Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms

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. 

“Anyone who has been involved in higher education over the past few decades cannot fail to be affected by the impact of globalisation and neo-liberal policies on universities and society at large. In 'Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms', the 15th volume of the series 'Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research', Joseph Zajda and Val Rust present chapters on education reform in the USA and in international contexts that highlight the inroads that neo-liberalism has made into policy making at higher education institutions. The chapters also illustrate the way universities have been reinventing themselves to meet the demands of a knowledge society in which corporate values of efficiency, performance and managerialism drive the agenda. What are the effects of internationalisation on higher education in the universities of today? With chapters from internationally respected scholars from around the globe, this book seeks to address the many issues of the new reality in higher education. This is a welcome, accessible volume for all those concerned with research, policy-making and curriculum development.”

Professor Suzanne Majhanovich, Western University