Search Results

Public Science Systems, Higher Education, and the Trajectory of Academic Disciplines: Business Studies in the United States and Europe

Lars Engwall, Matthias Kipping, and Behlül Üsdiken

in Reconfiguring Knowledge Production: Changing Authority Relationships in the Sciences and their Consequences for Intellectual Innovation

This chapter shows that the developmental trajectory of scientific disciplines is highly dependent on the nationally based higher education and science systems in which they are embedded, despite ... More

This chapter shows that the developmental trajectory of scientific disciplines is highly dependent on the nationally based higher education and science systems in which they are embedded, despite possibly increasing flows of international influence. By comparative examination of the emergence and evolution of business studies in the USA and Europe, it demonstrates that not only the ways in which this particular discipline came to be organized in the first place, but also how its later development into a scientific field, differed in these two settings.Less

A Tale of Two Trilemmas: Varieties of Higher Education and the Service Economy

Ben Ansell and Jane Gingrich

in The Political Economy of the Service Transition

In this chapter, Ansell and Gingrich examine how the politics of higher education shape national responses to the challenge of the service transition. Specifically, they argue that applying Ansell’s ... More

In this chapter, Ansell and Gingrich examine how the politics of higher education shape national responses to the challenge of the service transition. Specifically, they argue that applying Ansell’s (2008) distinction between elite, mass public, and partially private higher education systems helps to explain the different patterns of employment in the service sector. The authors analyze data on higher education enrolment and service sector employment across twenty-three OECD countries. They show that while states with partially private systems (typically liberal political economies like the United States and the United Kingdom) have increased employment in the so-called “FIRE” services (finance, insurance, and real estate), states with mass public systems (the Scandinavian social democratic welfare states) have channeled workers with higher education into publicly provided social services. Meanwhile, in the “elite” higher education systems with restricted enrolment, such as those in Continental European states, labor supply may not be adequate to meet labor demand in highly skilled dynamic sectors (or in social services), thereby restraining the move away from manufacturing. The authors argue that the social democratic and liberal cases represent two distinct equilibria underpinned by the invested interests of highly skilled workers, making significant reforms of higher educational systems (and an associated alteration in service sector development paths) unlikely.Less

Higher education today

Peter Scott

in Retreat or Resolution?: Tackling the Crisis of Mass Higher Education

This chapter looks closely at the present higher education in UK, which by any measure is a mass system. It enrols 2.5 million students, one of only five systems with more than two million students ... More

This chapter looks closely at the present higher education in UK, which by any measure is a mass system. It enrols 2.5 million students, one of only five systems with more than two million students in Europe (the others are France, Germany, Italy and Poland). The discussion looks at UK higher education, along with most other higher education systems, like an archaeological site composed of many layers. The values and practices characteristic of earlier layers are still active and alive (and even dominant), and often at war with the values and practices of more recent layers of change. The chapter tackles the legal differences between chartered universities and higher education corporations, and the power to award both taught and research degrees presently exercised by the Quality Assurance Agency, among other topics. It also describes the different ‘mission groups’ most often seen as representing a stratification or hierarchy of UK higher education institutions. Nonetheless, the chapter underscores that the most important differentiating element within UK higher education is not legal status or mission group membership but institutional size.Less

Employability, higher education and the knowledge economy

Niccolo Durazzi

in Welfare Reform and Social Investment Policy: International Lessons and Policy Implications

This chapter focuses in particular on the inter-connections between different types of higher education systems (as commonly defined in education literature by the prevalence of vertical or ... More

This chapter focuses in particular on the inter-connections between different types of higher education systems (as commonly defined in education literature by the prevalence of vertical or horizontal differentiation), and different types of knowledge economy (with respect to the relative importance attached to advanced manufacturing or dynamic services). It proposes a theoretical framework to understand the relationship between higher education systems and knowledge-based labour markets. The chapter then examines the complementarity — or lack thereof — between higher education systems and national knowledge economies in Britain, South Korea, Germany and the Netherlands, each having a different higher education–knowledge economy combination. Ultimately, the chapter recommends that governments should revive or create a vocational subset of higher education institutions to meet the high-skills demand of labour markets.Less

Themes and transformations

Peter Scott

in Retreat or Resolution?: Tackling the Crisis of Mass Higher Education

This chapter thematically discusses the development of higher education in the UK. It explores four themes or transformations: ‘steering’ and regulation at national and system levels; the political ... More

This chapter thematically discusses the development of higher education in the UK. It explores four themes or transformations: ‘steering’ and regulation at national and system levels; the political economy of higher education, in particular the reshaping of the system from binary to unified, but also the fragmentation of the UK system into two, possibly three, national sub-systems; the transformation of institutional governance and management—from collegiality to managerialism; and the new intellectual agendas, subjects, curricula and learning economies. The chapter also uses a geographically and conceptually wider lens towards the end of the discussion. It acknowledges that the general effects of mass higher education, the emergence of more coherent systems which needed to be ‘steered’, shifts in organisational cultures and in governance and management practice, the drive towards systematisation of good practice, the rise of metrics and management, the impact of new technologies on student learning were equally felt in other higher education systems beyond the UK.Less

Foundations in Education, Research, and Development

Sinan Koont

in Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Cuba

After 1959, Cuba's higher-education system expanded greatly. In addition, many institutions (BTJ, ANIR, FCT, SCIT, etc.) were established to encourage technological innovation. Science education was ... More

After 1959, Cuba's higher-education system expanded greatly. In addition, many institutions (BTJ, ANIR, FCT, SCIT, etc.) were established to encourage technological innovation. Science education was emphasized down to the primary-school level. Cuba devoted considerable resources to R&D (for example, founding CIGB in biotechnology, establishing scientific hubs, and developing in vitro propagation technologies) and creating capabilities for R&D. In agricultural research and education, many of the universities established programs in sustainable agriculture. In addition, phyto-sanitary institutions were created to ensure plant health. The chapter ends with a discussion of two examples of outcomes for urban agriculture: one in banana production and the other in the control of nematodes (Hebernem).Less

A further gaze

Peter Scott

in Retreat or Resolution?: Tackling the Crisis of Mass Higher Education

This chapter uses a comparative gaze—looking beyond the UK—as it acknowledges that many of the characteristics of, as well as trends within and challenges to UK higher education are shared with many ... More

This chapter uses a comparative gaze—looking beyond the UK—as it acknowledges that many of the characteristics of, as well as trends within and challenges to UK higher education are shared with many other higher education systems. The chapter is divided into three main sections: first, the shape and trajectories of global higher education are considered. Mass higher education, after all, is a global phenomenon, active in every country and on every continent. The second section focuses on the process of internationalisation in its various aspects: flows of ideas, of staff, of students and of reputation. The third, and longest section discusses in more detail three world regions: Europe; North America, in particular the US; and East Asia, the home of so-called ‘Confucian’ higher education systems.Less

Higher Education Policies

Donatella della Porta, Lorenzo Cini, and César Guzmán-Concha

in Contesting Higher Education: Student Movements against Neoliberal Universities

This chapter discusses long-term and short-term political-economic changes occurring in the field of higher education (HE) related to the recent wave of student protests. It offers a historical ... More

This chapter discusses long-term and short-term political-economic changes occurring in the field of higher education (HE) related to the recent wave of student protests. It offers a historical overview of the trend of marketization affecting the HE sectors of Chile, England, Italy, and Quebec in recent decades. The four regions under investigation cover different HE systems, from those where the role of the state is still prominent (Italy and Quebec), and the commodification trend is not so strong, to others in which the market, along with the commodification of the sector, have acquired greater relevance over recent decades (England and Chile). The chapter argues that the different pace and form of the marketization process have heavily affected the ways in which students mobilized in terms of action repertoires, political goals and demands, and organizational structures. Exploring the variety and the institutional differences in the field of HE helps one assess the variety of the student movements embedded in such fields.Less

Estimating the Productivity of Community Colleges in Paving the Road to Four-Year College Success

Scott E. Carrell and Michal Kurlaender

in Productivity in Higher Education

The distinct mission and open-access nature of community colleges and the diverse goals of the students they serve make it difficult to assess differences in quality across community college ... More

The distinct mission and open-access nature of community colleges and the diverse goals of the students they serve make it difficult to assess differences in quality across community college campuses. In this paper, we investigate institutional differences in both the extensive and intensive margin of the transfer function across California’s 108 community college campuses. Importantly, due to the richness of our dataset, we are able to adjust our estimates for a host of observed student differences, including scores on 11th grade math and English standardized tests. Results show there is significant variation in community college quality for both the probability of transfer as well as outcomes measuring how well students perform after transferring. Additionally, we examine whether any observable characteristics of the community college are significantly correlated with transfer productivity.Less

Higher education, between conservatism and permanent reform

Gabriele Ballarino

in The Italian welfare state in a European perspective: A comparative analysis

This chapter describes and discusses the main features of the Italian Higher Education System (henceforth HES) as a part of the welfare state. First, its main features are described: relatively low ... More

This chapter describes and discusses the main features of the Italian Higher Education System (henceforth HES) as a part of the welfare state. First, its main features are described: relatively low participation; very limited differentiation; strong power of the “academic oligarchy”. Second, the succession of reforms of the previous 25 years is discussed as the product of the interplay between social and economic modernization and the backwards features of the system. Third, the behaviour of the major actors of the system is presented, with particular attention to the professors and the discussions concerning evaluation and the definition of research quality. Fourth, the main outcomes in terms of social inequality are analyzed.Less

‘Post-war’ to post-millennium

Peter Scott

in Retreat or Resolution?: Tackling the Crisis of Mass Higher Education

This chapter explores the wider concepts needed to make sense of the evolution of higher education systems across the globe. It emphasizes that the development of mass higher education in the UK ... More

This chapter explores the wider concepts needed to make sense of the evolution of higher education systems across the globe. It emphasizes that the development of mass higher education in the UK since 1960 did not take place in a vacuum. Many of the changes that have taken place, whether in terms of national policy, institutional missions, organisational culture or teaching and research, cannot properly be explained without some consideration of the wider political, social, economic, and cultural context. The chapter discusses the political changes from the 1960s to Brexit five decades later; the major themes such as over-centralisation of political power and decision making, and the replacement of consensus by new adversarial politics; the changing economic contexts, including the death of industrial England and the rise of neoliberal finance; and wider social change, such as the erosion of old solidarities and the rise of new ‘identities’ against a background of increasing inequalities, and a cultural revolution, rooted in the advance of social liberalism and the unbundling of traditional forms and structures of creative expression in the context of instantaneity, brands and celebrity.Less

Introduction

in Uncommon Schools: The Global Rise of Postsecondary Institutions for Indigenous Peoples

This book discusses the emergence and institutionalization of postsecondary institutions for indigenous peoples around the globe. It presents a comparative analysis of the conditions that facilitate ... More

This book discusses the emergence and institutionalization of postsecondary institutions for indigenous peoples around the globe. It presents a comparative analysis of the conditions that facilitate the development of indigenous postsecondary institutions, particularly in four countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. The book examines the origins and evolution of indigenous sovereignty claims in legal discourses and examines indigenous peoples's control of their own postsecondary institutions. It also analyzes cross-national differences in the structure of indigenous-state relations and shows how higher education systems shaped the emergence of indigenous postsecondary institutions.Less

Prologue

William Whyte

in Redbrick: A social and architectural history of Britain's civic universities

Using Keele University as a test case, this section explores the state-sponsored growth of higher education in the three decades after the Second World War. In particular, it argues that both ... More

Using Keele University as a test case, this section explores the state-sponsored growth of higher education in the three decades after the Second World War. In particular, it argues that both Redbrick and the subsequent wave of ‘Plateglass’ universities were formed or reformed in response to the criticisms of the interwar period. The result was a series of institutions which not only increasingly resembled one another, but also formed part of a genuinely national system for the first time ever.Less