Responsibility Of Higher Education Systems

This book contributes to the understanding of the responsibilities of Higher Education in the evolving societal, political and economic landscape. It raises questions about its role in society, its responsibility towards students and staff, and its intended impact.

Listen to the podcast! Is the university contributing to our global crises or does it offer stories of hope? Much recent debate about higher education has focussed upon rankings, quality, financing and student mobility. The COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, the calls for decolonisation, the persistence of gender violence, the rise of authoritarian nationalism, and the challenge of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have taken on new urgency and given rise to larger questions about the social relevance of higher education. In this new era of uncertainty, and perhaps opportunity, higher education institutions can play a vital role in a great transition or civilisational shift to a newly imagined world. Socially Responsible Higher Education: International Perspectives on Knowledge Democracy shares the experiences of a broadly representative and globally dispersed set of writers on higher education and social responsibility, broadening perspectives on the democratisation of knowledge. The editors have deliberately sought examples and viewpoints from parts of the world that are seldom heard in the international literature. Importantly, they have intentionally chosen to achieve a gender and diversity balance among the contributors. The stories in this book call us to take back the right to imagine, and ‘reclaim’ the public purposes of higher education.

The public responsibility for higher education and research is a cornerstone of the European university heritage. Yet, our societies are changing rapidly, and clinging to old solutions will not further the very values that these solutions were originally designed to protect. The claim on public attention and public funds is growing, but public funds are not, or at least not at the same rate. While public funding of higher education and research is still important, the concept of public responsibility must be understood much more widely. It must also be nuanced by looking more closely at different degrees and levels of public responsibility as well as at the instruments available for exercising such responsibility. The book, which builds on a Council of Europe conference, aims to explore what public responsibility means in the complex societies that have just crossed the threshold to the 21st century by examining both overall higher education policies and specific aspects of it such as higher education for a democratic culture, access to research results, financing, equal opportunities, the approach to regulation and new trends in higher education.

This book explores the theoretical underpinnings and interventions of CSR practised by universities across the globe and the role their leadership plays in promoting this. It provides international examples from the US, Africa, Europe and Asia, with implications and insights for university leadership, staff, and students.

This book explores how the notion of the responsible university manifests itself at various levels within Nordic higher education. As the impetus of the knowledge society has catapulted the higher education sector to the forefront of policy agendas, universities and other types of higher education institutions face increasing scrutiny, assessment and accountability. This book examines this phenomenon using the Nordic countries as cases in point, given the strong public commitment towards widening participation and public research investments. The editors and contributors analyse the history and current transformations of the idea of the responsible university, investigate new innovations in the educational landscape and look into how universities have begun to organise themselves to become more responsible. Drawing together scholars from the humanities and the social sciences, this interdisciplinary collection will be of interest and value to students and scholars of the role and nature of the modern university, in addition to practitioners and policy makers tasked with finding solutions to address the competing and often contradictory demands posed by a responsibility agenda. .

How can we compare national systems of higher education, since their organization varies from country to country? Clark identifies the basic elements common to all such systems, and proceeds to thematic comparisons among a number of countries.