INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION THE BOSTON COLLEGE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION International Higher Education is the quarterly publication of the Center for International Higher Education. The journal is a reflection of the Center’s mission to en- courage an international per- spective that will contribute to enlightened policy and prac- tice. Through International Higher Education, a network of distinguished international scholars offers commentary and current information on key issues that shape higher education worldwide. IHE is published in English, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish. Links to all editions can be found at www.bc.edu/cihe. N UMBER 68 : S UMMER 2012 Salaries and Contracts: International Comparisons 2 Academic Salaries and Contracts: What Do We Know? Philip G. Altbach and Iván F. Pacheco 3 Faculty Contracts in Post-Soviet Countries Gregory Androushchak and Maria Yudkevich 5 Academic Salaries in Western Europe Ben Jongbloed 6 Paying the Professoriate: Trends in India N. Jayaram Exchanges and Flows 8 Mobility of Chinese and Indian Students Rahul Choudaha 10 The Complexities of 21st Century Brain Exchange Philip G. Altbach 11 International Education in Australia: The Roller Coaster Simon Marginson Eastern Europe and Central Asia 13 Challenges to Romanian Higher Education Paul Serban Agachi 14 World-Class Universities: Lessons for Slovenia Philip G. Altbach 17 Serbia: New Higher Education Strategy Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic 18 Kyrgyzstan’s New Degree System Martha C. Merrill and Chynara Ryskulova Africa Focus 20 South Africa: Challenges of Racism and Access Chika Sehoole 21 Research, Networking, and Capacity Building Goolam Mohamedbhai China Perspectives 23 The College Entrance Examination in China Liu Haifeng 25 Liberal Arts in the Chinese Context You Guo Jiang, S.J. Countries and Regions 27 Funding Higher Education in the UK Michael Shattock 29 Chile: Improving Access and Quality to Stop Social Unrest Ernesto Schiefelbein Departments 31 News of the Center
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INTERNATIONALHIGHEREDUCATIONT H E B O S T O N C O L L E G E C E N T E R F O R I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N
International Higher Education is the quarterly publication of the Center for International Higher Education.
The journal is a reflection of the Center’s mission to en-courage an international per-spective that will contribute to enlightened policy and prac-tice. Through International Higher Education, a network of distinguished international scholars offers commentary and current information on key issues that shape higher education worldwide. IHE is published in English, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish. Links to all editions can be found at www.bc.edu/cihe.
Number 68: Summer 2012
Salaries and Contracts: International Comparisons
2 AcademicSalariesandContracts:WhatDoWeKnow? Philip G. Altbach and Iván F. Pacheco
3 FacultyContractsinPost-SovietCountries Gregory Androushchak and Maria Yudkevich
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N2 Salaries and Contracts
AcademicSalariesandCon-tracts:WhatDoWeKnow?Philip G. Altbach and Iván F. Pacheco
Philip G. Altbach is Monan University Professor and director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College. E-mail: [email protected]. Iván F. Pacheco is research assistant at the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College. E-mail: [email protected].
Data in this article are from Paying the Professoriate: A Global Comparison of Compensation and Contracts, ed-
itedbyPhilipG.Altbach,LizReisberg,MariaYudkevich,Gregory Androushchak, and Iván F. Pacheco (New York:Routlege,2012).Additionaldatacanbefoundontheproj-ectWebsite:http://acarem.hse.ru.This research resultedfromacollaborationbetweentheCenterforInternationalHigherEducationatBostonCollegeandtheLaboratoryofInstitutionalAnalysisattheNationalResearchUniversity–HigherSchoolofEconomics,Moscow,Russia.
Salaries and the terms of faculty appointments andpromotion are central to the well-being of the academicprofession and its contributions to the university. If sala-riesareinadequate,the“bestandbrightest”willnotbeat-tractedtoacademe,andthosewhodoteachwillbeobligedtomoonlight,divertingtheirattentionanddedicationfromtheir academic work. Additionally, without appropriatecontracts and appointments, there is a limited guaranteeofacademicfreedomorexpectationofeitherastableorsat-isfyingcareer.Furthermore,inaglobalizedworld,salariesinonecountryaffectacademeelsewhere,asprofessorsaretemptedtomovewhereremunerationandworkingcondi-tionsarebest.
Yet, only limited research is available about these is-sues,withinaspecificcountryorcomparatively.Compara-tivestudiesonacademicsinmanycountriesarecomplex,asdataareoftendifficulttoobtain;andexchangeratesandthestandardof livingvaryacrosscountries.Theresearchprovided data using purchasing power parity, which per-mitsmorerealisticsalarycomparisons.Theprojectrevealskeytrendsin28diversecountriesonallcontinents.
Salaries and RemunerationThisresearch,notsurprisingly,foundsignificantvariationsinacademicsalariesworldwide.Asageneralrule,salarieswere best in wealthier countries, although there are sig-nificantvariationsamongthem,withtheEnglish-speakingacademicsystemsgenerallypayingmorethanthoseincon-tinentalEurope.RussiaandtheformerSovietcountriespayquitelowsalaries,evenwhentheireconomiesarerelatively
prosperous.Therewereafewsurprises.Indiarankscom-parativelyhigh insalaries.China,on theotherhand,hasinvestedheavilyinitshighereducationsystem,particularlyin its researchuniversities;yet,averageacademicsalariesrankatthebottom.
Itwasalsolearnedthat,inmanycountries,salaryalonedoesnotconveyacompletepictureofcompensation.Aca-demicsalsodependonotherpaymentsandsubsidies,fromtheiruniversities,andothersources—tomakeupthetotalremunerationpackage.Chineseuniversities, forexample,provideacomplexsetoffringebenefitsandextrapaymentsto their academic staff for publishing articles, evaluatingextraexaminations,andforothercampuswork.InNorthAmerica and western Europe, salaries are the main aca-demicincome—whileelsewherethisdoesnotseemtobethecase.
In many countries, salaries are too low to support amiddle-class lifestyle locally, andother income isneeded.Inmanyoftheseplaces,moonlightingiscommon.Manyacademicsteachatmorethanoneinstitution.Indeed,theburgeoningprivatehighereducationsectorinmanycoun-triesdependsonprofessorsfromthepublicuniversitiestoteachmostclasses.
ContractsThe termsandconditionsofacademicappointmentsandsubsequentopportunitiesforadvancementavailabletotheacademicprofessionarealsoofcentralimportance.Amongthegroupof28countries,fewofferformaltenuretotheac-ademicprofession,thusperhapsweakeningguaranteesofacademicfreedomandprovidinglessjobsecurity.Tenurearrangements,awardedtoacademicsafteracarefulevalu-ation of performance, seem largely limited to the UnitedStates,Canada,Australia, theNetherlands,andSouthAf-rica in the study. Inone country,SaudiArabia, local aca-demicstaffreceivepermanentappointments,atthetimeofhiring.SomecontinentalEuropeancountriesprovidecivilservicestatustoacademics inthepublicuniversities,andthisalsoprovidessignificant jobsecurity.Infact, inmostcountries, few are fired and few are seriously evaluated.
Comparative studies on academics in
many countries are complex, as data are
often difficult to obtain; and exchange
rates and the standard of living vary
across countries.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 3Salaries and Contracts
Thereisakindofdefactotenurethatprovideslong-termemployment for most, without either a guarantee or anymeansofcarefulevaluation.
A number of important variations exist in require-mentstoentertheprofessionor(whenavailable)toqualifyfor a tenured-like position. In many countries, a doctoraldegree is requisite to become a university professor. IncertainEuropeancountries (CzechRepublic,France,Ger-many,andRussia)ahabilitation—similartoadoctoraldis-sertation—isneeded,inadditiontothedoctoraldegree,toachievetherankofprofessor.Inothercountries,asimplebachelor’s degree is sufficient to be hired as a universityteacher.IncountrieswhereaPhDisnotrequired,thereisatrendtodemandhigherqualifications;andthemaster’sdegreeisbecomingtheminimumrequirement,evenifitisnotmandatorybylaw.
International MobilityAmongthecountriesthatpaythebestsalaries,somebene-fitbasedonaninflowofacademicsfromless-wealthycoun-tries.Australia,Canada,theNetherlands,SaudiArabia,andtheUnitedStatesbenefitthemostfromthemigrationofac-ademictalent.Incontrast,manyofthecountriespayingthelowestsalariesareconsidered“sender”countriesandsome(Armenia,Ethiopia,Israel,andNigeria)haveimplementedprograms,inwhichbettersalariesandworkingconditionsarepartofthestrategytoattractorretainnationalandinter-nationalscholars.Intheirquesttobuildworld-classeduca-tionsystems,ChinaandSaudiArabiaareaggressivelypur-suing international faculty,mostly fromEnglish-speakingcountries,aswellastheirownexpatriates.IntheChinesecase,thatprocesshasresultedinabiggapbetweenthesal-aryof localprofessorsand international/repatriatedones.Finally,somecountriesareboth“senders”and“receivers.”For example, South Africa attracts professors from otherAfricannations,butatthesametimeitfrequentlysuffersbrain drain to English-speaking countries—such as, theUnitedKingdom,Australia,andtheUnitedStates.
ConclusionThis researchshowsa rangeof realities for theacademicprofession. Some countries offer reasonable salaries andsecure and transparent career structures for academics.TheEnglish-speakingcountriesincludedinthisresearch—Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, to some extentSouthAfrica,andtheUnitedStates—fallintothiscategory.WesternEuropean countries that offer civil service statusto academics typically provide decent working conditionsandcompensation.Buteven in thesenations, theprofes-soriate is inadequately compensated when compared tootherhighlyeducatedprofessionals.Fortherest,andthisincludesRussiaandtheformerSovietUnion,China,Latin
America (exceptBrazil),andNigeria,salariesare lowandcontracts often lack transparency. India offers reasonablygoodsalaries.
A global comparison presents an array of realities—few of them extraordinarily attractive—for the professori-ate.Thissituation,at least for the28countriesexaminedinthisresearch,iscertainlyproblematicalforcountriesatthecenteroftheglobalknowledgeeconomy.Foracademicsinthosecountrieswithquitelowsalaries—suchas,China,Russia, Armenia, or Ethiopia—the academic professionfacesa crisis. Ingeneral, it seems likeprofessorsarenotconsideredtheeliteintheknowledgeeconomy.Rather,theytendtobeseenasapartoftheskilledlaborforcethatsucheconomiesrequire.
FacultyContractsinPost-SovietCountries:CommonFeatures,DifferentFuturesGregory Androushchak and Maria Yudkevich
Gregory Androushchak is adviser to the rector, National Research Uni-versity–Higher School of Economics. E-mail: [email protected]. Maria Yudkevich is vice-rector, National Research University–Higher School of Economics. E-mail: [email protected].
For decades, universities in Soviet countries were gov-erned, evaluated, and financed according to the same
principles.Thecurrentsystemisnotlikethisformerone.However,facultycontracts—acoreelementinanyuniver-sity—stillparticipatemuchincommon.WhilethisarticleisbasedondetaileddataontheacademicprofessioninArme-nia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Russia, the described trendsare,tosomeextent,commonforallpost-Sovietcountries.
What Faculty Are Supposed to Provide Faculty contracts in post-Soviet countries reflect the factthatmanyuniversitiesformprimarilyeducationalentities,built around teaching and learning processes. So, facultycontractsmoreorlessexplicitlydescribeteachingloadsandobligations, andmostmonitoringand reportingactivitiesareconcentratedaroundcontractualarrangements.Atthesame time, the professoriate in general has little incen-tivesandopportunitiestobeactivelyinvolvedinresearch:researchispoorlyrewardedandteaching loadsareheavy.Teachingisfarmorerelevantasasourceofincomeforfac-
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N4 Salaries and Contracts
How Are Faculty Paid? Comparedtoprofessionalsoutsideuniversities,universityteachersarerelativelypoorlypaid.Thatconcernsbothtoprank(suchasassociateprofessororfullprofessor)anden-try rank (assistants or lecturer). Actually, it is a commonpattern in all developed countries that academic peopleobtainlessmoneyandenjoynonmonetarybenefits.How-ever,eventakingthatintoaccount,faculty’ssalariesinfor-merSovietcountriesaresignificantly lower thanthose inothercountries.Atleastinpart,theseconditionsarebasedon the fact that, in general, these countries are relatively
poor,comparedtowesternEuropeancountries,theUnitedStates, Canada, or Australia. This explanation, however,doesnotrevealwhythesesalariesaretwotimeslower,eveninrelationtogrossdomesticproductpercapita.Bytheway,inNigeria,Ethiopia,orIndiawhereGDPpercapitaisalsolow, relative earnings of university professors are quitehuge,comparingtotherestofthepopulation.
Sources of IncomeSincesalariesarelowandinsufficientfornormalstandardsoflife,moonlightingisquitecommon.Manyteachersareengaged in teachingatseveraluniversities (includingfor-profitprograms),offeringprivatelessonsortaketeachingloadsbasedonthemaincontractwithinthesameuniversi-ty.Manyteachersuseauniversityreputationoftheirmainemployer(apositionthatdoesnotpaytoomuchmoney,asasalary)togainagoodperhourcontractataless-reputable,for-profituniversity,whichprovidedgoodmoney.
Manypost-Sovietcountriesgaveupuniversity-specificentry exams and substituted that with government-uni-fiedexaminationsystems,whichhavenot continued inawidespreadform.However,privatetutorsarestillingreatdemand,sincetheynowhelptopreparefortheseunifiedtests;andmanyapplicantsfromall incomegroupsprefer
to use preparatory lessons, to increase chances for betterenrollment.
Fringe Benefits: Remuneration Beyond SalaryWhile in many aspects academic contracts in post-Sovietcountriesdifferfromthoseindevelopedcountries, fringebenefitsintheuniversitysectorofthesecountriesaremoreor lessthesameasintherestof theworld.Facultyenjoylongervacations—theonlytimetoengageinresearchforthosewhoareoverloadedwithteachingbutdonotgiveupresearch ambitions—and retirement funds. All other po-tential benefits, such as housing or loans, are in generalnotavailable.IntheSovietperiod,universityteachershadaccess to many nonmonetary benefits, which were notfeasibleforpeopleinindustries,andalsohadahigherso-cial status than those who worked in enterprises. So, theacademicprofessionatthosetimesattractedthebrightestgraduatesandwasabletoprovidethemwithrathergoodre-muneration,highsocialstatus,andfringebenefits—aswellas,clearcareerperspectives.Today,thecurrentconditionsoffered touniversityprofessionals,especiallyyoungones,causeahugeadverseselectioneffect:whenthebestpoten-tialresearcherschoosenonacademicworkorleavecountrytoworkinuniversitiesaroundtheworld.Whetherproperincentives couldbe restored andwhich factors shouldbeundertakenforthatpolicyarethekeyquestionsforbuild-ingword-classuniversitiesinRussia.
Many post-Soviet countries experience a large demo-graphic shock: the size of the 16-to-19-year age cohort—babiesof earlier 1990s—is critically low,whennotmanypeoplefeltbraveenoughtohavechildrenandthebirthrate
wasextremelylow.Thisspecificpopulationcreatesahugecompetitionattheuniversitysector,forgoodorevennot-so-goodstudents.Whileuniversityadministratorsfacethissourceofpain,theywouldobtainthechancetoreformtheuniversitysectorbyremovingweakinstitutionsandcheapdiploma mills. The reforms of academic contracts thatwouldcreateabetter incentivefor teachersandwouldat-tractnewyoungpeopleintothehighereducationsectorarethekeyingredientofsuccess.
Faculty contracts in post-Soviet coun-
tries reflect the fact that many universi-
ties form primarily educational entities,
built around teaching and learning pro-
cesses.
Compared to professionals outside uni-
versities, university teachers are rela-
tively poorly paid.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 5
AcademicSalariesinWest-ernEuropeBen Jongbloed
Ben Jongbloed is senior research associate at the Center for Higher Edu-cation Policy Studies at the University of Twente, the Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected].
Higher Education Systems,” the European CommissionhasonceagainurgedEurope’suniversitiestoreformtheirhuman-resourcespolicies—toincreasetheautonomyoftheuniversitiesinthisrespectandtointroduceincentivestore-wardexcellenceinteachingandresearch.Europe’suniver-sitieswillneedtorecruitacademicsbyflexible,open,andtransparent procedures and to provide them with attrac-tivecareerprospects.Withoutacommittedandadequatelycompensatedprofessoriate,universitieswillfindithardtorecruit thebestandbrightestacademic talent towork forthemandtoprovidetheteachingandresearchthatEuropeneeds, in order to be a competitive knowledge-driven re-gion.
Salary Levels Whencomparingtheattractivenessoftheacademicprofes-sionbetweencountries,salariesnaturallyarethefirstitemto look at. To make meaningful comparisons, one has tocorrectfordifferencesincostoflivingacrosscountriesbyusingapurchasingpowerparity(PPP)index.
Basedon selected country studies reported in the re-cently published Paying the Professoriate: A Global Com-parison of Compensation and Contracts (Altbach, Reisberg,Yudkevich,Androushchak,andPacheco,eds.,2012)theav-eragesalariesforacademicshavebeencomparedbetweenEuropeancountriesandtheUnitedStates.Thiswasdonefor three levels in theacademichierarchy: theentry level(forexample,lecturersandassistantprofessors),themedi-um-level(seniorlecturersandassociateprofessors),andtoplevel(fullprofessor).ItturnsoutthatEuropedisplaysquiteawidevarietyinacademicsalaries.AcademicpaymentsintheUnitedKingdomcomparesrelativelywellwiththeUnit-edStates.Whileforentry-levelpositionstheUKsalariesarelower (US$4,100 in the United Kingdom versus almostUS$5,000intheUnitedStates),theyarehigherfortheme-diumandthetop-endpositions.Theaveragemedium-levelacademicintheUnitedKingdomreceivesoverUS$5,900,whileintheUnitedStatesthislevelisoverUS$6,100.FullprofessorsintheUnitedKingdomearnoverUS$8,000—
US$1,000morethanintheUSuniversities,aftercorrect-ingforcostof livingdifferentials.InGermany,salarydif-ferences between the three steps on the academic ladderaremuchsmallerthanfortheUnitedStatesortheUnitedKingdom.TheyrangebetweenUS$4,900andUS$6,400,displayinglevelsthataresimilartothosefoundinNorway.AcademicsintheNetherlands,ontheotherhand,earnsala-riesthatineachstepoftheladderareaboutUS$500lessthanintheUnitedKingdom.
Bonuses and BenefitsAbonussystemtorewardperformanceinteachingandre-searchhasrecentlybeenintroduced,alongsidelawstoin-creasetheautonomyofuniversitiesandtointroducemoredifferentiation among academics. Bonuses for good per-formancenowalsoexistinGermany,althoughonlyabout25percentofalluniversityprofessorstherereceivesuchabonus.
However,salariesalonedonotreflectanaccuratepic-tureofacademicincomes:academiccompensationmustbemeasuredinbroaderterms.Thereoftenarefringebenefitsandallowancesthatacademicsmayreceiveontopoftheirreferencewage.Someoftheseadd-onsaredeterminedcol-lectively—oftenincollectivelabormarketagreements,suchasintheNetherlands—anddependontheacademic’sfam-ilystatusandnationalregulations,withrespecttopensions,parentalleave,andhealthinsurance.Otherallowancesaredetermined individually, such as performance bonuses,or—as in thecaseofGermanprofessors—dependon thenegotiationskillsofindividuals.
Academic Contracts and PositionsInmanycountriesthereisamovetowardmorefixed-termappointmentsandagreaternumberofpart-timeposts.In
Salaries and Contracts
When comparing the attractiveness of
the academic profession between coun-
tries, salaries naturally are the first item
to look at.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N6
Germany, the termsofcontinuanceofcontractsarequitestrict,andacademicstaffareroutinelyforcedtoleaveapo-sitionattheendofacontract.Foryoungresearchers, thebasicprincipleis“uporout.”Professorsaregenerallycivilservantswithpermanent lifelongpositions that theyhaveobtainedafterreceivinghabilitation,aformalpostdoctoralqualificationusuallyearnedafter thepublicationofama-jorbookandapubliclecture.Jobsecurityandsalariesforthe other academic staff members, such as lecturers andpostdocs,aremuchless;morethantwo-thirdsaretempo-raryemployeeswithfixed-termcontracts.The juniorpro-fessorshipisanewacademiccategoryinGermany,createdtoshortenthetimeuntileligibilityforaprofessorshiphasbeenreached,withtheintentofabolishingthehabilitation.Toavoid“inbreeding,”itisageneralrulethatjuniorprofes-sorsneedtoapplyforapositionatadifferentinstitution,aftersixyears.However,sofar,thenumberofsuchprofes-sorships falls short of the original expectations. The typi-calwaytoacquireaprofessorship,apromotiontoahigherposition,ortoincreaseone’ssalaryinvolvesapplyingforaprofessorshipatadifferentuniversity.Iftheapplicationissuccessful,itissometimespossibletonegotiatesalarysup-plementsandadditionalresources,inordertostayatone’solduniversityorasaconditionforacceptingthenewposi-tion.Due to social insuranceandbenefits, the incomeofGermanacademicsisquitegood,comparedtoothercoun-tries.However,uncertaincareerprospectsmakeuniversi-tiesappearlessattractiveemployers—especiallyforyoungresearchers.
Academic AutonomyCompared toFrance,universities in theUnitedKingdomhave much more autonomy to appoint whomever theychoose and what to pay them. Academics in the UnitedKingdomdonothave civil servant status,unlike inmostotherEuropean countries.Duringmore than20yearsofcontinuousmarketization,Britishuniversitiesarecompet-ing vigorously to attract high-quality academic staff, withbetter salaries and termsof employment.Eachuniversityhasdifferenthiringpractices,rewards,andpromotioncri-teria.Academicpayandpromotionsareheavilybasedonan individual’s research productivity, which is assessedregularly. Universities also try to attract leading research-ers with nonmonetary rewards—such as equipment andlaboratories.Recentyearshavewitnessedasubstantialim-provementinacademicsalariesandbenefits.However,duetotherecentcutsinpublicfunding,thecontinuedafford-abilityof the (quite competitive)UKsalariesandbenefitshasbecomequestionable.Theproportionofstaffwithpart-timecontractshasincreasedoverthelastthreeyears.The
International CompetitionLike theUnitedKingdom, thehighereducationsector intheNetherlandshasalwaysattractedacademictalentfromtherestoftheworld.Thisisclearlynotjustbecauseofat-tractivesalariesandotherbenefitsandrewardsbutalsodueto therecognizedexcellence inresearchactivitiesandthereputation of a system open to researchers from all overthe world. Academic salaries and other terms of employ-mentintheDutchhighereducationsystemaresettledbytheuniversitiesinnegotiationswithlaborunionsthatrep-resentacademics.Theresultingcollectivelaboragreementsleavequitesomeroomforindividualuniversitiestodeter-minejobtasksandtenurecriteria,withsalaryincrementsincreasinglybasedonanassessmentofmeritthroughan-nualreviewsofperformance.Thereisatrendtowardmoreindividualizedemploymentcontracts.Such“schemesà lacarte”helpmakeworkingconditionsinacademiamoreat-tractiveduring timeswhere,due to the impendingretire-mentofa largenumberof senioracademics in theyearstocome,theabilitytosecurehigh-levelacademicswillcon-tinuetoposeamajorchallenge.
InorderforEuropetosecuretheattractivenessoftheacademic workplace and to retain talented people (youngandold)foritseconomies,thechallengewillbetobalancethepay conditions for academics,withapackageofnon-financial rewards—suchas facilities forpersonaldevelop-mentandareasonabledegreeofindependenceincarryingoutteachingandresearchtasks.Afterall,moneyisnottheonlydriverofjobsatisfactionforacademics.
2008,tobeimplementedwithretrospectiveeffectfromJan-uary2006.Witharrearsofsalariesforalmost30monthsanda sudden rise in salariesby40 to60percent, teach-
Salaries and Contracts
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 7
ersinhighereducationinstitutionswentlaughingtotheirbanks.Thesteephikeinprofessoriate’ssalarieswasintend-ed to veer potential candidates to academic positions—inviewofthecompetingdemandsfortalentintheknowledgeeconomy, occasioned by globalization. Simultaneously, totoneupthequalityoftheprofession,requirementsforbothrecruitment and career advancement within it have beenredefined,since2009.Butare thesesufficient toaddressthe crisis confronting higher education in a burgeoningknowledgeeconomy?
Complex System and Heterogeneous Professoriate HighereducationinIndiaisnotonlylarge(thethird-largestintheworld)butalsovariedandcomplex.Therearediffer-enttypesofhighereducationinstitutionsanddifferencesinwhattheprofessoriategetsbywayofsalaryandperquisites.Whileacademicsworkinginthefederalgovernment–fund-edinstitutionshavethebest-paypackageandservicecondi-tions,thoseemployedinunaidedprivatecollegeshavetheworst; those in the state government–funded institutionsfallinbetweenthesetwo.
TheIndianprofessoriate isalsoheterogeneous; therearedifferent typesof teachingpositions,dependinguponthe duration of employment and the privileges that gowith them.Themost coveted is thepermanent (tenured)teachingpositioninapublic-fundeduniversityorcollege.Permanentpositionsarenonexistentinpurelyprivateuni-versitiesandcolleges;appointmenttoteachingpositionsintheseinstitutionsiscontractualinnature.Asdifferentfromthese two are the part-time teachers who are paid on anhourlybasisanddonotobtainotheremploymentbenefits.
The Pay Revision HighlightsWhile revising the salaryandservice conditionsof teach-ers in higher education, the University Grants Commis-sionstandardizedthequalificationsofvariouscategoriesofteachers,proceduresforrecruitingthem,requirementsforandprocessoftheircareeradvancement,andsalariesandnonsalarybenefits towhich theyareentitled.A three-tieracademichierarchy—fullprofessor,associateprofessor,andassistant professor—has been instituted in public-fundedhighereducationinstitutions.Tomaintainqualityofhighereducation,qualificationsforappointmenttovariousteach-
ingpositionshavebeenprescribed.Thoseenteringtheaca-demic profession (assistant professors) must now qualifyintheNationalEligibilityTest;forappointmentstohigheracademicpositions(associateprofessorandfullprofessor),besidesaPhD,whichisamandatoryqualification,thecan-didatesmusthaveteaching/researchexperienceandpubli-cationstotheircredit.Academicperformancewillnowbeevaluated through a scoring system (Performance BasedAppraisal System). The purely private universities andcolleges,however,areoutside theambitof theUniversityGrantsCommissionandhavegreaterflexibilityinallmat-tersconcerningthehiringandfiringofteachers.
Conventionally, the Indianprofessoriatehasbeenpy-ramidal in structure, with fewer positions at the top andabroadbase.Toimprovetheopportunitiesofteachersformovingupinthecareerladderandasanincentivetoper-formance, a six-stage Career Advancement Scheme hasbeen introduced. This scheme is well-defined and morerigorousthansimilarotherearlierschemes.Givenpastex-perience,itwillbesurprisingifthisscheme,too,doesnotgetritualized.
Earnings: Components and ComparisonInallpublic-fundedinstitutions,teachersareentitledtore-ceiveanannualincreaseof3percentintheirbasicsalary.Thereis,however,noscopefornegotiationinsalarymat-ters.
Teachers’nonsalarybenefitsareallasperthegovern-ment provisions: pension and gratuity; a variety of paidleave, including fully paid vacation leave for eight weeksinayearandsubsidiesforvacationing;medicalleaveand
Overthedecades,thegapinsalariesbetweenacademicand other professions has narrowed considerably. Never-theless, professionals in the management, informationtechnologyandbiotechnologysectorsandwell-establishedadvocates, doctors, and chartered accountants earn muchmorethanteachers.However,inIndia,asregardsteachers’salary, thegeneralcomparison iswith thatof thebureau-
Salaries and Contracts
Those entering the academic profession
(assistant professors) must now qualify
in the National Eligibility Test.
There is, however, no scope for negotia-
tion in salary matters.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N8
crats; and the salaries of these two are now more or lesscomparable.Theprofessoriateisnowwellensconcedinthemiddleclass,hasgreaterpurchasingpower,andleadsbet-terlifestylethaneverbefore.
Meritocracy and Protective DiscriminationMeritisemphasizedinrecruitmenttoacademicpositions,inpublic-fundedinstitutions;butnepotism,favoritism,andcorruptioninselectionsarenotunknown.Selectionsareof-tenchallengedincourtsoflaw,moresoaftertheenactmentoftheRighttoInformationAct.
In conformity with the policy of protective discrimi-nation (a sort of affirmative action) public-funded highereducationinstitutionsarerequiredtoreserveabout50per-centofsuchpositionsforcandidates,hailingfromindigent
sections of the population—officially termed “ScheduledCastes,” “Scheduled Tribes,” and “Other Backward Class-es.” In public debates, this is criticized as underminingmerit,butjustifiedinthenameofsocialjustice.
ProspectsThechangesintheproceduresforrecruitmentofteachers,theirpayscalesandserviceconditions,theirperformanceappraisal and career advancement, and other factors arebold and forward looking; but, they are not applicable topurelyprivateinstitutionsandtopart-timeteachers.More-over,thegrowingfacultyshortage,whichisestimatedtobeabout54percent, isnot likely tobeanswered in thenearfuture.Onlyinstitutionsofferingthebestofremunerationsandservice conditionscanexpect tomaintain thebestofteachingtalents.Thus,theprospectsforstateuniversitiesandgrant-in-aidcolleges,whichconstitutethelargestseg-mentofthehighereducationsysteminthecountry,donotappeartobebright.
Scale and Contrasting PatternsWithmorethan700,000ChineseandIndianstudentsen-rolled in global higher education institutions, every thirdgloballymobilestudentisfromthesetwocountries.IntheUnitedStates, internationalstudentenrollment increasedbynearly175,000,between2000/01and2010/11,andChi-neseandIndianstudentscontributedtonearly84percentofthisgrowth.Theseproceduresindicatethescaleandroleofthesetwocountries,inglobalstudentmobility.
In my earlier article, “Drivers of Mobility of Chineseand Indian Students” (IHE, no. 62, 2011), I argued thatChineseandIndianstudentmobilitywasincreasingduetoacombinationofdemandandsupplyfactors.Onthesupplyside, the abilityhas expanded to afford foreigneducationandrapidexpansionoftheeducationpipeline.Onthede-mandside,aggressiveoutreacheffortsbyuniversitiesandadoptionofawiderrangeofrecruitmentoptionsaresup-portingthemobilityofChineseandIndianstudents.
However,thesimilaritiesbetweenChinaandIndiaonsizeandfactorshaveendednow,andcontrastingpatternsofmobility emerge.Amajordifference is thatChinahasa much stronger growth momentum, at the undergradu-atelevel,thanIndia.Thecontrastingpatternisclearwhenjuxtaposingthe8percentdeclineofIndianundergraduatestudentstothe43percentincreaseofChinesestudentsintheUnitedStates.Thistranslatestoanincreaseof17,055
Exchanges and Flows
Merit is emphasized in recruitment to
academic positions, in public-funded
institutions; but nepotism, favoritism,
and corruption in selections are not un-
known.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 9
Chinesestudents,comparedtoadecreaseof1,188Indianundergraduate students. For every one Indian student,therearefourChineseundergraduatestudents.
Thisdissimilarpatternbecomesextremely importantgiventheeconomicwoes,facedbypublicinstitutionsandtheirsearchforinternationalundergraduatestudentswithlimitedbudgets.However,arethesetrendsforChineseandIndian undergraduate students sustainable and what arethefuturedirections?
Reversal of Trends for 2015?Iestimatethatbeginningin2015,growthdirectionsoftheundergraduatemarketforChinaandIndiawillexperienceareversalintrends.ThisisthetimewhenIndiawouldsur-faceasamajorgrowthcountryforundergraduatestudentrecruitment,whileChinawouldstartlosingitsgrowthmo-mentum.However,intermsofabsolutenumbersofunder-graduateenrollment,ChinawillcontinuetooutpaceIndia.Anestimateforreversalofthetrendisbasedonfourinter-relatedfactors.
“Self-financed” students.China already surpasses Indiaintermsofwealthandsizeofthemiddleclass,whichcanfundforeignundergraduateeducation.Forexample,Chinahad535,000individualswithinvestableassetsofUS$1mil-lionormore;Indiahad153,000in2010.Furthermore,thesingle-child policy in China has allowed family resourcestoconcentrateononechild.However,childrenofwealthymiddle-class Indianparentswho startedworking innew-ageindustries,likeinformationtechnology,inthemid-late1990swillstartgraduatingfrom2015onwards.Thisseg-
ment of “self-financed” students will expect quality andhaveanabilitytoaffordinternationalundergraduateeduca-tion.
Pace of education reforms. Both China and India havetheir share of problems in balancing quality and access.Given China’s track record of aggressively expanding thesystem and welcoming foreign institutions, it is morelikely to successfully enforce quality. This reform will of-fermorequalitychoices toChinesestudentsathome. Incontrast,paceofreformsinIndiahasbeenveryslowandembroiledwithpoliticsratherthanpolicy.ItisunlikelythatIndianhighereducationwouldkeeppacewiththedemandforqualityeducation.Thisinabilitytoabsorbdemandwillincrease“self-financed”Indianstudentsandfueltheirde-mandforforeigneducation.
Campus concerns. Given the overreliance on Chineseundergraduatestudents,concernsaregrowingaboutcam-pusdiversityandtheroleofagentsindrivingthisgrowth.A recent story in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “TheChinaConundrum,”referredtothelargenumberofChi-nese studentsonsomecampusesas “what seemsatfirstglanceaboonforcollegesandstudentsalikeis,oncloserinspection,a trickyfitforboth.”Inreferencetoagents, itadded,“Thoughtheagentsactasuniversities’representa-tives,marketingthematcollegefairsandsolicitingapplica-tions,that’snoguaranteethatcollegesknowtheoriginoftheapplications,ortheveracityoftheirgradesandscores.”Campusconcerns,suchasdiversityandpotentialthreattointegrityoftheadmissionsprocessduetofraudulentagentbehavior,mayinducelessdependencyontheChinesestu-dents.
ConclusionPublic higher education in leading destinations for inter-nationalstudentsisclearlyshiftingtowardself-sufficiency,resulting inpressure torecruitmore internationalunder-graduatestudentsasanadditionalsourceofrevenue.ChinaandIndiaare largesourcecountries for internationalun-dergraduate students, which are expected to show differ-ent trends, beginning in 2015. Given that undergraduaterecruitmentrequiresasignificantamountofseedingandrelationship-building, institutions should start preparingfor these shifting patterns. However, institutions shouldnot let fiscal urgency and quest for numbers make themlosefocusonthequalityofstudentsrecruited,integrityofadmissionsprocess,andcampusdiversity.
Exchanges and Flows
With more than 700,000 Chinese and
Indian students enrolled in global high-
er education institutions, every third
globally mobile student is from these
two countries.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N10
TheComplexitiesof21stCenturyBrainExchangePhilip G. Altbach
Philip G. Altbach is Monan professor of higher education and director of the Center for International Higher Education, Boston College.
Theemergingeconomiesof theBRICs(Brazil,Russia,India,andChina)will, it isassumed, lurebothhome
Muchhasbeenwrittenaboutthesupposedlyobsoles-cenceof the termbraindrain.Globalization, it isargued,brings in its train a globally mobile and highly educatedlabor force—creating a kind of brain exchange amongcountries. But the data reported here show that mobility,while quite sizable, is one-way, mainly from developingandemergingeconomies towealthiernations.There isagrowingflowofideasandcapitalbacktocountriesofori-gin,butonecannotescapethefactthatthemajoreconomicandsocialcontributionismadeinthecountryinwhichanindividualisprimarilylocated.Therealitiesofglobalizationremainhighlyunequal.Whilebrainsmaynolongerbeper-manentlydrained,theyarenonethelesssiphoned,withthepossibility(notthatfrequently implemented)ofreturningtotheirorigins.
Who Goes and Who Stays?Thecountrieswiththemostimpressiveeconomicandedu-cationalexpansionseemtobethosewiththelargest“stay”rates,accordingtotheNationalAcademyofScience’sSur-
veyofEarnedDoctorates (SED),which tracks all interna-tionaldoctoralstudentsstudyingintheUnitedStates.Forexample,duringthe1980s,25.9percentofChinesedoctor-al graduates returned immediately after completing theirdegrees.Inthe2000s,thereturnpercentagehaddeclinedto7.4percent.India’sfiguresarealsoquitelow—13.1per-centreturnedinthe1980sand10.3percentinthe2000s.Yet, return rates vary considerably, ranging from 84 per-centofThais,60percentofMexicansandBrazilians,and39.5percentofAfricans.AparticularsurpriseistheEuro-peanreturnrate,whichhasgonefrom36.9to25.7percentover30years.
There are other variables, as well. Women are some-whatmorelikelytoremainintheUnitedStatesthanmen.Internationalstudentswhohavetheirbachelor’sdegreeintheUnitedStatesarealsomorelikelytostay,asarestudentswhocomefromwell-educatedfamilies.Fieldofstudyalsoseemstomakeadifference,withdegreeholdersinagricul-ture(54.2%),education(48.5%),andsocialscience(44.1%)mostlikelytoreturn,andthoseinbiology(19.3%),physicalscience(21.8%),andbusiness(31.9%)lesslikely.
TheSEDdataexhibitsomelimitations.Studentstypi-callycompleteaquestionnaireaskingforbackgroundinfor-mation,educationalexperience,andplanssuppliedbytheNationalScienceFoundationandadministeredbygraduateschoolsnationwidewhentheysubmittheirapproveddoc-toraldissertation.Somerespondentsmaynotbefullyawareoftheirplans.Furthermore,plansreportedintheSEDmaynot work out. Some students may, for example, obtain apostdocandreturnhomeafterthatforavarietyofreasons.Othersmay, in thecurrentdifficultacademic jobmarket,unsuccessfullysearchforaposition.BecausetheSEDmea-suresonlydoctoralcompletion,itislikelythatthisgroupismainlyheadedforacademicjobs—weknownothingaboutreturn rates forMBAholdersor thosecompletingbache-lor’s or master’s degrees. Despite limitations, the SED isthemostaccuratetoolavailable.
Exchanges and Flows
There is strong evidence that we live
in a worldwide era of global mobility of
highly skilled talent in general and of
the academic profession in particular,
but this mobility flows largely in one di-
rection—from developing . . .
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 11
Thestudy-abroadstatisticscitedhererelateonlytotheUnitedStates,butitisquitelikelythatthegeneralpatternofmobilityissimilarforotherhostcountriesand,especial-ly,themajorEnglish-speakingandlargecontinentalEuro-peannations.Variationsbasedonimmigrationpolicies,lo-callabormarkets,therelativelyopennessoftheacademicsystem and economy, language, and other factors will nodoubtaffectstayrates.
Patterns and PoliciesSome economies and academic systems have benefitedsubstantially from the patterns noted here. For example,anestimatedone-quarterofSiliconValleyhigh-technologystart-upswereestablishedbyimmigrants,manyofwhomreceived their advanced education in the United States.American universities, from the most prestigious institu-tionstocommunitycolleges,havelargenumbersofimmi-grantscholarsandscientistsontheirfaculties,andagrow-ingnumberhaverisentotopleadershippositions.
Why do the international doctoral holders, countedbytheSED,choosetoremainintheUnitedStates?Whileeachcasehasan individualstory, thegeneral reasonsarenothard todetermine.Forallof thecurrentproblemsofAmerican colleges anduniversities, the termsand condi-tionsofacademicwork—includingsalaries—areby inter-nationalstandardsquitegood.HavingstudiedintheUnit-edStates,internationaldegreeholdershavefamiliaritywiththe system and often can call on mentors to assist theminthelocaljobmarket.Althoughafewcountries,suchasChina,offer incentives for topgraduates to returnhome,suchprogramsaresmallandserveonly the topelite.Formany, returning home to academic institutions that maybehierarchicalandsometimesill-equippedisnotanattrac-tiveprospect. In theemergingeconomies,academicsala-riesarelowandmoonlightingisoftennecessarytosupporta middle-class lifestyle. Even in China’s top universities,whichhavereceivedmassiveinfusionsofmoneyandhavebuilt impressive campuses, the academic culture is oftenproblematical for graduates familiar with the relativelyopenandmeritocraticinstitutionsintheUnitedStatesorother better-established academic systems. While condi-tionsandsalariesmaybebetterintheemerginghigh-techandbusinesssectorsintheemergingeconomies,problemspersist.Effortsbycountries—suchas,ChinaandIndia—toluretheirgraduateshomehavebeenmostlyunsuccessful.SomeEuropeannations,includingGermany,havealsoac-tivelytriedtoenticetheirPhDsandpostdocstoreturn,withonlymodestsuccess.
The immigration policies of the rich countries alsoplayacentralrole.DespiteAmerica’ssuccessinretainingitsinternationaldoctoralgraduates,USimmigrationpolicyuntilquiterecentlyhasnotbeenaimedateasingentryto
ConclusionThestatisticsreportedheremaycomeasasurprisetosomeobservers.Thesedataarelikelyaninevitableresultofglo-balizationandtheinequalitiesinhighereducationandinwealthanddevelopmentthatpersist.Itisfairtosaythatthehost countries are unconcerned about these imbalances,andindeedmostaremovingtostrengthentheiradvantagesthroughadjustmentsinacademicandscholarshippoliciesandimmigrationregulations.Ifstayratesareasignofcon-tinuinginequalitiesintheglobalknowledgesystemandinhighereducation,itwilldemandachievingabetterbalanceandwillrequiretime,resources,andinsomecases,chang-ing in academic structures and practices. While there ismuchrhetoricaboutglobalizationcreatinga“levelplayingfield,”therealitiesshowsomethingquitedifferent.
Simon Marginson is professor of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His most recent book is Ideas for Intercultural Education (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) with Erlenawati Sawir. E-mail: [email protected].
foreign students. Revenue from their tuition—Australiahasfewscholarshipsandnearlyallnonresidentspayfull-costfees—provided18percentoftheuniversityincomein2010. Australiahasbecomeaby-wordformakingmoneyoutofinternationalstudentflows.Itislesseffectiveinsending
Exchanges and Flows
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N12 Exchanges and Flows
Internationaleducationisthenation’sthird-orfourth-largestexportaftercoalandironoreandsometimesgold,dependingonfluctuatinggoldprices. Itemploys125,000people. It has become a vital source of high-skilled mi-grants.Morethanone-thirdofallgraduatesmigrate.
The SlumpFortwodecades,internationalstudentnumberssawalmostuninterrupted growth, from about 30,000 students in allsectors of education in 1990 to 630,700 in 2009, an ex-traordinaryaverageannualincreaseof17percent.Austra-lia,withlessthan23millionpeople,enrolls7percentofallforeigntertiarystudents.However, inthelast threeyears,governmentpolicyandregulation—nottomentionAustra-lia’sreputationinIndiaandstandingwitheducationagentsin China—have been on the roller coaster. In 2011 therewere557,425students,12percentbelowthe2009level.
In2011,International Higher Education(no.62)report-ed the factors that had triggered decline in internationalstudentapplications,visasgranted,andstudentsenrolled.Between2009and2011students invocationaleducationdropped by 18 percent and in specialist English-languagecollegesby31percent.Highereducationenrollmentsroseslightlyin2010butleveledoffbetween2010and2011,andapplicationsfor2012weretrendingdown.
TheproblemsbeganinAustralia’ssecond-sourcecoun-try,India.In2009,AustralianauthoritiesmovedslowlytocrackdownonviolentassaultsaffectingSouthAsianstu-dents andwere criticized in the Indianmedia.The sameauthoritiesmovedmorequicklytocrackdownonamini-industry selling backdoor migration via student visas, viacollusion between agents in India and private colleges inAustralia. Colleges providing little genuine training wereclosed. But this meant losing more students from India.Atthesametime,thegovernmentsettoughworkandlan-guage tests, regulating the passage from student gradua-
tion to permanent residence status. Australia lost evenmorebusinessinIndia.
Migration ResistanceIn2010,anelectionyear,migrationresistancewasevident.The federal government cut back migration targets. Thisimpacted international education because short-term mi-grationforeducationalpurposesispartofofficialmigrationnumbers(thesameissuebedevilsinternationaleducationin the United Kingdom, another nation that has reducedmigration).Thisledtoamorerestrictiveapproachtostu-dentvisas,with longerdelaysandsteepfinancialsupporttests.
TheproblemwascompoundedbyUScurrencydepre-ciation, which pushed the Australian dollar above paritywith the US dollar, for the first time in decades, makingAustralianinternationaleducationmoreexpensive,inrela-tiveterms.Chinaprovidesaquarterofallinternationalstu-dentsinAustralia;andeducationagents,whocontrolmostof thestudentflowsfromthatcountry,switchedmuchofthetrafficfromAustraliatotheUnitedStatesandCanada.ApplicationstoenterAustraliafromChinadroppedsharply.NumbersenteringtheUnitedStatesrosetorecordlevels.
WiththeAustralianeducation“industry,”asitiscalled,trendingdownonallfrontsandpredictionsofa40to50percentdropahead,thefederalgovernmentwasforcedtoact. It was clear that if the export industry collapsed, thegovernmentwouldhavetoincreasepublicfunding,tobailouttheuniversities.ItcreatedacommitteechairedbyMi-chael Knight—a former politician,who presidedover thesuccessfulSydneyOlympicsin2008—toinquireintostu-dentvisapolicy.
Therecommendationsof theKnightcommitteewereadoptedinfullbythegovernment,inSeptember2011.Theyconstitutedadramaticpolicyreversalandareturntohighmigration.Studentvisaprocessingwasspeededup.Appli-cations foruniversity fromall countrieswereassigned tothelowest-riskcategory,withnomandatoryfinancialtestsandwiththeprovisothatuniversitieswerenowresponsibleforguaranteeingthebonafidesoftheirstudents.English-languagetestswererelaxedforentryintospecialistEnglish-language colleges. Graduates were provided with tempo-rary work visas of two to four years, providing enhancedopportunitiestoearnincomeandacquireworkexperience,usefulforanapplicationformigrationstatus.
Going Up Again? TheKnightchangeswerenotimmediatelyextendedtothetraining sector, but this will follow. However, the longer-termimpactofthereversalisunclear.Itislikelythesteepdiveinthemarkethasbeenarrested,buttendenciessetin
The same authorities moved more
quickly to crack down on a mini-industry
selling backdoor migration via student
visas, via collusion between agents in
India and private colleges in Australia.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 13Eastern Europe and Central Asia
train in 2009–2010 are still running, the Australian dol-larremainshigh,andtheswitchofChinesestudentsfromAustraliatotheUnitedStatescontinues.
Inthelastsixmonthsof2011,halfofwhichpostdatedthe Knight committee changes, new offshore visas fromChinaforallsectorsofeducationweredownby21percent,comparedtothesameperiodin2010.NumbersfromIn-dia,whichhadplummetedin2010,roseby78percentin2011.Therewasadeclineof 13percent forbothVietnamand Malaysia. Early reports of university enrollments for2012indicatedamixedpatternofincreasesanddecreases.
Australiaremainsoverdependantoninternationalstu-denttuition.Earningsarestillhighbyworldstandards,buteverylastdollarisploughedbackintothecostofthebusi-nessorthecostoflocalteachingandresearch—ratherthanarichertwo-wayinternationalengagement.Thisisbecausefortwodecadesthefederalgovernmenthasremorselesslyreduced government funding. There is a lesson here forgovernmentsinothercountriesthatarecuttingbackpublicfunding.Itisunreasonabletoexpectnoncoreforeignstu-dentstoprovidecorefundingforthesystem,andthissty-miesthepotentialforacosmopolitaneducationthatwouldbenefitall.
precision,andhardworkbutwithgoodcharacteristics ininventiveness,flexibilityinapproach,andadaptabilitytodi-verseenvironments.Allthesecharacteristicsarebredonastrongheritageofthecommunistregimeofover50years,aperiodwhenfakevalueswerepromotedinallfields;andlack of initiative and hidden disobedience have been en-couragedtoexist.ThisexplainsmainlywhyRomaniaisinthissituationnow.
Majorchangesoccurred inRomania,after1990.Themarket economy replaced the state-owned centralizedone; thenumberof small- andmedium-sizedenterprisesincreasedfrom0toalmost400,000in2010;theexportssectormoved from10billionperyear in the1980s to50
billionperyearin2011;andatremendousincreaseincom-municationsfacilitieshastakenplace:firstplaceinEuropeand fourth in theworld, foranaveragespeedof Internetconnections.
The Higher Education SectorBefore the1989Revolution, theRomanianhighereduca-tionsectorwasrestricted:44highereducationinstitutions(all of them state universities or institutes), 163,000 stu-dents(710studentsper100,000ofthepopulation),num-berofPhDstudents(under0.3%)andnumberofuniversityteachers(11,700).
After 1989, the Romanian landscape of higher edu-cation changed radically: 70 brand new universities werecreated,andthestudentpopulationincreased,almostwith500percent,until2009.Romaniareallyrequiredandstillneeds a labor force much better skilled, than before, toreachtheexpectationsofamoremoderneconomy—from5percentlaborforcewithahighereducationdegreein1990,to 14 percent in 2010, in comparison with 26 percent intheEuropeanUnionand40percent in theUnitedStatesin 2010. The figures characterizing the higher educationsectorin2009are:112highereducationinstitutions(bothpublicandprivate,atparity),1,107,362students,3percentof PhD students, and 31,964 of the university teachers.Thenumberofstudentsper100,000ofthepopulationisof5,151in2009,incomparisonwith6,296intheUnitedStates,6,599inRussia,5,684inPoland,or3,525inFrance.Thenumberofstudentsfromruralareasordisadvantagedcategoriesisat15percentonly.
ConcerningthequalityofRomanianhighereducation,alluniversitieshavestatedontheirWebsitesasmissions:good-qualityeducation,researchattheinternationallevel,and services for society. The strategic approach is quiteanewone,being introduced in 1998;andallnewpublicandprivateinstitutionswantedmimeticallytodothesamething—copyingthestrategicprogramsoftheleadinguni-versities.
The competition among Romanian universities israther a new concept, which developed under the recentcircumstancesoflowfunding,globalcompetition,andde-mographicdecrease.Recently,asaconsequenceofanew
Major changes occurred in Romania, af-
ter 1990. The market economy replaced
the state-owned centralized one.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N14 Eastern Europe and Central Asia
law of national education (2011), a classification in threeprograms at Romanian higher education institutions, de-pendingmainlyontheintensityofresearch,hasbeendone:12researchintensiveuniversities,29universitiesforedu-cationandresearch,and61universitiesforeducation.Theclassificationhastheexpressedintentiontoredistributethebudgetaryallocationstotheuniversitiesandtosupportatleasttwouniversitiestobecomeworldclassandinthetop500of therankings.Thereare4universities inRomaniathat canaim to theworld-class category (UniversityAlex-andruIoanCuzaIassy,UniversityBabes-BolyaiCluj,Uni-versityofBucharest,andUniversityPolitehnicaBucharest)andanother30to35good-quality institutions(publicandprivate,includingthoseofarts).
Contemporary CrisesThemajorproblemswithwhichRomanianhighereduca-tionisencounteredinclude:weakpersonnelqualificationsbecauseoftheabsenceoffinancialmotivationandofrealcompetition (60% of universities established after 1989lacked appropriate legislation concerning quality assur-anceandalsoappropriatehuman-resourcepolicies);teach-ingorientation,focusedtoomuchonaccumulation,ratherthansolvingproblems;bureaucracyimposedbylegislation;corruption; nepotism; lack of transparency in the univer-sitymanagement;absenceoftheappropriatechannelsandmodalitiesofcommunicationinsidetheacademiccommu-nity;lackofvisionandleadershipatthegovernanceofthehigher education institutions; chronic underfunding; andweakelectivesystemforleadingpositionsintheuniversi-ties.Ofcourse,alltheseproblemsarenotfoundinallRo-manianuniversities,butprobablyatleastsomeofthemcanbefoundinanyuniversityinRomania.
ConclusionRomania radically changed its political system in 1990,inducing transformations in theeducation sector aswell.Themarketeconomywasreflectedinthehighereducationsector,too—withhighereducationbecomingabusinessaswell as information technology and other services. Whiletheprivateinitiativeformedanintrepidtransition,brand-new universities have been opened on a background ofweaklegislation,regardingquality.
The most important progress is the increase in thenumberofstudents(almost5times)andthegrowthofthelaborforcewithatertiarydegree(fromunder5%to14%).Thelawofeducationfailstodifferentiateuniversitiesincat-egoriesbasedontheirmissions.
riously.Iteducatesarespectable67percentofitsagegroupinhighereducation.Itsthreeuniversitiesenroll81,617stu-dents—two-thirds of them at the University of Ljubljana.Publicexpenditureonhighereducationisaround1.25per-
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 15Eastern Europe and Central Asia
The ContextSloveniaiscommittedtoanegalitarianphilosophyofhigh-ereducation.Allofthepublicuniversitieshavearesearchmission,andtuitionisfreeforfull-timeundergraduatestu-dents.Thereisonesmallprivateuniversity.Attheendofsecondary school, studentswhoscorewellon thematuraexaminationare, inmostcases,automaticallyadmittedtoa university. Those who do not quite meet the standardscanoftenenrollinaneveningorotherpart-timeprograms,wheretuitionischarged,andendupwiththesamedegreeas the regular students.Thepatternof “dual track” studywithvariationsintuitionandadmissionsstandards—nowcommon in some European countries, China, and else-where—distortsstudentadmissions,teachingloadsforpro-fessors,andcreatesotherproblems.Tuitionisalsochargedfordoctoralstudy.
In common with many universities in continentalEurope,rectorsareelectedbytheacademicstaff,withad-ditionalparticipationofstudents(whocontrol20%ofthevotes). They serve four-year terms and can be reelected.Similarly,deansarealsoelected,andastrongethosofau-tonomy exists throughout the academic system. Campusinterest groups—including autonomous and well-fundedstudentunionsandprofessorinterestgroups—arepower-ful.
A2011NationalHigherProgramforSlovenia,recentlyapprovedbyParliament, listsa rangeof initiatives for re-forms in higher education and research, by 2020. Thesefactors are aimed at improving Slovenia’s research infra-structureandoutput,aswellasboostingthecountry’sin-ternationalizationandtosomeextentdiversifyingthehigh-ereducationsystem;althoughthelistofinnovationsislongandtheguidelinesforspecificimplementationis limited.Thedevilis,ofcourse,inthedetails,andimplementingsig-nificantchangeinSlovenia’sconsensus-drivensystemwillprobablybeachallenge,particularlysincehighereducationattractsagooddealofpublicinterest.
World-Class for Slovenia?Whatmightaworld-classuniversitylooklikeintheSlove-niancontext?Certainly,noSlovenianuniversitycanaimtocompete with Berkeley or Oxford. The country could notfinanceaBerkeleynordoesithavethepopulationbaseto
supportanOxford.Butat leastoneSlovenian institution,nodoubttheUniversityofLjubljana,couldbecomeaglob-allycompetitiveuniversityinanumberofacademicfieldsandinternationallyvisibleasaninstitution.Asanationthatdependsonitshumanresourcesthatsitsinastrategicplacein Europe, the 2011 National Higher Education Programmakessense,althoughitdoesnotseemtogofarenoughinconcentratingfinancialandhumanresources.
The ProspectsPathstoacademicexcellencevaryaccordingtonationalandinstitutionalcircumstances,butitiseasytoidentifysomeoftheSlovenianrealitiesthatcreateproblemsforimprove-ment—challenges thataresharedbymanycountriesandinstitutions.Whilethepossibilitiesforsignificantimprove-mentmayobjectivelybepresent,policyandgovernanceis-suesposedauntingobstacles.Thefollowingfactorswill,atleastinpart,determineSlovenia’sacademicfuture.
Governance.IncommonwithmanyEuropeanuniversi-ties, topacademic leaders inSloveniaareelected to four-year terms of office. They typically return to the faculty,followingadministrativeservice.Rectors,forexample,areelectedby theacademiccommunity—includingacademicstaffandstudents,whohave20percentofthevotes.Rec-torsanddeans,typically,governbyconsensusandaresel-domwilling toexercise leadership thatmaycreatestrongopposition in the academic community. This means thatuniversitiesseldom,ifever,havestronginternalleadershipwiththeoptiontomakedecisionsthatmaycreatedissentorcontroversy.Electedtopmanagementwillbeunabletoim-plement theseriousdecisions thatare inevitablyrequiredforbuildingacademicexcellence.
What might a world-class university
look like in the Slovenian context?
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N16 Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Funding. Full-timeundergraduatestudentspayno tu-itioninSlovenia—althoughfeesarechargedforpart-timestudyandsomegraduateprograms.Thus,universitiesarelargelydependentondirectgovernmentfunding.Inmasshighereducationsystems,publicfundingcanneverprovidebothaccessandexcellence; thecostsaresimply toohigh.ForSloveniatoachieveworld-classexcellence,itwillneedtofindadditional funds tosupportanexpensive researchuniversity; and it is unrealistic to expect total state fund-ing.Thereisprobablynoalternativetochargingtuitiontoallstudents—ofcourse,withappropriatescholarshipassis-tanceforstudentswhomaynotbeabletoaffordthecosts.At thesametime, thestatewillneed toenhance fundingandtoensurethatrequiredresourcesareavailableoverthelongterm.Additionalincomecanbeobtainedbyenhancedcooperation with industry and other agencies. Excellentuniversitiescanprosperonlywithsustainedfunding.
one research-intensive university, the University of Lju-bljana.Theotherinstitutions,whicharenewerandmuchsmaller,mustfocusonteachingattheundergraduatelevel.Financialandhumanresourcesmustbecarefullyconcen-trated. Itwill, of course,bequite controversial to striporseverelyconstrainexistinguniversitiesfromsomeoftheircurrentrolesandtoensurethatresearchanddoctoraledu-cationiscarefullylimitedinthefuture.
“Steering.”Determiningbroadacademicdirectionsandpolicies cannotbe left to theacademiccommunityalone.Broad“steering”ofhighereducationpolicyforthenationcan only be developed and implemented by the govern-ment.Whileconsultationwithstakeholders,especiallytheacademicsthemselves,isnecessary,difficultdecisionswillinevitablybemadebyoutsiders.Further, continuinggov-ernmental supervision of university policy is required tokeep the system “on track.” This may be particularly dif-ficultinSlovenia’sconsensus-drivensociety,wherehighereducationisfrequentlyapoliticalconcern.
Selective excellence. Few universities can afford to beworld class in all specialties. For a small country, carefulselectionswillberequiredastowhatfieldsanddisciplinescanbe trulyworldclassandwhichshouldbe“merelyex-cellent.”Basedonnationalneeds,economicrealities,andcurrent academic strengthsand interests, a limitednum-berofareas—includinginterdisciplinaryandcutting-edgefields—can be selected for concentration. Targeted fundsandotherresourcescanbeprovided.
Internationalization.Afinelinealwaysstandsbetweenservingnationalobligationsandplayingintheinternationalbigleagues.IftheUniversityofLjubljanadesirestoachieveaworld-classstatus,itmustfocusonfurtherinternational-ization.ThisincludesofferingmoreacademicprogramsinEnglish;enhancingitsexchangerelationships;lookingfirsttoprovidestrongleadershiptocentralandeasternEuropeandtheformerSovietUnion;and,tosomeextent,engag-ingwithNorthAmericaandemergingAsia.SloveniaisanexcellentsiteforresearchoncentralEuropeanthemes,andthe university can build its interdisciplinary strengths inunderstanding the challenges andpossibilities of the for-merYugoslaviaandtheregion.
However,thebalancebetweennationalneedsandcon-cernsandinternationalizationisnoteasytoachieve.Partic-ularlyforasmallcountry,theuniversitiesareatthecenterofintellectuallifeandcentralinstitutionsformaintainingandenhancingnationallanguageandculture.Atthesametime,theuniversitiesareamongthemostinternationalizedinstitutions in thecountry,and thepressuresaregreat toincreasinglyengagewiththerestoftheworld.IntheSlove-niancase,theseforcesareparticularlycomplex,sincetheyinvolvetheBolognaagenda,workingwiththeBalkans,andtosomeextentabroaderinternationalagenda.
The FutureSlovenia,asmallcountrywithafavorablegeographicalpo-sition in themiddleofEuropeandwithagoodacademicinfrastructure,hasthepotentialforexcellence.Italreadyin-cludesperhapsthebestuniversityintheregion.Reachingforworld-classexcellenceisachallenge,butthisstandardisnot impossible.Foracountrydependenton itshumanresources,universitydevelopmentisalogicalstep.IfSinga-porecanbecomeaknowledgehub,whynotSlovenia?
For a small country, careful selections
will be required as to what fields and
disciplines can be truly world class and
which should be “merely excellent.”
In addition to our Web site and Facebook page, we are now tweeting. We hope you will consider “following” us on Twitter!
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 17
Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic is an independent consultant in global high-er education. She was formerly chief of the Higher Education Section at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. E-mail: [email protected].
However, higher education in Serbia inherits a chal-lenging legacy. It was originally part of a wider Yugoslavhigher education context but has since suffered years ofcivilwar,politicalinstability,andeconomicsanctions.
Boosting EnrollmentSerbia’sprincipalchallengeistoraiseitsgrossenrollmentrate,currentlyonly26.6percent,towardtheEuropeanaver-ageof50to55percent—andtomovetothislevelwithoutproducingtoomanygraduatesorloweringstandards.De-mographictrendspartlyaccountforlow,anddeclining,en-rollments;buthigh-graduateunemployment,aby-productofthepooreconomicsituation,isamoreimmediatecause.Also a steady and massive brain drain has occurred overthepast20years,whichhasbeenmoreextensiveinSerbiathanelsewhere in thewesternBalkans.Designinghighereducationcurriculathataremorecloselyalignedtolabor-marketrequirementswillgosomewaytoaddressthisprob-lem. Recruiting new researchers is another crucial issue,giventheEuropeantargetofcreatingatleast1millionnewresearchjobs,inordertoreacharesearchanddevelopmenttargetof3percentofgrossdomesticproduct.
Legacy of the Past: Overcoming FragmentationA particular challenge for higher education in Serbia—ahistoriclegacyofallformerYugoslavrepublics—isthetra-ditionthatuniversitiesaregroupingsofsemiautonomousfacultiesratherthanfullyintegratedinstitutions.Integratedcorporate structures are essential for any sustainable re-forms,yet20yearsofdebatehavenotresolvedthisques-tioninmajoruniversities,suchasBelgrade,althoughsomesmallerinstitutionshavemadeprogress.
Furthermore,recentproliferationofhighereducationinstitutions further fragments the subsector and worksagainstcoherentplanning.BeforeYugoslaviadisintegrated,
Serbiahadfouruniversities,inSerbiaproper,andanothertwo in its autonomous provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo.Today,thedraftstrategymentions13accrediteduniversities(7publicand6private)forapopulationthatisnowsmallerthaninthoseearlierdays—andstilldeclining.
Serbia and European ProcessesSince2003,SerbiahasparticipatedwellinEuropeaninitia-tives—suchas, theEuropeanHigherEducationAreaandlater the European Research Area. This has ensured thegradualevolutionofdegreestructures,thedevelopmentofnationalqualificationsframeworksbasedonlearningout-comes,theestablishmentofquality-assurancemechanisms,and the inclusion of key stakeholders—i.e., students, indecision-making processes. Unfortunately, however, thereisnocriticalanalysisoftheimplementationoftheBolognaprocess—acknowledging,perhaps,thatsomechangesmayhavebeenmerelycosmetic.Forexample,changingthede-greeframeworkwithoutreformingstudyprogramshasputbothstudentsandfacultyunderpressure.Inaddition,thevalueof thebachelor’sdegreehasbeendiminished, as itnolongerprovidesaccesstothelabormarket,andalsoofthemaster’sdegree,whichhaslostitsresearchcomponent.
DiversificationTodiversify thehighereducationsector, the2005HigherEducation Act introduced a binary system with four-yearprofessionalstudies,althoughitdidnotprovidemovementbetweentheuniversityandnonuniversitysectors.Thema-jorreformneedednowistoamendthelegislationcoveringthenonuniversity tertiarysector, topromotegreaterverti-calandhorizontalmobility.Serbia’scurrentarrangementsareinconsistentwiththepracticeofverticalandhorizontalmovementofstudentsfoundelsewhereinEurope.
Highpositions in internationaland/or regional rank-ings boost national pride, and Serbian higher educationinstitutions undoubtedly achieve excellence in some dis-ciplines. Research shows that three conditions for secur-inghighpositionsininternationalleaguetablesconstitutestrong leadership, purposeful governance structures, andsubstantial investment of resources. However, the neces-saryresourcesseemsunavailableinSerbia;andeveniftheywere,theymightbebetterdeployedindevelopingaqual-ityhighereducationsystemforSerbia,asawhole—insteadofboostingafewselectinstitutionswithoutaguaranteeofsuccess.
Academic CorruptionFacedwithamajorcaseofacademiccorruption,resultinginlegalrepercussionsandresignationsoffacultydeansin2007, the strategyproposesaCodeofEthics at the insti-tutional level for all universities. To have real impact, itseemsthatsuchacodecouldbereinforcedasanelementof quality assurance and accreditation and be monitoredregularly.
Turning Weaknesses into StrengthsSerbia should seek to turn its weaknesses into strengths.Forexample, incentivescouldbecreatedfor theuniversi-ties to includeSerbia’s impressive intellectualdiaspora intheirteachingandresearch,throughvisitingprofessorspo-sitionsandjointresearchprojects.Nowthatmemoriesofcivilwararereceding,Serbiashouldalsoexploitthecom-monlinguisticheritageofthewesternBalkanstodevelopjoint doctoral studies with other countries of the region.Creating regional disciplinary networks with poles of ex-cellence inSerbiaand throughout theYugo-spheremightbeamechanismforreducingthenumberofuniversities,increasing quality, and reinforcing the relevance of studyprograms.
ConclusionWillthisnewstrategy,thoughawell-researchedandthor-oughdocument,justbeoneofmanythathaveneverbeenimplemented, a political asset in function of the upcom-ingelectionsinSerbia?UnlessitisintegratedwithoverallpoliciesinothersectorsandisanintegralpartofSerbia’swiderStrategyforEconomicDevelopment(forthedecadeto2020),itislikelytoremainanisolateddocument—withlittle chances for the much-needed improvements of thehighereducationsystem.
Kyrgyzstan’sSchemeforaNewDegreeSystem—ButIsItReady?Martha C. Merrill and Chynara Ryskulova
Martha C. Merrill teaches in the higher education administration pro-gram at Kent State University. E-mail: [email protected]. Chynara Ryskulova, who has worked at the American University in Central Asia for 14 years, currently is a Fulbright Scholar at Kent State. E-mail: [email protected].
On August 23, 2011, the government of the KyrgyzRepublic issued a decree (postavleniya) regarding all
higher education institutions in the country—except formedical,art,andmusic,andsomeengineeringprograms.The institutionswere required to adopt a two-tier systemof higher education—a four-year bachelor’s degree and atwo-yearmaster’sdegree—andtousecredithours,bythe2012/13academicyear.Thisplan,whilewell intentioned,will be impossible to implement effectively in the timeframe.
BackgroundKyrgyzstanisasmall,beautiful,deeplyimpoverishedcoun-try in central Asia. Its per capita gross domestic productof$2,200putsit187thoutof228countriesintheworld.Moreover,accordingtoarecentWorldBankreport,21per-centofthatgrossdomesticproductformsremittancesfromworkersabroad,primarilyinKazakhstanandRussia.
ThecountriesKyrgyzstanisethnicallyoreconomicallytied to—including Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey—arein the Bologna process. Since Kyrgyzstan is dependenton labor mobility, adopting educational policies found inthose countries has consisted Kyrgyzstan’s agenda sinceits independence in 1991, leading toconsiderable institu-tionaldiversity.Whilemostofthe52highereducationin-stitutionsinthecountryusecontacthours,someusecredithours,andsomeuseboth.Degreessuchasafirstdegree(Diplom), a candidate of sciences (kandidat nauk), and adoctor of sciences (doktor nauk) are awarded. Also avail-able arebachelor’sdegrees andmaster’sdegrees, of vari-ouslengths—sometimesinthesameinstitution.CurriculausednationwidearewrittenbytheEducationalandMeth-odologicalUnions,expertgroupsappointedbytheMinistryof Education. The ministry awards all diplomas and con-trols licensing andattestation forboth public andprivateinstitutions.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
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Requirements of the New DecreeTheAugustdecreecalculatescredithoursasdoestheEuro-peanCreditTransferSystem—30creditspersemester.Thefour-year bachelor’s degree requires 240 credits and thetwo-yearmaster’s,120credits.Onecreditisdefinedas36academichours,includingcontacthoursinclass,indepen-dentwork,andexams.Thedecreealsostatesthatstudentsshould not work more than 54 hours per week, and that50percentof thestudents’ timeshouldbecontacthours.Thebachelor’slevelcurriculumwillhavefivecomponents:
humanities, social, and economics courses; mathematicsandnaturalsciencescourses;professional(major)courses;physicaleducation;andan internshipandresearchwork.Eachofthefirstthreecomponentsmusthaverequiredandelectivecourses.Therequiredpartshouldbenotlessthan70percentforthebachelor’sdegreeandnotlessthan40percentforthemaster’sdegree.Curriculastillwillbewrit-ten centrally, by instruction method boards (UMOs), andno changes are foreseen in licensing and attestation pro-cesses.
Regardingcompensation,whetheraprofessorshouldbeconsidered ina full-timepositionandthuseligible forbenefits currently is determined by the number of hourshe or she is in the classroom. No alternative system hasbeendevisedforprovingwhoisinafull-timeposition,norhasanewsystemofcalculatingsalariesorworkloadbeencreated.Mostprofessorsdonotunderstandthatthecredit-hoursystemrequiresmanymorehoursofpreparationandgradingoutsideofclassthandoesthecurrentsystem;theyequatetimeintheclassroomwithworkload.Indeed,someuniversities that claim to have adopted credit hours haveadded a category of “independent work with faculty” forperiodswhenfacultysupervisestudentsdoingtheirhomeassignments,thuskeepingthenumberofcontacthoursthesameforprofessorsandavoidingthesalaryissue.
Academics themselves also have little informationaboutwhatthenewsystemrequires.Manyprofessorsbe-lievethatstudentswhopaytuitionfortheirstudies—anewconcept in thepost-Soviet era—arepurchasing their edu-cationandthuscannotbedismissedaslongastheykeeppaying.Unfortunately,itisashortleapfromtheideathatone “buys” an education under capitalism to the conceptthatonecanbuygradesanddiplomasaswell.Manyalsobe-lievethatinacredit-hoursystemprofessorsarenotallowedtofailstudents.ThisstatementwasinaRussian-languagedocument,“explaining”theBolognaprocess,publishedinKazakhstanandwidelydistributedinKyrgyzstan.
Academically, thepurposeof the change is topermitKyrgyzstan toenter “theworldeducational space,” yetnocountry except Russia uses a credit-hour system that de-mands27hoursofseattimeaweek(50%ofthemaximum54hoursofwork)andmixes theUS-style four-yearbach-elor’sdegreewithBolognareforms.
Additionally,neitherstudentsnorfacultyarepreparedto learnand teach in a system that requires independentwork,norarelibraryandcomputerresourcesavailable.TheMinistryofEducationhasnoplansforfacultydevelopment;whenasked,ministrystafftoldtheauthorswithoutadoubt,it will happen. Similarly, few administrators are familiarwith procedures needed for the newly mandated electivecourses: how to design, approve, publicize, and schedulethem.
Also unaddressed is quality assessment; the criteriacurrently in use, such as square meters per student, arebasedonacontact-hoursystem.Eachofthenewbachelor’sandmaster’sdegreeprogramswillneedtobelicensedbe-fore it canbegin tooperate,butministry staff toldusnoplanshadbeenmadetoincreasethenumberofthosework-inginthisarea.Wheneachprogramhasitsfirstgroupofgraduates, state attestation is required, with institutionalreportsandvisitingteamsappointedbyandresponsibletotheMinistryofEducation.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
This plan, while well intentioned, will be
impossible to implement effectively in
the time frame.
The four-year bachelor’s degree requires
240 credits and the two-year master’s,
120 credits.
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Kyrgyzstandoesnothavean independentaccreditingagency, although educators participate in the Trans-Euro-peanMobilitySchemeforUniversityStudies(TEMPUS)–funded Central Asian Network for Quality Assurance,which holds conferences and issues papers. The nongov-ernmental organization, Education Network Association(EdNet),hassaiditisreadytobeanindependentaccredit-ingagency,butithasnotyetaccreditedanyinstitution.
Funding is an enormous problem. In this country,tosavemoney,whowill fund theworkof the instructionmethodboardsthatwillwritethenewcurricula,thecom-missionswhowill licenseall thenewprograms, thepur-chaseoflibrarymaterials,thefacultytimeusedforwritingsyllabi,andtheprintingofnewstudyplans?
ConclusionAlthough Kyrgyz educators and political figures want tosynchronize Kyrgyzstan’s higher education system with“the world educational space,” the lack of planning, oftrainingforfacultyandadministrators,ofevaluationproce-dures,andoffundingmeanthatthereformsarelikelytobeimpossibletoimplementsuccessfully.
SouthAfrica:ChallengesofRacismandAccessChika SehooleChika Sehoole is professor of education at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. E-mail: [email protected].
nationalnewsheadlines.Attheendof2011,theUniversityofPretoriawashitbyallegationsofapparentracismamongits staff,whereablackengineeringprofessorallegedsys-tematic harassment and victimization, on racial grounds.Atthebeginningofthe2012academicyear,ablackparentwaskilled inastampedeat thegatesof theUniversityofJohannesburg, where crowds of prospective students hadgatheredinthequesttogetadmissionintothisuniversity.
These two incidents—namely, allegations of racismand the quest for access especially of black students inhighereducation—arejustafewexamplesofthechalleng-esthatSouthAfricaexperiencesinmeetingsomeofthepri-orityareas identifiedbythepostapartheidgovernment, in1994.Inoutliningthevisionofthepostapartheidgovern-
ment,the2001NationalPlanforHigherEducationnotedtheneedtoincreasethenumberofblackmembersofstaffinhighereducationinstitutions.Thiswasinlinewiththechangesinthecompositionofthestudentbodyinthosein-stitutions.Giventhepaucityofpostgraduatestudentsand,consequently,thesmallpoolofpotentialrecruits,thegov-ernmentencouragedinstitutionsalsotorecruitblackandfemalestaffmembersfromtherestofthecontinent.Theallegedvictimof racismat theUniversityofPretoria is aKenyannational.
Race and Institutional Cultures Therehasbeensomeprogress in increasing thenumberof black students and staff in higher education institu-tions.Thepreliminarystudentheadcountin2011,forthe23publicuniversities,was899,120.Thisnumberincludesbothfull-timeandpart-timeenrollments,bothforcontactanddistance-educationstudents.Thefigurefor1994was495,356. Therefore, this represents an increase of almost82percentsincetheadventofdemocracy.Governmentre-dresspoliciesonaccessforblackandfemalestudentshaveyieldedpositiveresults.Thenumberofblack(African,col-ored,andIndian)studentsincreasedfrom55percentto80percent.
Ontheotherhand,thenumberofblackstaffhadalsoincreasedfrom17percentin1994to44percentin2010.Contrary to expectations, however, physical access seemsnot tobesufficient, although thereseems tobe improve-ments.Thenecessityistofindoutwhattheexperiencesareofblackswhowereexcludedanddiscriminatedundertheapartheidsystem.Theracial incident in2008at theUni-versityofFreeState,wherewhitestudentsill-treatedblackwomenmembersofthecleaningstaff,andtheallegedex-perienceoftheblackprofessorattheUniversityofPretoriaareexamplesthatshowthatwrittenpoliciesarenotsuffi-cienttoeffectthedesiredchanges.
The Soudine Committee investigated the incidentat theUniversityof theFreeState.Thecommittee’sbriefcoveredall the23universities.Theyfoundthatracialdis-criminationandsexismwerebothpervasiveinmanySouthAfricanuniversities.Inthisregard,achangeisneededofthe institutional cultures. The members of the universitycommunity will have to embrace a new way of operationandespousenewvaluesoftheseinstitutions,inlinewithdemocratic dispensation ushered in by the Nelson Man-delaadministration.Studieshaveshownthathighereduca-tioninstitutionslargelyignoredthechangeofinstitutionalcultures. Historically, white institutions, in particular, areunable to recruit or retain black staff members, becausetheirinstitutionalcultureisalienatingratherthanaccom-modatingfornewpeople.Thistraditionhadanimpactonblackstudents’successandperformanceandwasalsoan
Africa Focus
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 21
Access and the Central Applications SystemThe unfortunate incident of the death of a parent at thegatesoftheUniversityofJohannesburgalsopointstotwoimportantpolicyissuesfacingSouthAfrica.Thefirstissuerelatestothemanagementofprimaryapplicantswhowantto enter universities, which at the moment is uncoordi-nated,nationally.Thecurrentpracticeisthatstudentscanapplytoasmanyhighereducationinstitutionsaspossible,duringtheirfinalyearofhighschool.Afterthereleaseoftheirgrade12(matric)results,theyareofferedplacesatin-dividualuniversitieswheretheyhadappliedbefore.Thus,astudentwhopassedwellcouldbeofferedaplacetostudybyalltheinstitutions(fromtwotofour)she/hehasappliedto.However,thestudentcanonlytakeuptheplaceatoneinstitution.
The second issue relates to the fact that some of thestudents,whodonotapplyuntil theyearn theirgrade12results,start lookingforanavailableplace tostudyat thehighereducationinstitutions,at thestartof theacademicyear.Theyliterallytravelfromoneinstitutiontoanotherinsearchofaplacetostudy.Thosewhodidnotmeettheen-trancerequirementsattheirpreferredinstitutionsalsostartlookingforalternativeplacesofstudyat thebeginningoftheacademicyear.Thecombinationsofthesefactorsresultinlongqueuesofstudentsliningatgatesofuniversities,insearchofaplacetostudy.Thisdesperationforaccesshasunfortunatelyclaimedalifeatthebeginningof2012intheUniversityofJohannesburg.
of theUniversityof Johannesburg.What is interesting tonoteisthatthissolutionwasproposedbythenationalplan,11 years ago. The question why this has not been imple-mentedremainsachallengeforthegovernmenttoaddress.
Thestampedesandthelongqueuesatthebeginningofeveryacademicyearininstitutionsofhighereducationalsopointtoanotherbiggersystemissue,whichisthefactthattheSouthAfricanhighereducationsystemisoperatingatfullcapacity,andthereisaneedtobuildnewinstitutions.Currently, the establishment of two new universities hasbeenapprovedbythegovernment,andplansareunderwaytostartwiththeimplementationofthepolicydecision.Un-tiltheseuniversitiesbecomefullyfunctional,thepressureoftheexistinginstitutionswillremain.
There is recognition within the government that thebuilding of additional universities will not meet the de-mand for access to higher education. In this regard, thegovernmenthasunveiledavisionofapostschoolsystem,whichconsistsofpublicandprivateuniversities,publicandprivateFurtherEducationandTrainingcolleges,andadulteducationcenters,amongothers.
It is envisaged that young people will be encouragedto consider alternative forms of postschool opportunities,otherthanuniversityeducation.Withregardtomeetingtheneedsofindividualswhodesiretopursueuniversityeduca-tion,withinthelimitedresources,distanceeducationcouldbeconsideredasanalternative.
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asignificantproportionofwhichiscontributedbyjustonecountry—South Africa. Likewise, sub-Saharan Africa hasthelowestnumberofresearchersper1millionofthepopu-lation:79comparedto,forexample,442forLatinAmeri-caand theCaribbean. Italsoproduced just 1.1percentoftheworld’spublicationsand0.1percentofglobalpatents.Equally disturbing is that since 2002, while the researchindicatorsinalmostallworldregionshaveimproved,thoseofsub-SaharanAfricahaveremainedmostlyunchanged.
Networking Strategy Promotingresearchmust,thus,formanessentialstrategyforAfricanhighereducation institutions.Yet, these insti-tutions face many constraints and challenges—includinga heavy emphasis on teaching, regarding massification,insufficient postgraduate programs, a dearth of research-strongfaculty,lackoflaboratoriesandequipment,andscar-cityoffunds.
Inthepast,muchoftheresearchinindividualAfricanuniversitieswascarriedoutincollaborationwithuniversi-ties in the respective former colonizing countries, whichnot only provided the funding but also managed the re-search.Thus,researchareaswerenotalwaysinpriorityar-easforAfrica.TheresultshardlyeverreachedtheAfricanstakeholders,andtheinformationwasalmostneversharedwithotherAfricanuniversities.Now,however,mostdonorsandfundingagenciesincreasinglyfavorresearchinitiativesinAfrica that involve regional collaborationandnetwork-ing.Thispolicyhasproducedtheaddedadvantageofshar-ing thescarcehumanandphysical resources, among theparticipatinginstitutions,andpromotingcapacitybuilding.
The Consortium for Advanced Research Training inAfrica, launchedin2010withfundingfromtheCarnegieCorporation, comprises 9 universities and 4 research in-stitutes inAfrica andselectedpartners in theNorth.Theobjective promotes doctoral training, especially in areasrelated to health and development, and strengthens theresearchinfrastructureandcapacityoftheAfricaninstitu-tions,throughfellowshipsandtrainingseminars.
The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Build-inginAgriculture,createdin2004andbasedinUganda,isaconsortiumof29universitiesineastern,central,andsouthern Africa. The main goal undertakes fostering re-searchandinnovationinAfricanuniversities—inresponseto the demand of farmers through graduate training andresearch.Itrunsseveralcollaborativemaster’sdegreeandPhDprograms.
The German Academic Exchange Service has assist-ed increatingfiveCentersofExcellenceacrossAfrica, infieldsthatareofdirectsocietalrelevancetoAfrica:healthinGhana,microfinanceinCongo, lawinTanzania,criminaljusticeinSouthAfrica,andlogisticsinNamibia.Allthesecenters,anchoredintherespectivecountries’flagshipuni-versities,aimatpromotinggraduatestudiesandresearchand training the future leaders of Africa. They networkamong themselves and with relevant institutions in Ger-many.
TheRegionalInitiativeinScienceandEducation,fund-edbytheCarnegieCorporation,aimstopromotecapacitybuildinginsub-SaharanAfricanuniversities.Itrunsmas-ter’sdegreeandPhDprogramsforscientistsandengineersthrough university-based research and training networksin selecteddisciplines.Theprimaryemphasis constitutespreparingnewfacultyandupgradingthequalificationsofexistingfacultyinAfricanuniversities.
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development hascreatedaWaterCentersofExcellenceConsortium,whichnetworksinstitutionsandresearchersinthefieldofwatersciencesandtechnology,indifferentregions,forgraduateprogramsandresearch.TheCenter inSouthernAfrica iscoordinatedbyStellenboschUniversity,SouthAfrica,andtheoneinwesternAfricanbyUniversityCheikhAntaDiop,Senegal.
The Pan African University, launched by the AfricanUnioninDecember2011,isamajornewinitiativeofcon-tinental networking for promoting graduate training andresearch, in identified priority areas for Africa. This uni-versitywillcomprisefiveinstitutes,oneineachofthefiveAfrican regionsandeach specializing inadifferentfield.Eachinstitutewillthennetworkwithotherinstitutionsinitsrespectivefield.TheUniversityofIbadan,Nigeria,willhosttheInstituteinEarthandLifeSciences;theUniversityofYaoundéII,Cameroon,theoneinGovernance,Humani-
Africa Focus
Promoting research must, thus, form
an essential strategy for African higher
education institutions.
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tiesandSocialSciences;andtheJomoKenyattaUniversityof Agriculture and Technology, Kenya, in Basic Sciences,Technologyand Innovation.Algeriawillhost an InstituteinWaterandEnergySciences,andSouthAfrica inSpaceScience.
ChallengesWhileregionalandcontinentalnetworkingundoubtedlyof-fersmanyadvantagesinpromotingresearch—i.e.,inhelp-ingAfrican institutions to collaborateamong themselves,italsogivesrisetoseveralchallenges.First,networksmusttake into account the “political” will, at both institutionalandcountrylevels.Manysuccessfulnetworkshavefaltered,whenchangesinleadershipinparticipatinginstitutionsorcountries have occurred, and such changes are common
in Africa. Second, networks invariably incur additionalcommunication, staff, and travel costs. Greater use mustbe made of information and communications technologytoreducethesecosts.Third,thesuccessofthenetworkisdependent—notonlyoneffectivemanagementatthecen-tralcoordinatingunitbutequallyatthelevelofthevariousnodes, which is not always easy to achieve. The staff un-dertakingthecoordinationateverynodemustbecarefullyselected. Fourth, almost all African networks are heavilyfinanced by donors. It is vital to consider the long-termsustainabilityofanetwork,whendonorsupportmayrundry.Apriorityforeverynetworkmust,therefore,betoplan,rightfromthestart,forraisingitsownfundsfromnational,regional,andinternationalsources.
world for theselectionofnewhighereducationstudents,throughunifiedexaminations.Eachyear,between June7and9,millionsofstudentstaketheexamatthesametime.Thenumberofparticipantsin2008wasthelargestinhis-tory—10.5 million participants took the examination. In2011,therewere9.33million.Takingtheentranceexamina-tionistheonlychannelformoststudentstoentercollegesoruniversities.Theexaminationscorescandeterminethecandidates’chanceanddeterminethequalityandprestigeoftheuniversitythattheycouldattend.
HistorySince itsestablishment in 1952,anentranceexaminationisnotonlyapivotbetweeninstitutionsofhighereducationandschoolsofsecondaryeducationbutalsoakeylinkbe-tweenhighereducationinstitutionsandsociety.Thus,thispolicy has always been an important aspect of educationreforminChinaandafocalpointofconcernfortheentireeducationcircleandthewholesociety.
TheGreatCulturalRevolutionbrokeout in 1966. Intheculturalandeducationalcircles,abolishingtheentranceexaminationwastakenasabreakthroughforthemovementandcolleges,anduniversitiesceasedtoenrollnewstudentsforanumberofyears.From1972to1976,therecommen-dationmethodwasadoptedinuniversityrecruitment,andonly thoseyouthswhohadpracticalexperienceswereen-titledtohighereducation.Instudentrecommendation,pri-oritywasgiventocandidates’performanceatworkandnottotheiracademicaccomplishments.
Afteranintervalof11years,therestorationoftheen-tranceexaminationin1977filledtensofthousandsofedu-cated youths with exultation. In 1977, when the entranceexamination was reintroduced, the examinations and re-cruitmentwere conducedbyprovincial,municipal, or re-gional governments. In 1978, the model of the nationalunifiedexaminationandlocallyorganizedrecruitmentwasrestored.Morethan30yearsafterthat,aseriesofreformshavebeeninitiatedandkeymeasuresamongthem.
New Development From 2010In July 2010, Chinese government promulgated the Na-tional Medium and Long-Term Educational Reform andDevelopmentPlan,inwhichchapter12isaboutthe“exam-inationandenrollment systemreform.”AmongpreviouseducationalreformprofilesinChina,thisisthefirsttimethatexaminationandenrollmentbecameanindependentchapter.Thisshowsthat thegovernmentpayshighatten-tiontothisissue.Inthatchapter,thegovernmentsuggeststhat“NationalEducationExaminationSteeringCommitteeshouldbeestablishedtostudyhowtosetuptheexamina-tionreformprogramandtoguidethereformofuniversityentranceexaminationpractice.”Thisdecisionindicatesthegreat importance of the the examination and enrollmentreforms.
Positive and Negative Consequences Theentranceexaminationimprovestheselectionofquali-fied individuals for universities, to ensure the quality offreshmen.Italsopromotestheteachingandlearningatthesecondaryandelementarylevel.Testsprovideanopportu-nity for examinees to wholly depend on themselves, andsuccessesarealsoundertheircontrol.Thatfeelingofcon-trolmotivatesmillionsofyoungpeopletostudyhard;andthus,thegenerallevelofintellectualabilityofthewholena-tionisincreased,andeducationisalsorevitalized.Promot-ingequityisthesoulofthetesting,and“fairness,equality,
and transparency”are thecentralnotionsofChina’s test-ing policy. Testing also promotes hierarchical mobility, toalargeextent.Ithasbeenakeychannelforstudentsintheruralareastogainresidencyinurbanareas.EversinceGao-kaowasresumedin1977,itmadegreatcontributionintheselectionofqualifiedindividualsforhighereducation,andmanyofthosepeopleareplayingimportantrolesineverysectorofthesociety.Thefasteconomicgrowthintherecent20yearsinChinaisalsopartlyattributabletotheresump-tionandreformsoftheentranceexamination.
However, this unified national admissions test alsoresults insomenegativeconsequencestoelementaryandsecondary education. High schools focus their attentionon college admissions rate. Students are dedicated to ei-therscienceor liberalarts,whilecompletely ignoring theother field since it will not be tested on the entrance ex-amination.Academicpressuresaretoohigh,andworkloadis tooheavyforstudents.Students’physicalhealth issig-
nificantlyimpaired,andthereisaconstantincreaseintheproportionofpeoplesufferingfrommyopia.Studentsarealsoconfinedtocertainthinkingmodes,andtheirindivid-ualcreativityislargelysuppressed.Similarthingshappenat the school level: Schools become more similar to eachother with academic studies, for higher test scores beingthesoleandwholepurposeofteachingandlearning.Thepractice of “teaching to the test” is prevalent for Gaokao:Tested subjects and contents are the focus,while theun-testedsubjectsandcontentsarecompletely ignored.Thishasalready resulted innarrowedperspectivesof studentsandconcentratedeffortsintheexaminations,withtheonlypurposeofseekingfameandwealthoutofthepractice.Theintendedgoalofhighschooleducationisgreatlydistorted.The entrance examination system has its advantages anddisadvantages.ItisstilloneofthemostimportantandcoreissuesinChineseeducationreform.
Importance and FutureAn admissions system that basically depends on the testscore, as judging criterion, demonstrates a trend beyond
China Perspectives
Since its establishment in 1952, an en-
trance examination is not only a pivot
between institutions of higher educa-
tion and schools of secondary educa-
tion but also a key link between higher
education institutions and society.
With no change on Chinese people’s
perspective and emphasis on education,
the system will not receive a decrease in
the severity of competition in those uni-
versity admissions tests, regardless of
an increase in the admissions rate.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 25China Perspectives
themaneuverof anyperson. In theory, it isnot theopti-mal selection tool; but in practice, no better substitute isavailableforcompetition.Ifthisimportantdecisionroleisnot played by test scores, then power, money, or connec-tionswouldsubstitutetestscoresandbecomethekeycom-ponentsindecidingtheadmissionsstatus.Thus,aunifiedtestseemsaneffectivetool,toensurefaircompetitionandcompetitionorders.ItisasystemcompatiblewiththesocialandculturalcontextsofChina,certainlyneedsconstantim-provementsandreforms,butisnotsuitabletoeliminateit.
Ithasattractedevengreaterattentionwhentheadvan-tagesanddisadvantagesofthiskindoflarge-scaleselectiveexamination have become fully exposed. It should be re-vealed that thenationallyunifiedexaminationdoescausesomenegativeimpactsoneducationattheelementaryandsecondary level, but it also should be noted as protectingadmissionsdecisionsfromtheinterventionofmanyotherfactors, such as connections among people. Despite thenegativeconsequences,whichcallsforreforms,theelimi-nationoftestsisnotarightanswerforeducationinChina.Ingeneral,theexaminationandenrollmentsysteminChi-na has been existing for 60 years; and although it needscontinuousreform,itsuitstheChinesesituationandwilllastforalongtime.
WithnochangeonChinesepeople’sperspectiveandemphasis on education, the system will not receive a de-creaseintheseverityofcompetitioninthoseuniversityad-missionstests,regardlessofanincreaseintheadmissionsrate.Chinahasbeentryingtomodifythepracticeofwhollydependingonastandardizedtest.Forexample,universitieshave sought different kinds of recommendation systems,butalloftheoptionsfellshortoftheirgoalsduetotheinter-ventionofconnections.Onlythroughthenationallyunifiedstandardizedtestingcantheadmissionspracticebeprotect-edfromthecontaminationofconnections.TheuniversityentranceexaminationsysteminChinaisdefinitelygoingtobemorediverse;however,consideringthesocietysituationand traditional culture in China, it will remain the mainchannelforuniversityentrance,foralongperiod.
You Guo Jiang, S.J., is a PhD candidate at the Center for International Higher Education, Boston College. E-mail: [email protected].
In China, there has been a revival of interest and newthinkingaboutliberalartseducation,inthepastdecade.
Thisrevival, inpart,shows that thegovernmentanduni-versitiesrealizetheinfluenceofeducatingcitizenstothinkcreatively, critically, and innovatively—to help studentsmeetglobalneedsandchallenges.Italsoindicatesthatcur-rentcurriculafocustoomuchonprofessionaltraining.
Themodelofspecializedtraininghasbeenincreasing-lycriticizedoverthepast20years.MostChinesestudentsvieweducationprimarilyasameansofsecuringgoodjobs,highsalary,andmobility.Thepursuitofhumanisticvaluesandpersonalandacademicintegrityiserodedbyutilitari-anismandmoney-orientedcommercialism.Manycollegegraduates lack thecapacity forcritical thinking,creativity,problemsolving,andinnovationandmoralreasoning.Chi-nesepolicymakersandeducatorsareawareofthechalleng-es that universities now face and think that a liberal artseducationwillproducecollegegraduates,withtherequisitemoralandcriticalskills.
The Development of Liberal Arts EducationIn 1998, the Ministry of Education issued the Outline of Cultural Quality Education for University Students,whichfo-cusedonthecultivationofhumanisticqualities.Thisout-lineisatanearlystageandpoorlyarticulated,withrespecttocareerpaths.Inthepastdecade,somesmall-scaleexperi-mentalfacultiesofliberalartseducationbegantoappearattopuniversities—tomeetthegoalofeducatingstudentsincritical thinking,creativity, integrity,and innovativeskills.Leadingresearchuniversities—suchas,PekingUniversity,Zhejiang University, Fudan University, Tsinghua Univer-sity, Nanjing University, and Zhongshan University—arethepioneer institutions thatpromotea liberalartseduca-tioncollegeorprogramstoimprovestudents’capacityforcriticalthinkingandbroadanalysis.
In2005,FudanUniversityestablishedFudanCollege,an institution to implement liberal arts education and tomanagetheteachingoffreshmenandsophomores.Since2006, Tsinghua University has defined its undergradu-ate education, on the basis of a liberal arts education fora broader professional education. Nanjing University es-tablishedKuangYamingCollegein2006;PekingUniver-sityinitiateditsYuanpeiCollegein2007;andZhongshan
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26 I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N
University established the Liberal Arts College in 2009.Otheruniversitiesatthenationalandprovinciallevelalsodevelopedadditionalcourses in the liberalartsaselectivecourses,whichwerecommonlycalled“publiccoursesforhumanisticeducationorculturalqualityeducation.”Somespecialized institutes of technology and engineering andNormalUniversities—forexample,inShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity,BeijingInstituteofTechnology,andEastChinaNormalUniversity—havealsoimplementedtheliberalarts.The liberalartseducationcurriculumincludescourses inpolitical,moral,andphysicaleducation,aswellasforeignlanguages, social sciences, literature, history, philosophy,arts,andmilitarytraining.LiberalartseducationhasthusbecomealandmarkinthedevelopmentandtransformationofChinesehighereducation,tocultivatemorewell-round-edstudents.ChallengesfaceliberalartseducationinChina.
TheChinesehighereducationsystemhasrecognizedthe importance of shifting from specialized education toeducating graduates to be creative and competitive in aglobalized world. However, pressure from exam-orientededucation and a lecture-style teaching method impedesfacultyanduniversityadministratorsfromwholeheartedlyembracingliberalartseducation.Relativelynarrowprofes-sionalstudiesstilldominatethecurriculaofmostChinesecollegesanduniversities.Inaddition,courserequirementsareextremelytightand,therefore,leavenoroomforreflec-tionorthinking.
The contemporary Chinese secondary system usuallydivides its curriculum into the humanities and science.Thus,universitystudentstendtoselectliberalartscoursesrelatedtotheirhighschoolinterests.HighschoolstudentsspendmostoftheirtimelearninghowtogethighscoresonChina’snationalcollegeentranceexamination.Thus,mostChinesehighschoolstudentsbecomeexcellentmemoriz-
Lecturingandmemorizationhavedominatedpastap-proaches.Examinationpapersarebasedmostlyonlecturecontentandtextbook.Studentsarenotencouragedtothinkcreatively or to reflect and interact with teachers. Manystudentseventuallyeitherlosetheabilitytothinkindepen-dentlyorareafraidtooffercriticism.
AdvancingChinatotheworld-classstagethroughsci-enceandtechnologyhasbecomeacentralconcernandgoalof the Chinese government and the entire nation. Manyuniversities are rushing to embrace globalization and in-ternationalization in order to keep in line with world de-velopment.Asaresult,liberalartseducationisconsideredunimportant.
Future Trends Despitethelackofinstitutionalautonomy,thelowregardforhumanism,andthepreponderanceofmaterialismandutilitarianismineducationalgoals,Chinesehighereduca-tionreformhasrevivedliberalartseducationinsomeeliteplaces and universities—to educate more students withcritical thinking,creativity, innovativeskills,andbalanceddevelopment. Government policy, the education system,
theengagementoffacultymembers,andmarketdemandswillcontinuetohaveanimpactinimplementingliberalartseducation.SomeuniversitiesinChinahavealreadystartedprogramsintheliberalarts,asameansorpilotexperimenttopreparestudentsforresponsible,innovative,andcreativelives,inaglobalworld.TheChineseeducationsystem,edu-cation institutions, and facultymembers stillhave a longwaytogo,iftheyaretoembraceandpracticetheliberalartseducation.DespitetheemergenceofliberalartseducationinChinaasanewphenomenon, thishasnothadacriti-calimpactontheapproachtohighereducation.NorhasaliberalartseducationbecomearevolutionaryforceinChi-nesehighereducation.Thus, theexpansionof the liberalartseducationintheChineseeducationsystemisstillinitsinfancy.
China Perspectives
Most Chinese students view education
primarily as a means of securing good
jobs, high salary, and mobility.
The contemporary Chinese secondary
system usually divides its curriculum
into the humanities and science.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 27
Michael Shattock is a visiting professor at the Centre for Higher Edu-cation Studies, Institute of Education, University of London. E-mail: [email protected].
In 2004, when the UK prime minister, Tony Blair, wonaParliamentarymajorityofonlyfivevotes,tointroduce
“topup”tuitionfees—coveredbyincomecontingentloans,to be introduced in 2006—such a radical approach wasthoughttoremaininforceforalongtime.Twocaveatstothenewfeestructure(notinScotland)wereaccepted.Thefirst stipulates agreeing toestablishanonstatutoryOfficeofFairAccess,whichwouldrequireuniversitiestosubmitaccess plans and would approve schemes—whereby uni-versities used part of the new fee income to fund bursa-riestosupportstudentsfromeconomicallydisadvantagedbackgrounds.Theseconditemizespromisingtosetupanindependentcommission,toexaminetheoperationofthenewfeeregimeafterthreeyears.Theclearexpectationwasthat institutions would vary their fees, according to theirposition in themarketplace,and that the introductionofthenew fees,even thoughsupportedby loans,wouldde-ter some students. Neither expectation was realized: Allbuttwoinstitutionschargedthefull£3,000feeandtherewasnodiminutioninthestudentapplicationrate.Indeed,some universities found themselves unable to spend theamounttheyhadputasideforbursaries.
The Browne ReviewTheideabehindtheindependentcommissionwasprimar-ily toprovidea reportback toParliamentonwhether theinterestsofdisadvantagedstudentshadbeensafeguarded.ThegovernmentappointedLordBrowne,formerchiefex-ecutive officer of BP, to chair the commission, which re-portedin2010theSecuringaSustainableFutureforHigh-er Education. The Browne review recommended that nolimitshouldbeplacedonfeesandthatcontrolsonstudentnumbers, which has been a feature of UK higher educa-tionsincethe1980s,shouldbeabandoned.Feeswouldberepayableagainstaninterestratefixedatthegovernment’srateofborrowing.Yet,agraduatedinstitutionallevywouldbeintroducedonanyfeesabove£,6,000,sothat,forexam-ple,75percentofanyfeeabove£12,000wouldbepaidbytheinstitutiontothegovernment.Thisplanwasintendedtoserveasadiscouragementtocharginghighfees,which
However,Brownereportedintheteethoftheeconomiccrisis when a new coalition government of ConservativesandLiberalDemocratshadsetitselftoreducepublicexpen-ditureby25percentoverthreeyears.Allgovernmentexpen-diturewassubjectedtoaComprehensiveSpendingReview,whichimposeda40percentcutonhighereducationasawhole;and,inparticular,an80percentcutoninstitutions’teaching grant, which was to be replaced by tuition fees.TheBrowneproposalsforopen-endedfeechargesandfortheremovaloflimitsonstudentnumberswererejectedandatuitionfeecapof£9,000wasannounced.However,somepublicfundswouldbeusedtosupportcoursesofstrategicimportance(i.e.,science,technology,andmedicine).Itre-mainsunclearwhetherthesedecisionsreflectedanactofpolicy,buildingon2004policies,oranaccidentaloutcomeofseekingtoprotectanotherpartoftheDepartmentofBusi-ness, Innovation and Skills’ (the responsible governmentdepartment)budget.Thedecisionwascertainlydifficultfor
The White Paper Therationale,posthocorotherwiseandthefinalshapeofthesedecisionswasprovidedbyagovernmentwhitepaper(Higher Education: Students at the Heart of the System)in2011:£9,000wastobethemaximumthatinstitutionscouldchargeforatuitionfeetohomestudents;butinsti-tutions planning to charge more than £6,000 must con-vincetheOfficeofFairAccessthattheyhadinplacesecureand realistic accesspoliciesbefore they couldexceed thatfigure. The student number target was frozen to protectthe Treasury from an open-ended loan commitment; but
Countries and Regions
The Browne review recommended that
no limit should be placed on fees and
that controls on student numbers,
which has been a feature of UK higher
education since the 1980s, should be
abandoned.
28 I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O NCountries and Regions
to introduce flexibility and competition a pool of 85,000placeswouldbewithdrawnfromthepresentfundedtotalofstudentplacestoallowunrestrainedrecruitmentagainst65,000 places from students scoring AAB and above intheir General Certificate of Education A level examina-tion—thus,A’sinmathsandphysicsandaBinchemistrywouldputastudentintothatcategory.Upto20,000otherplaceswouldalsobewithdrawnforuniversitiesandcolleg-eschargingatorbelow£7,500—andthereforelikelytobeplacestobefilledinwideningparticipationprograms.This“marginandcore”approachwasclearlyintendedtofavoruniversitiesattractingthebest-qualifiedstudents(theywerealso generally the most research-orientated institutions)overthosethatdrewtheirstudentbodyfromamuch-less,well-qualifiedfield.Graduateswouldonlybecomeeligibletobeginrepayingtheloansiftheyearned£21,000,andtherepaymentperiodwouldbe30years.Inaddition,mainte-nancegrantswerealsocoveredbyloans,sothatfinalrepay-mentwasforfeesandmaintenancecombined.
By July 2011 the majority of institutions indicated anintention to charge fees within £1,000 of the maximumfeefigure,withanaverageof£8,500emerging.Thiswas£1,000higher than theTreasuryhadanticipatedand im-mediately placed the forecast cost of the scheme in jeop-ardy. Since then, 25 institutions have lowered their feesin order to gain access to the 20,000 additional places,wherehigh-levelqualificationsarenot required.Thenewfee proposals were widely predicted as likely to deter ap-plications, particularly from students from disadvantagedbackgrounds;butthelatestfiguresshowonlyaminorfall.Matureapplicantswouldbethe least likely tohavetopaybackthefullloan,becausetheymightleavetheworkforcebeforethe30-yearexpirydateofthedebtperiod.
The Policy RationaleFourmainstrandsofthinkingseemtohavegoneintothisset of decisions. First, a significant element of public ex-penditure has been removed. Although most commenta-tors foresee that theschemewill increasepublicexpendi-tureintheshortrun,muchwilldependontheTreasury’sabilitytosellontheloanportfoliotoprivatefinancehouses.
Second, the plan will increase competition and, thus, inNew Public Management terms, efficiency. Third, the ex-istenceofanintensifiedmarketwilldriveupthequalityofacademicprograms(thegovernmentwhitepaperdemandsanimmenselydetailedpresentationofmarketinformationbyeachinstitution,toimprovetheeffectivenessofthemar-ket).Fourth,theplanseekstoenforceagreaterdifferentia-tionofthesystembyfeelevelsandentryqualifications.Onefurtherintentionandonethatwasmuchtrumpeted,wastoplaceprivateinstitutionsonthesamelegalfootingaspub-licuniversities,asfaraseligibilityforfunding.Theprivatesectoristinybycomparisonwiththepublicsectorofhighereducation, but organizations like Apollo have obtained afootholdinthesystem.Thishasbeenvitiatedbythegovern-ment’sdecisionnottoembodythechangesinlegislation—for fear, it is alleged, that they might be unpicked in theprocessofParliamentaryscrutiny.Thisleavesthefundingcouncil’spowersunchangedeventhoughitsfundingremitisnowmuchdiminished.Inaddition,theOfficeofFairAc-cessisdeniedthelegalpowersitrequirestoenforceadeci-siontodenyauniversitytheabilitytochargethemaximumfee—whetherornotitcansatisfytheoffice,inregardtoitsaccessarrangements.
The ImpactIt is too early to say what the ultimate impact of thesechangeswillbe,butsometentativeconclusionscanbeof-fered.Thenewschemeisessentiallyagraduatetax,whichassumes that higher education is a private rather than apublic good—thus, reversing a perception that has heldforce since 1945. The strong universities, which can at-tractentriesofhighlyqualifiedstudentswithentries,willbestrengthened.Thelessstronguniversities,withweakerrecruitment,maystruggle,buttheevidencesofardoesnotsuggestthatanywillactuallygooutofbusinessasaresultofthechanges.Onefear,however,thattheredistributionofadditionalplaceswouldpermitnewentrantstothemarketatlowerpriceshasbeenrealizedbythedecisiontoallocate10,000ofthe20,000placestofurthereducationcolleges,which all bid for numbers at fee levels of £6,000 or be-low—thusremovingthesestudentsfromtheuniversitysec-tor.ThisdecisionwasheavilyinfluencedbytheTreasury’swishtoreducetheborrowingcostscausedbysomanyhighfeeinstitutions.Thispolicyhasinvolvedatransferofplac-esfromlargepost-1992institutionstowhatintheUnitedStateswouldbecalledthecommunitycollegesector.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 29Countries and Regions
centand16percent;thistrendmayincreaseinequalitiesinthesystemifthe“coreandmargin”approachpersists.Thecontentionthatcompetitionandagreaterrelianceonmar-ketsimprovequalityinhighereducationiswidelydisputed,andthedangeristhatthesystemwillbecomemorepolar-izedthanitisnow.Thewiderdangeristhattheplanningof higher education in the future may owe more to fluc-tuationsininterestrates,theTreasury’sborrowingpowers,andtheoperationofmoneymarkets.Thus,inthetransferofstudentplacestocheaperinstitutions(describedabove),rather than toeducationalneedsand thepressureof stu-dentdemand,theTreasury,ratherthanstudents,mayturnouttobethereal”heartofthesystem.”
cationsinseveralLatinAmericancountries.Now,Chileanswanttostopcivilunrest,toavoidanegativeimpactonitsremarkablegrossdomesticproductpercapitagrowthrate(4%peryearin2000–2011)andontheongoingprogressto the reductionofpoverty (from38% in 1990 to 15% in2009).Atthebeginningof2012,pollsshowedamajoritysupportingthedesignofstrategiestoreducesocialinequal-ityandgapsineducation.Fortunately,helpingstudentstoreadoneortwopagesintheirleisuretime,inordertobepreparedforactiveengagementinclass,hasreducedlearn-ing gaps and increased promotion rates in pilot trials. Ifresultsareconfirmed inanext large-scale trial, thisstrat-egycouldhelp in restraining furtherdemonstrationsandprovideamodelforanumberofLatinAmericancountriesfacingsimilarproblems.
Students’ Demonstrations From 2011 to the PresentInMay2011,Chileanuniversitystudentstooktothestreetstodemandreformoftheeducationsystem.Theyaskedforafairstudent-loanschemeandaccesstoqualityeducationforeveryone.WhentheschoolyearendedinDecember,therewasnosignofsettlingthemostseriousconfrontationwithstudentsoverthepasttwodecadesinLatinAmerica.
Thetop40percentofeachage-groupcohortnowhasaccesstohighereducation.Eventhoughthisisanimpres-sive achievement, most of these students belong to theupperhalfof thesocioeconomicdistribution (householdshaving an average income over US$20,000). However,two-thirdsofthesefamilieshavedifficultiesfinancingtheannualcostofhighereducation(rangingfromUS$5,000to10,000,perstudent).Financingeducation isespeciallydifficultformiddlesocialclassfamilieswithmorethanonechild,becausetheydonothaveaccesstoaffordablestudentloans.
Moneyisneededtopayforfurthereducationafterhighschool, but previous knowledge and skills to learn newknowledgearealsorequiredtobeadmittedtohigheredu-cation,inorderforstudentstostayenrolledandtogradu-ate.Beingagoodstudentinapublichighschooldoesnotguaranteeaccess tohighereducation.Asanexample, thevaledictorianofamarginalurbanpublichighschool,witha high school grade average of 95 percent, only achieved423pointsinthe2011UniversitySelectionTest—belowtheminimumof450pointsrequiredtoenrollatauniversity.Graduatesfrompublichighschoolsoftendonothavethecapacity to learn university-level material. They have notreached the necessary level of intellectual development,andremedialcoursescannotclosethisgap.Thesestudentsrequire more individualized teaching; but this teachingcannotbeprovided,giventhelargesizeofclassesandthelackof facultyexperiencewithcooperativeandinteractivepedagogy.Therefore,onlyoneof threeadmitted studentseventuallygraduateinChile,whereasthecomparableratiois8:1forArgentinaand2:1forColombia.
Closing the GapThe need for remedial courses in college is not unusual,butintheUnitedStatesstudentscantakeremedialcoursesthatdonotcounttowardadegree—justdelaythetimetodegree.Arecentreportfoundthatonlyone-thirdofUSstu-dents leavehighschoolacademicallyprepared forcollege(one-sixthofHispanicstudents).Somestudiesstatethatasmanyas40percentofcollegestudentswilltakeatleastoneremedialcourse.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 29
In 2011, highly unequal income and ed-
ucational opportunities triggered street
demonstrations in Chile and replica-
tions in several Latin American coun-
tries.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N30 Countries and Regions
However,inLatinAmericaandotherdevelopingcoun-tries,universitystudy involves thepursuitofprofessionaldegrees—such as in law, medicine, architecture, or engi-neering—withoutroominthescheduleforgeneralstudyorremedialwork.Giventhatallstudentsfollowthesamerigiddegreeprogram,remedialcoursesdonotfitintoscheduleunlessthewholefirstsemesterisallocatedtothem.
Fortunately,systematichelphasbeeneffectiveforstu-dentstogainpreparationforincreasedengagementineachclass.Thisistheobjectiveoftheinnovationnowbeingin-troducedatthefirstsemesterofUniversidadAutonomadeChile.Theessentialcomponentsare:(1)aclearoutlineandsummaryoftopicstobecoveredineachclass,distributedduring (orbefore) thefirst class session; (2) specific text,assignedforeachclass(startingwithlessthan1,000wordsin the first semester, given that students are not used toextensivereadingassignments),coveringthebasicknowl-edge(definitions,concepts,orbasicdata)inadvanceinor-dertoderivemaximumbenefitfromtheclass;(3)starteachclasswithanoral factual (literal)question toonestudent(selected at random) and assign a mark for the responsetothequestion(asasortofscaffoldingtocreatethehabitof reading inadvance); (4) requeststudents (immediatelyaftertheoralquiz)toasktheirquestions(aboutwhattheyreadbeforehand)ortoreadapassagethattheydidnotun-derstand(aninterestingdiscussionusuallyflowsfromtheirquestions);(5)usetherestoftheclasstimetodeliverthelessonastheteacherprefers;and(6)providetheusualref-erencesforadditionalreading,afterclass.
Evenifstudentsdonotknowtheexactanswer(totheoralquestion)butcandemonstratethattheyreadthemate-rial, theystill receive60percentcredit foranswering thequestion. Pilot trials have shown that since the studentsknowexactlywhatandhowtostudy,itiseasierforthemtoreviewthematerialinaproductiveway.Theysoondecidewhatareastheyneedtofocuson(forexample,vocabularyormeaning).Thiskindoffreedomfostersautonomyinstu-dentsandgivesthemresponsibilityfortheirownlearning.
Facultyparticipatinginpilotexperienceshasreportedincreased participation in class, and students polled re-sponded that previous reading improved their learning.
Therefore, it was decided to start large-scale implemen-tation in March 2012. Syllabus and materials for the 156courses(offeredinthefirstsemesterin26programs)werealready available on the university Web site for new stu-dentsenrolled,inJanuary2012.Deans,programdirectors,and professors have participated in three practical semi-nars.Hopefully,thisinnovationwilldrasticallyreducethenumber of traditional lectures and will prompt improvedlearningexperiences.
Theimpactofthisstrategywillbecarefullyevaluatedat theendof June2012. It ishoped that therestofChil-ean universities will take advantage if proven successful.Throughout Latin America, university first-year dropoutratesaverageat50percent.Itisestimatedthataboutone-thirdofthe10millionunderachievingLatinAmericanuni-versity students (lacking required skills and knowledge)could also benefit from this low-cost treatment and keepmovingforwardintheiracademiccareers.
Faculty participating in pilot experienc-
es has reported increased participation
in class, and students polled responded
that previous reading improved their
learning.
Being a good student in a public high
school does not guarantee access to
higher education.
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I N T E R N A T I O N A L H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N 31Departments
TheCenterwillexperiencesignificantchangeinthecomingmonths.Dr.LizReisberg,whohasbeenassociatedwiththeCenter for the past several years as research associate, willbeleavingtheCenterinMay.Shewillpursueconsultingop-portunitiesandwillcontinuetoleadtheCenter’sblogontheInside Higher EducationWebsite.Reisberghasprovidedvalu-ableserviceandleadership inkeyareas, includingdevelop-ingourWebpresence, includingourFacebookandTwitterpresence,coordinatingseveralofourmajorresearchprojects,andprovidinggeneralleadershiptomanyoftheCenter’sac-tivitiesoverthepastseveralyears.
Dr. Laura E. Rumbley will join the Center in the sum-merasassociatedirectorinthefall.LauraRumbleywasontheCenter’sstaffearlierandforthepasttwoyearshasbeenassociatedirectoroftheAcademicCooperationAssociation,basedinBrussels,Belgium.
Iván F. Pacheco will complete his doctoral dissertationthis summer and will conclude his work as research assis-tant. Yukiko Shimmi and David Stanfield will continue asresearch assistants for the 2012/13 academic year. YukikoShimmi presented her research at the national conferenceof the Comparative and International Education Society inPuerto Rico in April. Shimmi has been assuming a largerroleinmanagingtheCenter’sWebpresence,whereshehascreatedanewTwitterpagefortheInternationalNetworkforHigherEducationinAfrica@BC_INHEA.
Philip G. Altbach and Liz Reisberg participated in theinternational conferenceonhighereducationsponsoredbythe Ministry of Higher Education of Saudi Arabia, held inRiyadh. They are both members of the planning commit-tee responsiblewhere they collaboratewith theMinistryofHigherEducationonthedevelopmentofthisannualevent.Altbachalsoparticipatedinanadvisorycommitteemeetingat the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in
Paying the Professoriate: A Global Comparison of Com-pensation and Contracts,theresultoftheCenter’ssuccessfulresearch collaboration with the Laboratory for InstitutionalAnalysisattheNationalResearchUniversity–HigherSchoolof Economics in Moscow, was published by Routledge inApril.Itcontinuestoattractconsiderableinterestintheme-dia, including articles in the New York Times, Inside Higher Education,Times Higher Education,andmajornewspapersinChina,India,Italy,andothercountries.
The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World-Class Research Universities,coeditedbyPhilipG.AltbachandJamilSalmiandpublished in2011by theWorldBank,hasalsobeenpublished in aChinese translatededition. ItwillsoonappearinSpanish,Korean,Turkish,andRussian.
TheCenterisworkingwiththeNationalResearchUni-versity–HigherschoolofEconomicsinMoscowonanewre-searchproject that focuseson the careeropportunities andworking conditions of new faculty members. Case studiesfrom10countrieswillbeincluded.
Youwillfindnewsitemsfromthe Chronicle of Higher Ed-ucation, Inside Higher Education, University World News, Times Higher Education, the Guardian Higher Education network UK, the Times of India, the Korea Times, just tonamea few.Wealsoincludepertinentitemsfromblogsandotheronlinere-sources.Wewillalsoannounce internationalandcompara-tivereportsandrelevantnewpublications.
Unlike most Facebook and Twitter sites, our pages arenotaboutus,butrather“newsfeeds”updateddailywithno-
ticesmost relevant to internationaleducatorsandpractitio-ners,policymakers,anddecisionmakers.Think“newsmar-quis” inTimesSquare inNewYorkCity.Here,ataglance,youcantakeintheinformationandperspectiveyouneedinafewminuteseverymorning.
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The Center for International Higher Education (CIHE)
The Boston College Center for International Higher Education brings an international consciousness to the analysis of higher education. We believe that an international perspective will contribute to enlight-ened policy and practice. To serve this goal, the Center publishes the International Higher Educa-tion quarterly newsletter, a book series, and other publications; sponsors conferences; and welcomes visiting scholars. We have a special concern for academic institutions in the Jesuit tradition world-wide and, more broadly, with Catholic universities.
The Center promotes dialogue and cooperation among academic institutions throughout the world. We believe that the future depends on ef-fective collaboration and the creation of an in-ternational community focused on the improve-ment of higher education in the public interest.
CIHE Web Site
The different sections of the Center Web site support the work of scholars and professionals in interna-tional higher education, with links to key resources in the field. All issues of International Higher Education are available online, with a searchable archive. In ad-dition, the International Higher Education Clearing-house (IHEC) is a source of articles, reports, trends, databases, online newsletters, announcements of
upcoming international conferences, links to profes-sional associations, and resources on developments in the Bologna process and the GATS. The Higher Education Corruption Monitor provides information from sources around the world, including a selection of news articles, a bibliography, and links to other agencies. The International Network for Higher Edu-cation in Africa (INHEA) is an information clearing-house on research, development, and advocacy ac-tivities related to postsecondary education in Africa.
The Program in Higher Education at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College
The Center is closely related to the graduate program in higher education at Boston College. The program offers master’s and doctoral degrees that feature a social science–based approach to the study of higher education. The Administrative Fellows initiative pro-vides financial assistance as well as work experience in a variety of administrative settings. Specializa-tions are offered in higher education administration, student affairs and development, and international education. For additional information, please con-tact Dr. Karen Arnold ([email protected]) or visit our Web site: http://www.bc.edu/schools/lsoe/.
Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for International Higher Education.
