Higher Education And Equality

The movement to broaden access to public universities, the dominant strategy during the 1970s and 1980s, has largely shifted to enable the marketplace, rather than the government, to shape the contours of higher education. Government funding is being reduced, affirmative action and other programs designed to ensure broader access are in decline, and personal fulfillment is replacing a public good designed to ensure greater equality of opportunities. This book explores the impact of diminishing government resources and expanding market forces in developing and developed countries to either foster or lessen equality of opportunities in higher education for different racial, ethnic, religious, and gender groupings. What are the consequences of a market-driven higher education for student access, teaching, and scholarship? Through case studies, this book explores issues such as access of minority groups within the larger societies, the place of foreign students in a national system, and access for students with mental health difficulties, and evaluates the success of funding schemes designed to expand opportunities and access. The research provides an interesting contrast of the diversity and uniqueness of higher education in the United States, France, Australia, India, Israel, South Korea, the Netherlands, Ghana, and several other countries, while at the same time revealing surprising commonalities. These studies reveal worldwide trends in higher education, including a cutback in government financing, a decline in access, and a recession of affirmative action. This book is an important addition to the literature on higher education during the age of globalization and the decline of government funding of higher education. The studies provide important data about the current situation in higher education in countries around the world. Book jacket.

The movement to broaden access to public universities, the dominant strategy during the 1970s and 1980s, has largely shifted to enable the marketplace, rather than the government, to shape the contours of higher education. Government funding is being reduced, affirmative action and other programs designed to insure broader access are in decline and personal fulfillment is replacing a public good designed to insure greater equality of opportunities. This book explores the impact of diminishing government resources and expanding market forces in developing and developed countries to either foster or lessen equality of opportunities in higher education for different racial, ethnic, religious and gender groupings. What are the consequences of a market-driven higher education for student access, teaching and scholarship? Through case studies, this book explores issues such as access of minority groups within the larger societies, the place of foreign students in a national system, and access for students with mental health difficulties, and evaluates the success of funding schemes designed to expand opportunities and access. The research provides an interesting contrast of the diversity and uniqueness of higher education in the United States, France, Australia, India, Israel, South Korea, The Netherlands, Ghana and several other countries, while at the same time revealing surprising commonalities. These studies reveal world-wide trends in higher education including a cutback in government financing, a decline in access, and a receding of affirmative action. This book is an important addition to the literature on higher education during the age of globalization and the decline of government funding of higher education. The studies provide important data about the current situation in higher education in countries around the world.

Higher Education is in a state of ferment. People are seriously discussing whether the medieval ideal of the university as being excellent in all areas makes sense today, given the number of universities that we have in the world. Student fees are changing the orientation of students to the system. The high rate of non repayment of fees in the UK is provoking difficult questions about whether the current system of funding makes sense. There are disputes about the ratio of research to teaching, and further discussions about the international delivery of courses.

Though colleges and universities are arguably paying more attention to diversity and inclusion than ever before, to what extent do their efforts result in more socially just campuses? Intersectionality and Higher Education examines how race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, sexual orientation, age, disability, nationality, and other identities connect to produce intersected campus experiences. Contributors look at both the individual and institutional perspectives on issues like campus climate, race, class, and gender disparities, LGBTQ student experiences, undergraduate versus graduate students, faculty and staff from varying socioeconomic backgrounds, students with disabilities, undocumented students, and the intersections of two or more of these topics. Taken together, this volume presents an evidence-backed vision of how the twenty-first century higher education landscape should evolve in order to meaningfully support all participants, reduce marginalization, and reach for equity and equality.

How can universities and colleges realistically manage the delivery of equal opportunities for both students and staff? how can institutional and structural inequalities be addressed? what is the role of higher education managers in realizing the goal of widening participation and what strategies can be employed to achieve that goal? what examples of good practice already exist which be adapted to suit the specific environments of different institutions?

In an increasingly globalised educational landscape, this book examines whether the principle of educational equality can be applied across nation state borders. Exploring the tension between the theory of educational equality and the reality that most educational institutions are rooted in local communities and national frameworks, the author thus probes the consequences for institutions, individuals and communities as the number of international students grows exponentially. A topic that has previously received limited attention, the author draws upon theoretical literature and an empirical study of how universities in the United Kingdom conceptualise and promote principles of educational equality for international as compared with home students. This pioneering work will be interest and value to students and scholars of international education, international students, educational equality and globalisation, as well as practitioners and policy makers.

Within the broader context of the global knowledge economy, wherein the "college-for-all" discourse grows more and more pervasive and systems of higher education become increasingly stratified by social class, important and timely questions emerge regarding the future social location and mobility of the working classes. Though the working classes look very different from the working classes of previous generations, the weight of a universal working-class identity/background amounts to much of the same economic vulnerability and negative cultural stereotypes, all of which continue to present obstacles for new generations of working-class youth, many of whom pursue higher education as a necessity rather than a "choice." Using a sociological lens, contributors examine the complicated relationship between the working classes and higher education through students’ distinct experiences, challenges, and triumphs during three moments on a transitional continuum: the transition from secondary to higher education; experiences within higher education; and the transition from higher education to the workforce. In doing so, this volume challenges the popular notion of higher education as a means to equality of opportunity and social mobility for working-class students.