Power Dynamics in International Negotiations toward Equitable Policies, Partnerships, and Practices: Why it Matters for Africa, the Developing World, and their Higher Education Systems

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 100-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Cossa
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
International Negotiations ◽  
Good Time ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
International Partnerships ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Bric Countries

Abstract Based on lessons learned from examining the relationship between several international organizations and African higher education, this paper unveils the subtleties and complexities of power dynamics in negotiations, provides illustrative cases to enhance such understanding, discusses the implications of power dynamics in negotiations over higher education policy, and provides a glimpse at the necessary ingredients to build sustainable and healthy international partnerships. Based in a conceptual framework of power dynamics, the paper hinges on international regimes for its theoretical foundation, and on the intersection of conflicting agendas for a transformative higher education in Africa, as advocated by the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), for its historical framework. An understanding of the subtleties and complexities of power dynamics in international negotiations is critical for Africa at this crossroads of her relationship with BRIC countries, particularly amidst the competition between China and other superpowers and their respective organizations over Africa as a market arena. This understanding will also be important for examining newly claimed ‘reformed’ policies originating from the historically dominant Western countries because (a) the dimensions of this relationship are still being negotiated/established, thus a good time to address power dynamics; (b) Africa is engaged in a quest for development through partnerships; and, (c) African scholars are often confronted with the idea of a higher education system by African design. With a focus on Africa that simultaneously highlights the problem of developing nations more generally, this paper discusses four categories of power – hermeneutical, informational, manipulative, and monetary – that must be taken seriously into account in international negotiations as they have dire consequences for the developing world.

scholarly journals Quality Assurance in Ghana: Accomplishments and Challenges

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Patrick Swanzy ◽  
Patricio V. Langa ◽  
Francis Ansah
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Education System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Higher Education System

This article examines Ghana’s efforts to revitalize its higher education system using quality assurance (QA). Specifically, we discuss the accomplishments and challenges of the QA system. Ghana has one of the oldest QA systems in Africa, so lessons learned there are worth sharing with scholars and practitioners.

scholarly journals “Mobilization of Ethnicity” as Europe-Asian Project: Constructing a Higher Education Policy

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 05009
Author(s):  
N.F. Tagirova ◽  
E.I. Sumburova ◽  
Yu.A. Zherdeva ◽  
A.S. Zotova
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Middle Volga Region ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Cultural Autonomy ◽  
National Educational Policy ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Ethnic Policy ◽  
National Languages

The article discusses the ethnic policy in the field of higher education in Russia between the First and Second World Wars. The "mobilization of ethnicity" in the educational policy of the first years of Soviet power is presented in the study as the "European-Asian project" of Soviet Russia - an attempt to create a single supranational economic, political and cultural space in a significant part of Eurasia. Based on the materials of the multicultural region of the Middle Volga region, the authors analyze the process of integration of the Volga peoples (Tatars, Mordovians and Chuvash) into the higher education system. The study showed that at the first stage of designing the new policy (1920s), the key direction was to provide ethnic groups with relative cultural autonomy (preserving and supporting national languages, religious customs and social traditions) in exchange for recognizing the legitimacy of the new government. At the second stage (1930s), the national educational policy of the state became more straightforward, integration processes intensified and, as a result, the mutual economic dependence of the capital and regions.

scholarly journals Mergers, Consolidations and Alliances in Higher Education: International Experiences and Lessons learned for Vietnam

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoang Minh Son ◽  
Vu Van Yem ◽  
Nguyen Thi Huong
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
System Size ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Mass Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Vietnamese Higher Education ◽  
The World

The transition from mass higher education to universal access globally marked by the creation of a series of higher education institutions (HEIs) has pushed countries to undergo reforms, rearrangement of higher education system. The wave of merger, consolidation, or alliance between HEIs may stem from the need of the schools themselves who gave proposal or from the administrative orders of the administrative authorities to fulfill the policy objectives. Countries in the world have continued the process of reforming and reorganizing the higher education system and have achieved certain successes and inevitably some mistakes. These are valuable lessons for the following countries. This paper is aimed at showing the experience of nations and some lessons learned. It is composed of four parts. The first part gives an overview of the current global higher eduction reform, the definition of concepts used herein and distinguishes some types of mergers, consolidations and alliances in terms of the number and the status of founding institutions. The second part analyzes the results of the process such as changes in system size, student size, performance, impacts on stakeholders after the merger. The third part summarizes the current status of Vietnamese higher education with outstanding issues which required the reorganization and the reform of the system for the purpose of enhancing efficiency and regional and global competitiveness. In the final section, the paper provides some recommendations for Vietnamese higher education, which were drawn from the successes and failures of the process of reforming higher education systems around the world.

scholarly journals Dropout Policy in Czech Higher Education: Can Universities Serve Several Masters?

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Václav Švec ◽  
Aleš Vlk ◽  
Šimon Stiburek
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Third Mission ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Nature

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the way higher education institutions adapt to environmental pressures. These pressures can be represented either by various demands or by specific policies. Dropout policy is examined on a Czech case study in order to demonstrate that at the end of the day, higher education institutions respond mainly to the most pressing challenges of an economic nature in the most rational way. As a result, their traditional mission (teaching, research, the third mission), and mainly the social function of the higher education system, may be at stake. At the same time, this study illustrates how difficult it is to introduce any higher education policy without thorough evaluation of other policies in place and of various factors affecting institutional behaviour.

scholarly journals Grafting New Values into Public Institutions by Reforming the Accounting System: Lessons Learned from the Italian Higher Education System

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Guido Modugno ◽  
Ferdinando Di Carlo ◽  
Manuela Lucchese ◽  
Tommaso Agasisti
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Organizational Issues ◽  
Accounting Rules

The paper wants to highlight some accounting practices in the early stage of the adoption of accrual accounting in Higher Education Institutions. The accounting reform was one of the core aspects of a process of enforced hybridization of HE institutions. Exogenous and endogenous (organizational) issues emerge, that undermine transparency and comparability of accounting information. Based on structured interviews in 14 Italian universities, the paper provides evidences of the main aspects that hinder the transparency and the comparability of accounting information with the risk to deprive the new accounting rules of their potential for change. Resistance to change could be observed, resulting in a partial or distorted adoption of the new accounting rules: some practices, in particular, aimed at safeguarding the interests of a particular group. The paper propitiates further research based on case studies aiming at understanding how public organizations tend to design internal accounting procedures that preserve the prerogatives of particular groups within the organization. The research overturns the rhetoric of the adoption of managerial practices for the enhancement of efficiency, effectiveness and economy by showing how organizations shape these practices in order to keep the status quo unchanged.

scholarly journals India: World-Class Universities?

2017 ◽  
pp. 22-24
Author(s):  
Philip G. Altbach ◽  
Jamil Salmi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
The Other ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Bric Countries ◽  
Indian Higher Education ◽  
World Class ◽  
World Class Universities

India’s higher education and research sectors have been generallyunderfunded, especially in view of the tremendous growth in numbers ofstudents. Compared to the other BRIC countries, the percentage spent oneducation, 4.1 percent of GDP, is second to Brazil. This article explores the Indian higher education system with respect to its potential to create world-class universities.

Higher Education Reform in Time of Crisis

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-149
Author(s):  
Foteini Asderaki
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Education System ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
European Level ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Coalition Governments ◽  
Policy Choices

Abstract This study examines the transformation of the Greek higher education system at a time of crisis focusing on syriza/anel governance (2015–19). It aims to contribute to the literature on coalition governments’ policy choices. It also intends to enrich the research on the new party cleavages triggered by the economic crisis which hit both Europe and Greece in 2008/9, across pro- vs anti-Europeans/Eurosceptic and pro- vs anti-austerity parties, and on how these cleavages are reflected in higher education policy. It argues that these divides and the politicisation of higher education at the national and European level mobilized partisan entrepreneurs to pursue their strategies and ideological preferences in framing the agenda, to offer solutions based both on an anti-EU and an anti-austerity platform to reverse and reform the previous governments’ laws and forward their own reforms.

Risks in Implementing EU-Funded Projects in Romanian Public Higher Education System

2016 ◽  
pp. 413-441
Author(s):  
Paul Rinderu ◽  
Catalin I. Voiculescu ◽  
Demetra Lupu Visanescu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Education System ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Systemic Risks

The current study, after shortly introducing the manner in which the National Strategic Reference Framework has being conceived for meeting the EU Regional and Cohesion objectives, presents in a concise manner the architecture of the Operational Programmes in Romania for the financing exercises 2007-2013 and 2014-2020. The first financing exercise has been critically analysed and a list of systemic risks is presented, in connection to the lessons learned for the new financing exercise. Further on, the paper presents the main directions under which the public higher education institutions accessed EU funds via various projects and identifies the main institutional risks for their implementation. The authors consider defining risk institutional profiles for a significant lot of public universities by introducing “soft” and “hard” sets of indicators. After assessing these profiles, recommendations for adapting the organizational structure will be depicted in order to help a softer implementation of the accessed projects.

scholarly journals India: World-Class Universities?

2017 ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Philip G. Altbach ◽  
Jamil Salmi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
The Other ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Bric Countries ◽  
Indian Higher Education ◽  
World Class ◽  
World Class Universities

India’s higher education and research sectors have been generallyunderfunded, especially in view of the tremendous growth in numbers ofstudents. Compared to the other BRIC countries, the percentage spent oneducation, 4.1 percent of GDP, is second to Brazil. This article explores the Indian higher education system with respect to its potential to create world-class universities.

scholarly journals International Lessons for African Higher Education and Economy

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pundy Pillay
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Education Planning ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Institutional Differentiation ◽  
Sub Saharan

This article distils some important lessons for Sub-Saharan Africa using case studies of three systems which have successfully linked their economic development and higher education policy and planning: namely Finland, South Korea, and North Carolina state in the USA. These lessons include the link between economic and education planning; the need for a high quality schooling system as the foundation for a productive higher education system; the importance of institutional differentiation, and the role of the state. Finally, it suggests reasons why policy makers should take note of the importance of higher education for development generally, and for economic development specifically.

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