun to wrestle with the implicationsof diversity and to consider which subgroups are still not being included andappropriately served.In the early 21st century, higher education has become a competitive enterprise. Inmany countries students must compete for scarce places in universities and in allcountries admission to the top institutions has become more difficult. Universitiescompete for status and ranking, and generally for funding from governmental orprivate sources. While competition has always been a force in academe and can helpproduce excellence, it can also contribute to a decline in a sense of academiccommunity, mission and traditional values.The impact of globalizationGlobalization, a key reality in the 21st century, has already profoundly influencedhigher education. We define globalization as the reality shaped by an increasinglyintegrated world economy, new information and communications technology (ICT),the emergence of an international knowledge network, the role of the Englishlanguage, and other forces beyond the control of academic institutions.Internationalization is defined as the variety of policies and programs that universitiesand governments implement to respond to globalization. These typically includesending students to study abroad, setting up a branch campus overseas, or engagingin some type of inter-institutional partnership.Universities have always been affected by international trends and to a certain degreeoperated within a broader international community of academic institutions, scholars,and research. Yet, 21st century realities have magnified the importance of the globalcontext. The rise of English as the dominant language of scientific communication isunprecedented since Latin dominated the academy in medieval Europe. Informationand communications technologies have created a universal means of instantaneouscontact and simplified scientific communication. At the same time, these changes havehelped to concentrate ownership of publishers, databases, and other key resources inthe hands of the strongest universities and some multinational companies, locatedalmost exclusively in the developed world.For some the impact of globalization on higher education offers exciting newopportunities for study and research no longer limited by national boundaries. Forothers the trend represents an assault on national culture and autonomy. It isiv

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page vExecutive Summaryundoubtedly both. At the very least, with 2.5 million students, countless scholars,degrees and universities moving about the globe freely there is a pressing need forinternational cooperation and agreements. But agreements on, for example,international benchmarks and standards to properly evaluate unfamiliar foreignqualifications are not reached easily.Internationalization has been very prominent at regional and international level. TheBologna Process and Lisbon Strategy in Europe are the clearest examples ofinternational engagement at this level, with the first drawing more than 40 countriesinto a voluntary process of enabling a European Higher Education Area. This hasbecome a reference for similar efforts elsewhere in the world (ENLACES in LatinAmerica, development of a harmonization strategy in the African Union, BrisbaneCommuniqué initiative launched by twenty-seven countries in the Asia-Pacific region,discussions by ministers of education in South East Asia).The last decade has also seen a veritable explosion in numbers of programs andinstitutions that are operating internationally. Qatar, Singapore and the United ArabEmirates stand out as examples of countries that have boldly promotedinternationalization as a matter of national policies: they have recruited prestigiousforeign universities to establish local campuses, with the goal of expanding access forthe local student population and serving as higher education "hubs" for their regions.But for the world's poorest countries and most resource-deprived institutions, theopportunities to engage internationally can be extremely limited.Inequality among national higher education systems as well as within countries hasincreased in the past several decades. The academic world has always beencharacterized by centers and peripheries. The strongest universities, usually becauseof their research prowess and reputation for excellence, are seen as centers. Africanuniversities for example, have found it extremely challenging and complex to findtheir footing on the global higher education stage - they barely register on worldinstitutional rankings and league tables and produce a tiny percentage of the world'sresearch output.There is growing tension around the center-periphery dynamic. Developing countriesoften desire world-class universities on par with the traditional universities at "thecenter". The rankings of academic institutions and degree programs add to thistension. International rankings favour universities that use English as the main languagev

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page viExecutive Summaryof instruction and research, have a large array of disciplines and programs andsubstantial research funds from government or other sources. These rankings havemethodological problems but they are widely used and influential, and show no signsof disappearing.The wealth of nations and universities plays a key role in determining the quality andcentrality of a university or academic system. This places developing countries at asignificant disadvantage, and puts special strains on most academic systems facing thedilemma of expanded enrollment and the need to support top-quality researchuniversities.The phenomenon of massificationResponding to mass demand has driven many of the key transformations of the pastdecades. This expansion has been driven by the shift to post-industrial economies, therise of service industries and the knowledge economy.The United States was the first country to achieve mass higher education, with 40%of the age cohort attending post-secondary education in 1960. While somedeveloping countries still educate fewer than 10 percent of the age group, almost allcountries have dramatically increased their participation rates. Western Europe andJapan experienced rapid growth in the 1980s, followed by the developed countriesof East Asia and Latin American countries. China and India, currently the world'slargest and third largest academic systems respectively, have been growing rapidly andwill continue to do so.Globally, the percentage of the age cohort enrolled in tertiary education has grownfrom 19% in 2000 to 26% in 2007, with the most dramatic gains in upper middle andupper income countries. There are some 150.6 million tertiary students globally,roughly a 53% increase over 2000. In low-income countries tertiary-level participationhas improved only marginally, from 5% in 2000 to 7% in 2007. Sub-Saharan Africa hasthe lowest participation rate in the world (5%). In Latin America, enrolment is still lessthan half that of high-income countries. Attendance entails significant private coststhat average 60% of GDP per capita. (Figure 1)vi

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page viiExecutive SummaryFigure 1. Tertiary gross enrolment ratio by geographical region, 2000and 20078020002007South and h Americaand WesternEuropeCentral andEastern EuropeLatin Americaand theCaribbeanCentral AsiaEast Asia andthe PacificArab StatesWorld-Note:These data include all post-secondary students (ISCED4, 5 and 6)Inequalities in accessDespite many policy initiatives in recent years broader postsecondary participationhas not benefited all sectors of society equally. A recent comparative study of 15countries shows that despite greater inclusion, the privileged classes have retainedtheir relative advantage in nearly all nations.Providing higher education to all sectors of a nation's population means confrontingsocial inequalities deeply rooted in history, culture and economic structure thatinfluence an individual's ability to compete. Geography, unequal distribution of wealthand resources all contribute to the disadvantage of certain population groups.Participation tends to be below national average for populations living in remote orrural areas and for indigenous groups.A number of governments have put measures in place to increase access: Mexico'sMinistry of Education has invested in the development of additional educationalservices in disadvantaged areas with some success: 90 percent of students enrolledare first in their family to pursue higher education, 40% live in economically depressedvii

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page viiiExecutive Summaryareas. Initiatives in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania havelowered admission cut-offs for women to increase female enrollment. The Indiangovernment obliges universities to reserve a set of spaces for "socially and backwardclasses". There has been modest improvement but participation of lower castes, ruralpopulations and Muslims lags behind the general population and lower castes tend tobe clustered in less expensive programs. In Brazil the legislature has mandateduniversities to reserve space for disabled and Afro-Brazilian students.Even in countries where enrolment is high, inequalities persist: in the United States,participation rates for minority students continue to lag behind. Community collegeshave made tertiary education more accessible but research shows that the likelihoodthat community college students will continue on to a four-year degree is largelydetermined by the socioeconomic status of the student's family, regardless of race orethnicity.Cost remains an enormous barrier to access. Even where tuition is free, students haveto bear indirect costs such as living expenses and often loss of income. Scholarships,grant and/or loan programs are demonstrating some degree of success but cannot bythemselves remove economic barriers. Fear of debt tends to be a greater deterrentfor students from poorer backgrounds. Income-contingent loan schemes (whererepayment plans are tied to post-graduation earnings) have gained popularity inAustralia, New Zealand and South Africa but are still more attractive to middle andlower-middle class students. Mexico has introduced loan programs that make theprivate sector more accessible to a broader spectrum of families. Chile has introduceda new loan program that targets students from low-income families.Increasing student mobilityMore than 2.5 million students are studying outside their home countries. Estimatespredict the rise to 7 million international students by 2020. One of the most visibleaspects of globalization is student mobility (Figure 2). The flow of internationalstudents has been a reflection of national and institutional strategies but also thedecisions of individual students worldwide.viii

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page ixExecutive SummaryFigure 2. Number of internationally mobile students by region ofdestination, 2000 and 2007Year 2000: total number 1,825 thousandNorth America and Western EuropeEast Asia and the PacificCentral and Eastern EuropeArab StatesYear 2007: total number 2,800 thousandSub-Saharan AfricaCentral AsiaLatin America and the CaribbeanSouth and West AsiaThe mobility of international students involves two main trends. One consists ofstudents from Asia entering the major academic systems of North America, WesternEurope, and Australia. Countries like the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada haveadjusted visa and immigration requirements to attract foreign students, motivated toa significant degree by the desire to maintain economic competitiveness and realizefinancial gains by enrolling large numbers of full fee-paying internationals. The other iswithin the European Union as part of its various programs to encourage studentmobility. Globally, international student mobility largely reflects a South-Northphenomenon.Universities and academic systems themselves have developed many strategies tobenefit from the new global environment and attract nonresident students. Someuniversities in non-English-speaking countries have established degree programs inEnglish to attract students from other countries. Universities have establishedpartnerships with academic institutions in other countries in order to offer degree anddifferent academic programs, develop research projects, and collaborate in a varietyix

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page xExecutive Summaryof ways. Branch campuses, off-shore academic programs, and franchisingarrangements for academic degrees represent only a few manifestations of suchinternationalization strategies.The enormous challenge confronting higher education is how to make internationalopportunities available to all equitably. The students and scholars most likely to takeadvantage of the range of new opportunities in a globalized higher educationenvironment are typically the wealthiest or otherwise socially privileged. If currenttrends of internationalization continue, the distribution of the world's wealth andtalent will be further skewed.Teaching, learning and curriculaAccess if more than 'getting through the door'. True progress depends on levels ofcompletion for all population groups. Here data is scarce. But what is clear is that anincreasingly diverse student body also creates pressure to put in place new systemsfor academic support and innovative approaches to pedagogy. Research shows howuniversity teaching influences student engagement in the classroom. Mexico hascreated new "intercultural universities" grounded in indigenous philosophies, cultures,languages and histories. Student diversity has also contributed to an increase in thepopularity of many professionally oriented programs and institutions, notably in thebusiness and ICT fields.While it is difficult to generalize globally, the mission of most institutions in mostcountries today is to teach less of the basic disciplines and offer more in the way ofprofessional programs to a far wider range of students than in the past. Questionsabout curriculum and higher education's purpose are particularly salient in developingregions where emerging economies require both specialists trained for science andtechnical professions as well as strong leaders with generalist knowledge who arecreative, adaptable, and able to give broad ethical consideration to social advances.Quality assurance, accountability and qualifications frameworksQuality assurance in higher education has risen to the top of the policy agenda inmany nations. Postsecondary education has to prepare graduates with new skills, abroad knowledge base and a range of competencies to enter a more complex andinterdependent world. Agencies throughout the world are struggling to define thesex

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page xiExecutive Summarygoals in terms that can be understood and shared across borders and cultures.Globalization, regional integration, and the ever-increasing mobility of students andscholars have made the need for internationally recognized standards among andbetween nations more urgent. The explosive growth of both traditional institutionsand new providers raises new questions in regard to standards of quality. Quitenaturally, "consumers" of education (students, parents, employers) are demandingsome kind of certification of institutions and the qualifications they award. Mechanismsfor establishing international comparability are still new and largely untested.Although quality is a multi-dimensional concept, a pattern for evaluating highereducation has been established in most of the world. In a break from the past, thisnew pattern tends to rely on peers rather than government authorities. Institutionsare more often evaluated against their own self-defined mission than against aninstitutional model defined by a regulatory agency. In many cases, the regulatoryfunction of many government and para-statal agencies has shifted to a validating role.An increasing emphasis is also being put on "outcomes" of higher education evaluators are looking for new data and indicators that demonstrate that studentshave mastered specific objectives as a result of their education. OECD's Assessmentof Higher Education Learning Outcomes project, launched in 2006, focuses forexample on interaction between student and faculty, career expectations, completionand success in finding a job.With students and programs moving across borders with increasing ease, thecomparability of educational qualifications has become a key issue in internationaldiscussions. UNESCO has facilitated the elaboration of conventions that commitsignatories to common policy and practice to ease the mobility of students withineach region. The Bologna Process reflects enormous progress in regard to theintegration of higher education in Europe by creating a common degree structure andqualifications frameworks. It aims to bring uniformity and quality assurance acrossEurope while promoting transparency, mobility, employability and student-centeredlearning. The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education in2000 brought together many of the national quality assurance agencies in the regionand created an important forum to engage member countries in transnational qualityassurance projects.Other organizations are attempting to coordinate quality assurance activities on aninternational level, many with support from the World Bank. Schemes for qualityxi

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page xiiExecutive Summaryassurance are now accepted as a fundamental part of higher education but there is aneed to integrate national, regional and international efforts. To promote thisdialogue, UNESCO has partnered with the World Bank to create the Global Initiativefor Quality Assurance Capacity that will include members of many regional andinternational networks.With many new providers offering options for postsecondary study, it is sometimesdifficult to distinguish legitimate institutions from diploma or degree mills that makecredentials available for purchase. This further increases the urgency of internationalmechanisms for quality assurance. UNESCO has launched an online portal to guideindividuals to sources of information that will help them distinguish legitimate frombogus documents and institutions.Financing higher education and the public good-private good debateHigher education is increasingly viewed as a major engine of economic development.Government tax revenues are not keeping pace with rapidly rising costs of highereducation. The expansion of student numbers has presented a major challenge forsystems where the tradition has been to provide access to free or highly subsidizedtertiary education. In financial terms, this has become an unsustainable model, placingpressure on systems to fundamentally restructure the 'social contract' between highereducation and society at large. Parents and/or students are increasingly responsible fortuition and other fees. Tuition fees are emerging even in Europe, long the bastion offree public higher education.Traditionally, postsecondary education has been seen as a public good, contributing tosociety through educating citizens, improving human capital, encouraging civilinvolvement and boosting economic development. In the past several decades, highereducation has increasingly been seen as a private good, largely benefiting individuals,with the implication that academic institutions, and their students, should pay asignificant part of the cost of postsecondary education. Funding shortages due tomassification have also meant that higher education systems and institutions areincreasingly responsible for generating larger percentages of their own revenue. Thisdebate has intensified due not only to the financial challenges of massification but alsoto a more widespread political inclination toward greater privatization of servicesonce provided by the state. The growing emphasis on cost recovery, higher tuitionand university-industry links distracts from the traditional social role and servicefunction of higher education that are central to contemporary society. Somexii

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page xiiiExecutive Summaryuniversities sponsor publishing houses, journals, house theater groups, noncommercialradio and television stations, and serve as key intellectual centers. These roles areparticularly important in countries with weak social and cultural outlets and fewinstitutions fostering free debate and dialogue.The worldwide surge in private higher education and the financing models for thissector have important implications for students and society. These trends havegenerally led to increasing austerity in universities and other postsecondary institutions(overcrowded lecture halls; outdated library holdings, less support for faculty research,deterioration of buildings, loss of secure faculty positions, faculty brain drain as themost talented faculty move abroad). The austerity has been most crippling in SubSaharan Africa but it is serious throughout developing countries and in countries intransition.In response to these financial pressures, universities and national systems have soughtsolutions on the cost and demand side. The first - increasing class sizes and teachingloads, substituting lower cost part-time faculty for higher cost full-time academic staff- are difficult, academically problematic and heavily contested.Policy solutions on the revenue side include cost-sharing - generally associated withtuition fees and 'user charges' for room and board. Tuition fees have been introducedin countries where higher education was formerly free or nearly so (China in 1997,United Kingdom in 1998, Austria in 2001). Many countries most notably in SubSaharan Africa, have significantly increased charges for student living. Student grantsand scholarships have been reduced in transition countries as well as in Asia and inmany countries in Africa. A number of countries - notably Japan, the Republic ofKorea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil and other countries in Latin America and EastAsia have kept the public sector small, elite and selective. Much of the costs ofexpanded participation is shifted to parents and students through the encouragementof a growing private higher education sector.Finding ways to sustain quality provision of higher education, with appropriate accessfor qualified students, will require careful planning that attends to both short- andlong-term needs.xiii

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page xivExecutive SummaryThe private revolutionThe growth of private higher education worldwide has been one of the mostremarkable developments of the past several decades. Today some 30% of globalhigher education enrollment is private. While private higher education has existed inmany countries - and has traditionally been the dominant force in such East Asiacountries as Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Philippines - it has formed a small partof higher education in most countries. Now, private higher education institutions, manyof them for-profit or quasi for-profit, represent the fastest-growing sector worldwide.Countries with over 70% private enrollment include Indonesia, Japan, the Philippinesand the Republic of Korea (Figure 3). The private sector now educates more than halfthe student population in such countries as Mexico, Brazil, and Chile. Private universitiesare rapidly expanding in Central and Eastern Europe and in the countries of the formerSoviet Union, as well as in Africa. China and India have significant private sectors as well.The private sector is growing and garnering more attention in Africa. The Middle Eastand North Africa are also registering private education enrollment, with 'Americanuniversities' dotting the horizon in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and elsewhere.0-10% 10 35%DevelopingcountriesCuba, SouthAfricaEgypt, KenyaDevelopedcountriesGermany, NewZealandHungary,United States 35 60% 35 60%India, Malaysia Brazil, Indonesia(none)Japan, Republicof KoreaIn general, the private sector is "demand absorbing", offering access to students whomight not be qualified for the public institutions or who cannot be accommodated inother universities because of overcrowding. While some selective private universitiesexist, in general the private sector serves a mass clientele and is not seen as prestigious.Legally for-profit institutions constitute a small higher education sub-sector but there isnotable growth in all developing regions. The sector is run mostly on a business model,with power and authority concentrated in boards and chief executives, faculty hold littleauthority or influence and students are seen as consumers.A related trend is the privatization of public universities. Countries such as Australiaand China have been explicit in asking universities to earn more of their operatingexpenses by generating their own revenue. Besides tuition fees, public universities seeincome from research funds, income from the sale of university-related products,xiv

trend final-rep noApp.qxd18/06/200912:21Page xvExecutive Summaryconsulting and research services and university-industry linkages. In some cases, suchfinancial sources contribute to the commercialization of the institution and conflictswith the traditional roles of the university.The academic professionThe academic profession is under stress as never before. The need to respond to thedemands of massification has caused the average qualification for academics in manycountries to decline. It is possible that up to half of the world's university teachershave only earned a bachelor's degree (in China only 9 % of the academic professionhas doctorates, 35% in India).

the 1998 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education. While many trends included in this report were discussed in 1998, they have intensified in the past decade. Here we examine the main engines of change and their impact on higher education. Much of this report is concerned with the ways in which higher education has

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