This volume explores the interrelationship between ideology, the state and higher education reforms, setting it in a global context. It examines some of the major higher education reforms and policy issues in a global culture, particularly in the light of recent shifts in quality and standards-driven education and policy research. In doing so, the book provides a comprehensive picture of the intersecting and diverse discourses of globalisation and policy-driven reforms in higher education. Representing scholarly research on major discourses in the field of higher education reforms, the book draws upon recent studies in the areas of globalisation, equality, and the role of the state in higher education reforms. It critiques the neo-liberal ideological imperatives of current higher education and policy reforms, and illustrates the way that shifts in the relationship between the state and higher education policy affect current trends in higher education reforms. Individual chapters critically assess the dominant discourses and debates on higher education and policy reforms. Using diverse comparative education paradigms from critical theory to historical-comparative research, the chapters focus on globalisation, ideology and higher education reforms and examine both the reasons and outcomes of higher education reforms and policy change.