Higher Education Policy in Developing and Western Nations

Contemporary and Emerging Trends in Local and Global Contexts

Beverly Lindsay

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000533408
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación superior

Recognizing that institutes of higher education function simultaneously in local and global contexts, this volume explores the applications of domestic and global policies in a range of industrialized nations in North America and Australia, and developing ones of Brazil, Indonesia, Myanmar, and in Southern Africa and the Caribbean

The chapters focus on policies relating to global matters such as diversity, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) innovations, and development amid natural disasters and conflicts. In each case, authors consider how policies were envisioned, how they compare to the realities of implementation, and how far they have been successfully supported by the communities and translated into legislations and formal or informal programs. Based upon decades of research and executive positions by senior scholars and perspectives of emerging professionals, the volume concentrates on motifs that portray relationships among policies and comparative analysis that reveals the need for global collaborations.

This important book will be of great interest to researchers, scholars, postgraduates, and government and philanthropic professionals in the fields of higher education, public and educational policy, comparative education, and international affairs.

1 The Salience of Policies Affecting Higher Education

Beverly Lindsay¹

DOI: 10.4324/9781003033097-1

1 The research for this chapter and several others were sponsored by fellowships and grants. The views are those of the authors.

As we commenced developing the proposal for our volume, Higher Education Policy in Developing and Western Nations: Contemporary and Emerging Trends in Local and Global Contexts, three years ago, the world was inundated with news of extensive 2018 and 2019 earthquakes and hurricanes that affected thousands of Californians, Indonesians, Alaskans, and Bahamians. Echoes of the 2004 through 2019 earthquakes and tsunamis, in various regions of Indonesia, cannot eclipse our memories and how university research and scholarship may translate into modes of addressing disaster challenges. In contrast to Indonesia, professionals from California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) appeared (in July 2019) on video and online media presenting hour-by-hour updates and providing immediate modes to address earthquake damages. Similarly, in late August and September 2019, the University of Georgia provided continuous updates regarding Hurricane Dorian.

Within the same approximate 2019 and 2020 time frames, international bodies, such as the G-20 Summit, were convened. This body is composed of 19 of the most industrialized nations and the European Union (EU) that are concerned with economic and geopolitical ramifications of multinational matters. These nations comprise approximately 85% of the world economy and are vital systems within domestic and international venues that are crucial in preventing disasters and/or rebuilding thereafter. The June 2019 G-20 Summit focused on comprehensive themes: global economic stability and growth, innovation, women’s empowerment, investment, and employment (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2019). While universities or educational institutions per se were not cited as major topics of reference, it is virtually impossible to accomplish the aforementioned G-20 themes without quality universities at the forefront of applied scholarship and the preparation of students and current and future professionals to help address critical transnational matters. For example, the G-20 Summit declared that innovation entails:

digitization as transforming every aspect of economies and societies …and is an important driver of social well-being. Development is an important issue of inclusive and sustainable world. Women’s empowerment entails implementation of commitments to women’s labour participation and enhancing support for girls’ and women’s education including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) area.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2019)

Yet, less than a year later in 2020, the world was plagued by the most devastating global pandemic in 100 years. The priorities and principles elucidated in the 2019 G-20 Summit were still critical, but necessitated viewing in the context of COVID-19. The 2020 G-20 Summit stressed: the criticality of inventive global and regional mechanism to address the pandemic; sustainable development; access to opportunities; migration and displacement; women’s empowerment; and education.

With the last illustration, continuity of education became a dominant concern for safe onsite schools and universities, via online or virtual modes to help ensure post-COVID-19 formal onsite education opportunities and to foster current and future national development (G20 Research Group, 2020). Certainly, public and university policies are intertwined if the initiatives are to bear fruit.

The United Nations (UN) concluded its 2019 General Assembly sessions wherein global matters were at the forefront ranging from climate change to domestic and international conflicts and wars and to migrants fleeing oppressive conditions. At the 75th anniversary of the United Nations’ 2020 virtual UN General Assembly, a resolution was passed that reiterated components of recent national assemblies. Certainly, the 75th anniversary declaration emphasized cooperative multilateral relations to address effectively global challenges with an overarching one being the mitigation of COVID-19. Other specific pronouncements encompassed: 1) promoting peace and preventing conflicts; 2) fostering sustainable and comprehensive development; 3) improving digital technologies; and 4) working with youth – cornerstones for contemporary and future societies (United Nations, 2020). All such principles require integral input and implementation by integrative public and university policies.

International organizations such as the G-20 and the UN strived toward integrative global endeavors. Within the United States, the federal government shut down during December 2018 through January 2019. To a considerable extent, the closures were fueled by international migration from other countries, thereby highlighting significant linkages between domestic and foreign geopolitical and demographical realities. For instances, special attention included foci on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) where thousands of young students (who, as children, arrived in the United States) enrolled in American colleges and universities. In short, universities became bedrocks embodying the academy’s importance in addressing varied domestic and global issues (American Council on Education, 2020).

It is generally acknowledged that universities’ raison d’être concentrates on teaching and learning, research and scholarship, and public engagement. The types of higher education institutions and their domestic or global contexts help determine which of the three foci will be the most salient. Public and university policies as presented by legislative bodies, executive government branches, and postsecondary institutions set the tones for what types of educational, socioeconomic, and political matters will be addressed. Yet, regardless of the settings, the vast majority of universities espouse sound academic endeavors and engagement in larger societal issues as those cited in the preceding paragraphs. These endeavors often advocate the inclusion of diverse students and professionals who should or will contribute to social progress via evolving policies.

In essence, our overall purpose is to explicate the presence and modification of how applied policies impact higher education in nations on multiple continents. That is, advanced industrialized nations and developing or emerging nations with the latter having been continually affected by macro policies and sociopolitical and historical conditions of the former. We will postulate that cooperative interaction between geopolitical regions and internal domestic demographical groups should be mutually beneficial – one of several aims of the G-20, the United Nations, and various American presidencies.

This introductory chapter presentations explicate: 1) the selections and compositions of authors; 2) concepts and demarcations of policies; 3) principles and organization of the volume to delineate four thematic topics; and 4) creativities and realities for universities in changing eras.

The Selection and Compositions of Authors

Before further discussions of this chapter and the content of our volume, we elucidate experiential criteria and rationales for individuals who contributed chapters. Several of us are professionals who have occupied senior professorial and executive roles as tenured full professors, deans, and presidents of different types of American universities. Contributors have experiences in Tier One research universities, regional doctoral universities, liberal arts colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and federal agencies in North America. In these environments, we interacted with academic faculty and executive peers, undergraduate and graduate students, and community organizations. In all these collective environments, there were a range of emerging specialists, mid-career professionals, and esteemed senior experts – engrossed in domestic and international affairs.

A combination of senior and emerging professionals would offer a blend of decades and newly minted experiences in the academy and in other domestic and international organizations – thus contributing to robust analysis and applications in multiple diverse environments. Hence, we have contributors from the continents of Africa, Australia, North America, South America, and the Caribbean region. In other instances, extensive work experiences were undertaken, by authors, in Asia, Europe, and the United Kingdom. We were seeking contributors who as anthropologists state, “are or have been embedded or immersed” in multiple national and university environments, thereby having substantive foundational experiences to contribute in innovative research, analysis, and praxis – regarding the impacts of intersections of public and university policies.

Since the research and study of academic fields change or evolve, it appears wise to have professionals from different career stages and demographical backgrounds to examine phenomena. Hence, we selected very senior professionals, mid-career scholars, emerging faculty with less than ten years since earning their PhDs, and those in the final year of their doctoral programs. In essence, our authors represent generational differences in identifying, conceptualizing, and addressing challenges from various eras (Mintz, 2021). Authors from Baby Boomers, X, and Millennials Generations penned chapters. For example, when this author was pursuing her PhD in the mid-1980s, national, state, and local policies on affirmative action, racism, and sex discrimination in domestic and international universities were constant constructs (Cole, 1986; Lindsay & Justiz, 2001; van den Berge, 1967; Wilson, 1976; Wilson, 1978). Since the 2000s, terminology and vocabulary have shifted to explicate similar conditions and phenomena. Diversity, equity, and inclusion, rather than constant specific statements on affirmative action, were observed (Cole & Lott, 2019) and signaled changes when a major publication changed its names from Black Issues in Higher Education to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education (Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 2021).

The term STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) became prominent in the early 2000s and replaced specific named disciplines, such as engineering, and gave rise to new emphasis on emerging fields such as technology. Furthermore, Black Americans and minorities became people of color. Prejudice morphed into implicit or unconscious bias. Gender, rather than sex, was voiced. While race and racism were still visible and analyzed, more contemporary concepts such as anti-racism became prevalent within the last few years. In short, sociopolitical and demographical shifts occurred during intervening years, necessitating development of alternative policies due to fluctuating and professional shifts (Lindsay, 2021; Stromquist, 2021).

In this volume, we tap into these diverse perspectives through the lens of policy. After an elongated consultation process, contributors were selected who displayed multifaceted understandings of how public and university policies should be examined in light of critical current sociopolitical matters. Contributors are attuned to the media and policy and scholarly publications that help envision future scenarios for public and higher education policies. Thus, we now probe multiple concepts of policies.

Concepts and Demarcations of Policies

As colleagues from multiple nations and the United States pondered and debated the natures of domestic and transnational matters affecting universities and colleges, we envisaged a volume that would examine the interlocking nature between public and university policies. We also visualized that our volume would transition beyond the traditional roles of universities. Continuing scholarly publications in refereed journals, publishing books, presenting at international conferences, and serving on academic committees should continue. However, we believe there are broader roles for universities in society. As university leaders, researchers, and professionals, we must prepare ourselves, our students and others – as part of our public engagement mission – to foresee and undertake solid applied research that exemplifies comprehensive policy applications.

Policies are, ideally, indispensable fundamental principles that set the overall directions for public agencies, universities, and organizations (Lindsay & Blanchett, 2011; Mitra, 2018; Orfield & Hillman, 2018; Siddiki, 2020; Tandberg et al., 2018). They arise from cultural norms, political entities, economic conditions, and philosophical premises. Each of the aforementioned can evince distinct emphasis and/or work in cooperation with others. For example, leaders and the general populace in developing and emerging nations may believe in the philosophical viewpoints that some forms of postsecondary education are needed for young people so that careers and national development ensue. Simultaneously, political parties, trade unions, professional organizations, and civic organizations may push for policies for postsecondary edu...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Endorsement Page
• Half Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Contributors
• Foreword: Ruminations on Diplomacy and Public and Universities Policies
• Preface: Commencing and Completing Semi-Circles on Public and Universities Policies for the Public Good
• 1 The Salience of Policies Affecting Higher Education
• Part I Concepts and Applications of Policies for Inclusiveness
• Part II STEM and Funding Policies Among Nations
• Part III Diplomacy and Educational Policies amid Disasters and Conflicts
• Part IV Creativity and Realities for Universities in Changing Eras
• Index