Altbach & Davis - 1999 - Global challenge and national response: notes for an international dialogue on higher education

READING NOTES

Altbach, Philip G. and Todd M. Davis (1999) “Global challenge and national response: notes for an international dialogue on higher education” in Altbach, Philip G. and Patti McGill Peterson (eds.) Higher Education in the 21st Century: Global challenge and national response: IIE research report number twenty-nine. New York: Institute of International Education. Pages 3-10.

A weak presentation of ideas, far too general to be of much use. But at least it gets me started into the Altbach Files.

Say they want to link North and South in a dialogue that is not dominated by the industrialized countries, but they then submit a set of key aims that are basically Northern/industrialized country talking points.

Most all of the globe’s universities share the antecedent of the medieval European university. English ahs replaced Latin as the primary medium of instruction for science and scholarship (as well, more commonly, as the Internets).

Altbach and davis say this – page 4 – “Higher education systems have also been moving from elite to mass to universal access, as martin Trow pointed out in the 1960s.” then point out that while up to 50% of the North American and European age-range population enroll in university level programs, less than 5% do so in China and India. In other words, university education is coming to universal except in two countries that hold nearly 40% of the world’s population. WHAT THE FUCK, GUYS!?

p. 5: “current approaches to higher education funding emphasize the need for “users” to pay for the cost of instruction, as policymakers increasingly view higher education as something that benefits the individual, rather than as a “public good” where the benefits accrue to society.”

The need for lifelong learning opportunities is changing the nature of tertiary education in much of the world – most prominently in the West. Altbach and Davis lead with corporate/business interests in an educated work force here (page 7), and less so workers (except re: employee training programs).

Technological changes/advances have opened up distance learning opportunities in much of the world – though the authors’ lack of specific examples is frustrating. They do get at the expense involved in any reliance upon technology – it changes rapidly, leaving too much obsolete too quickly – developing nations are especially prone to troubles in this area.

Privatization – page 9 – Public universities in many places are undergoing a kind of in-place privatization, an entrepreneurial pursuit, wherein they are increasingly expected to raise their own funds (outside of governmental support)

Access and Equity – page 9 – gender, ethnicity, social class – each category faces difficulty in many countries. Rural peoples are still under-represented in the worlds universities.

Accountability – page 9 – measures of academic productivity, control of spending (i.e. funding allocations), etc., are other watchwords and terms.