The present academic status of the world
examines the main engines of change and their impact on higher education.
Primarily, academic status deals with the changes, the impact of various
engines of society, education, technology and government policies cast on
higher education. Therefore, the academic trends of the world are concerned
with the ways in which higher education has responded to the challenges of
massification, globalisation, internationalism and privatisation. Moreover, the
academic changes of 20th and 21st century are more
extensive due to their global nature and the number of institutions and people
they affect.
The change in the academic setup of the
world has resulted in competition between students and universities. In the
early 21st century, higher education has become a competitive
enterprise. In many countries students must compete for scarce places in
universities and in all countries admission to the top institutions has become
more difficult. Universities compete for status and ranking, and generally for
funding from governmental or private sources.
While competition
has always been a force in academe and can help produce excellence, it can also
contribute to a decline in a sense of academic community, mission and
traditional values.
Academic status of the world can be studied
by considering the following :
·
Globalisation
·
Internationalism
·
Massification
·
privatization
Globalisation
Globalisation, a reality of the 21st
century has greatly influenced higher education. The world has become a global
village and education has served as a major tool of integration of economy of
one’s country with the economy of other countries of the world.
We define globalization as the reality
shaped by an increasingly integrated world economy, new information and communications
technology (ICT), the emergence of an international knowledge network, the role
of the English language, and other forces beyond thecontrol of academic
institutions.
Globalisation has expanded various horizons
of education. It has brought to our doorstep new information and communication
technology that has helped in scientific research and medical research
projects. For instance, the use of smart boards in schools has not only
facilitated learning but has developed concept of learning using audio- visual
aids. The introduction of E-book and kindle has made reference work quite
easier and effective.
The rise of English as the dominant
language of scientific communication is unprecedented since Latin dominated the
academy in medieval Europe. Information and communications technologies have
created a universal means of instantaneous contact and simplified scientific
communication. At the same time, these changes have helped to concentrate
ownership of publishers, databases, and other key resources in the hands of the
strongest universities and some multinational companies, located almost exclusively
in the developed world. For some the impact of globalization on higher
education offers exciting new opportunities for study and research no longer
limited by national boundaries. For others the trend represents an assault on
national culture and autonomy.
Internationalism
Internationalization is defined as the
variety of policies and programs that universities and governments implement to
respond to globalization. These typically include sending students to study
abroad, setting up a branch campus overseas, or engaging in some type of
inter-institutional partnership.
The last decade has also seen a veritable
explosion in numbers of programs and institutions that are operating
internationally. Qatar, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates stand out as
examples of countries that have boldly promoted internationalization as a
matter of national policies: they have recruited prestigious foreign universities
to establish local campuses, with the goal of expanding access for the local
student population and serving as higher education "hubs" for their
regions.
Internationalism has widened the gap
between the developed and underdeveloped countries of the world. For the
world's poorest countries and most resource-deprived institutions, the opportunities
to engage internationally can be extremely limited. Inequality among national
higher education systems as well as within countries has increased in the past
several decades. The academic world has always been characterized by centers and
peripheries. The strongest universities, usually because of their research
prowess and reputation for excellence, are seen as centres. African universities
for example, have found it extremely challenging and complex to find their
footing on the global higher education stage - they barely register on world institutional
rankings and league tables and produce a tiny percentage of the world's research
output.
There is growing tension around the center-periphery
dynamic. Developing countries often desire world-class universities on par with
the traditional universities at "the centre". The rankings of
academic institutions and degree programs add to this tension. International rankings
favour universities that use English as the main language of instruction and
research, have a large array of disciplines and programs and substantial
research funds from government or other sources. These rankings have methodological
problems but they are widely used and influential, and show no signs of
disappearing. The wealth of nations and universities plays a key role in
determining the quality and centrality of a university or academic system. This
places developing countries at a significant disadvantage, and puts special
strains on most academic systems facing the dilemma of expanded enrolment and
the need to support top-quality research universities.
Massification
It
refers to responding to mass demand has driven many of the key transformations
of the past decades. This expansion has been driven by the shift to
post-industrial economies, the rise 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.on the whole massification includes, greater social mobility for growing
population, new pattern of funding for higher education and diversified
educational system in countries.
Student mobility
More than 2.5 million students are studying
outside their home countries. Estimates predict the rise to 7 million
international students by 2020. One of the most visible aspects of
globalization is student mobility. The flow of international students has been
a reflection of national and institutional strategies but also the decisions of
individual students worldwide.Countries like the United Kingdom, Australia and
Canada have adjusted visa and immigration requirements to attract foreign
students, motivated to a significant degree by the desire to maintain economic
competitiveness and realized financial gains by enrolling large numbers of full
fee-paying internationals.
Universities and academic systems
themselves have developed many strategies tobenefit from the new global
environment and attract nonresident students. Some universities in
non-English-speaking countries have established degree programs in English to
attract students from other countries. Universities have established partnerships
with academic institutions in other countries in order to offer degree and different
academic programs, develop research projects, and collaborate in a variety of
ways.
Student mobility includes
·
Flow of students from home
country to abroad- flow of students from Asia to North America, western Europe
·
Flexible immigration norms for
international students
·
Collaboration with different
universities to develop research projects and programs
·
More opportunities for exchange
programs
Curriculum
Student diversity has also contributed to
an increase in the popularity of many professionally oriented programs and
institutions, notably in the business and ICT fields. The prominent
universities have modified their program and degree courses and are offering
more professional programs and less of courses in basic discipline. For example: Mexico has created new inter
cultural universities , grounded in indigenous philosophy, culture, languages
and history.
Questions about curriculum and higher
education's purpose are particularly salient in developing regions where
emerging economies require both specialists trained for science and technical
professions as well as strong leaders with generalist knowledge who are creative,
adaptable, and able to give broad ethical consideration to social advances.
Privatisation
Traditionally, postsecondary education has
been seen as a public good, contributing to society through educating citizens,
improving human capital, encouraging civil involvement and boosting economic
development. In the past several decades, higher education has increasingly
been seen as private good, largely benefiting individuals, with the implication
that academic institutions, and their students, should pay a significant part
of the cost of postsecondary education.
To develop education into a private asset
the private higher education has come into picture. Today some 30% of global higher
education enrolment is private. While private higher education has existed in many
countries - and has traditionally been the dominant force in such East Asia countries
as Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Philippines .
In general, the private sector is
"demand absorbing", offering access to students who might not be
qualified for the public institutions or who cannot be accommodated in other
universities because of overcrowding. While some selective private universities
exist, 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 is notable 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 little authority or influence and students
are seen as consumers.A related trend is the privatization of public
universities.
Countries such as Australia and 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,consulting and research services and university-industry linkages. In
some cases, such financial sources contribute to the commercialization of the
institution and conflictswith the traditional roles of the university.