The pace of global transformation places a great emphasis on the need for development, with higher education identified as a key agent in the development of a knowledge economy. Higher education systems have been challenged with providing the necessary skilled person-power to complement the changing labour market. Postgraduate supervision is a…

While universities now lie between two philosophical poles -- idealism and utilitarianism -- the Humboldtian ideal primarily serves to give a humanist glaze to a technocratic discourse. Regardless of its autonomy on paper, the University does not control its finances. This guise of autonomy has set a double authoritarian heteronomy of the…

The landscapes of higher education have been changing rapidly, with enormous growths in participation rates in many countries across the world, and major developments and changes within institutions. But the languages that we need to conceptualise and understand these changes have not been keeping pace. The central argument in this book is that…

Universities across Europe are calling for a more student-centred, inclusive university environment bringing together all actors of the university community, while also implementing measures to achieve such a cultural shift. Members of the EUA [European University Association] Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Groups are -- each based on their…

Since the mid-1990s, the pressure of globalization and the pressing demands of a knowledge economy led to a series of educational reforms. The focus of these was the promotion of quality education and massification of higher education. After the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the governments in different parts of Asia have implemented…

This study was conducted to determine the extent to which the stipulations and visions of Management by Objectives (MBO) would be integrated in higher education institutions in South Eastern Nigeria to enhance higher education transformation in a globalised world. Four research questions and a null hypothesis guided the study. A sample of 510…

Now that universities have shifted their priorities to those of the "cash nexus", they increasingly articulate their accomplishments and validate their existence in business terms for a globally competitive academic market. But corporatizing trends and the use of bibliometric tools that rank publication and quantify scholarity impact a…

Strategic planning plays an important but sometimes controversial role in higher education. This paper examines how strategic planning works in Chinese universities, using Peking University as a case study. This essay discusses the rationale for why Peking University (PKU) decided to pursue status as a world-class university along with objectives…

Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education presents conference proceedings of the annual Eurasian Higher Education Leaders' Forum held June 12-13, 2013, at Nazarbayev University. The theme of this year's Forum is "Global Trends in Higher Education and their Impact on the Region". Many internationally-recognized higher education…

Governments in many countries exert pressures on universities to be more accountable for the results they manage to achieve with the resources available to them. A recently added twist, ironically within the context of falling government investment and rising student demand, is that governments are intruding into areas which have long been…

The Humboldtian educational ideal is based on the idea of the unity of teaching and research in universities ("Einheit von Forschung und Lehre"). The role of the state, according to Humboldt, was to fund universities in such a way that their autonomy was maintained. Much has changed in the funding mechanisms of higher education systems…

This article discusses the meanings of quality in the Humboldtian university ideal and in the Bologna process, especially related to issues of institutional autonomy, academic freedom and the integration of teaching and research. The article gives an overview of current practices associated with quality and quality assurance in Germany and Norway.…

Until very recently, American universities were led mainly by their faculties, which viewed intellectual production and pedagogy as the core missions of higher education. Today, as Benjamin Ginsberg warns in this eye-opening, controversial book, "deanlets"--administrators and staffers often without serious academic backgrounds or experience--are…

The paper starts with a description of higher education in the United Kingdom and of reforms over the last 50 years. By reference to specified output measures, the performance of UK universities is judged to be good. The factors affecting this performance are postulated by comparing policies and approaches in the United Kingdom with those…

Four challenges facing America are identified: to build a stronger economy with greater competiveness, productivity, and growth; to foster equal opportunity and full integration of poor and minority groups; to improve the quality of life by reducing poverty, cleaning up the environment; and to strengthen values and moral standards. (MLW)