Can BRICS build ivory towers of excellence? Giving new meaning to world-class universities

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 512-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon Arulraj David ◽  
Shireen Motala
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
University Ranking ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Status ◽  
Global University ◽  
World Class ◽  
World Class Universities ◽  
Higher Education Transformation ◽  
Education Transformation

This paper aims to map the landscape of higher education transformation in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations while exploring the status of BRICS nations in some of the global university rankings and analysing their potential to give new meaning to notions such as excellent and world-class universities. The study provides different theoretical perspectives about global university ranking and about the notion of ‘world-class/excellence’. Based on the literature exploration, the gathered data from some of the global university ranking agencies and the critical reflections from purposefully selected respondents, it is considered that the quest for world-class universities is articulated in several public policy documents of BRICS nations. While some attempts to achieve this quest vary (e.g. from China’s strong effort to India’s least effort), BRICS nations, like many other nations, seem to evolve towards this ambition, as universities have become the centre point of the development agenda. The ability of BRICS nations to provide new meaning to ‘world-class/excellence’ notions, although not clear, cannot be disputed given the indications that the BRICS bloc is emerging as an alternative economic force and the role higher education is playing in this emergence.

World-Class Universities in East Asian Countries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Futao Huang
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
East Asian ◽  
University Rankings ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Quality Of Teaching ◽  
Global University ◽  
World Class ◽  
Fierce Competition ◽  
World Class Universities

Since the start of the 21st century, the building of world-class universities has been viewed as an important and relevant means to enhance the quality of teaching and research, governance and management arrangements, and further internationalization of higher education in a growing number of countries. It is increasingly conceived as a top priority and the primary foundation for restructuring and reforming various higher education systems, especially in several East Asian countries and societies. Through implementing top-down national strategies featuring a concentration of resources in selected institutions, several East Asian countries, and especially China, have successfully established research-oriented universities and driven the rise of these universities in global university rankings. Despite numerous challenges, in the context of increased international competition in higher education worldwide, development initiatives that seek to form world-class universities are becoming more common, and this is particularly evident in the fierce competition between Asian countries.

scholarly journals Welcome to the World Class University: Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Sharon Rider ◽  
Michael A. Peters ◽  
Mats Hyvönen ◽  
Tina Besley
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
University Rankings ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
World University Rankings ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Global University ◽  
World Class ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
World Class Universities

AbstractThe notion of World Class Universities, and the use of rankings in general, has been an object of study for decades. Perhaps the first major critical work was Ellen Hazelkorn’s Rankings and the reshaping of higher education: The battle for world-class excellence (2011). Just as the influence of rankings shows no sign of abating, neither does the impetus to provide practical proposals for how to use them to advantage, or, alternatively, to examine the sources and effects of the practices involved. Recent interventions belonging to the first category are Downing and Ganotice’s World university rankings and the future of higher education (2017), while Stack’s Global university rankings and the mediatization of higher education (2016) and Hazelkorn’s Global rankings and the geopolitics of higher education: Understanding the influence and impact of rankingson higher education, policyand society (2016) are notable examples of the latter. The essays presented in the present volume are intended to contribute to our understanding of the phenomenon, its causes and consequences by filling three functions: (i) to provide an updated analysis of current trends in rankings and an examination of recent data regarding World Class University (WCU) initiatives relevant to the form and content of higher education; (ii) to study these especially with an eye to particular ramifications for work on the shop floor, that is to say, for university teachers and students; (iii) to investigate possible future courses and alternative trajectories.

The Kothari Saga (1965–85)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Gross Domestic Product ◽  
Central Government ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
Educational Discourse ◽  
Congress Party ◽  
World Class ◽  
World Class Universities ◽  
National Policy On Education

This chapter outlines the exceptional composition of the landmark Kothari Commission, and its blend of idealism and realism. It offers a succinct account of the recommendations of the Kothari Commission, and the ferocious opposition to its recommendations regarding elementary and higher education, language policy, and the establishment of world class universities. It presents a candid critique of its recommendation that has become a hardy perennial of Indian educational discourse, namely that Government allocate at least 6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education. It gives a crisp account of Independent India’s first National Policy on Education (1968). It also outlines the Constitutional Amendment of 1978 which made education a ‘concurrent subject’, and the educational initiatives of the short lived Janata Government (1976–8), India’s first non-Congress Party Central Government. It also outlines the key role played by J.P Naik in the Kothari Commission and Janata Government and evolution of his thinking.

World class universities and international student mobility: Repositioning strategies in the Asian Tigers

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-317
Author(s):  
Anatoly V Oleksiyenko ◽  
Sheng-Ju Chan ◽  
Stephanie K Kim ◽  
William Yat Wai Lo ◽  
Keenan Daniel Manning
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Global Science ◽  
Major Cluster ◽  
Knowledge Economies ◽  
Asian Tigers ◽  
World Class ◽  
Local Students ◽  
World Class Universities

A major cluster of economic engines that have changed Asian higher education, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan have all developed high-income societies as well as world-class universities which linked local “knowledge economies” to global science and created hubs for international collaborations and mobility. However, there has been limited analysis of interdependencies between the rise of world-class universities and changes in the flows of international talent. This paper elaborates on the concept of higher education internationalization that aims at enhancing geopolitical equity in global mobility and re-positioning local students for improved access to the world-class excellence. The paper compares key themes and patterns that define the Tiger societies’ unique positions in the field of global higher education.

scholarly journals Creating World-Class Universities in Japan: Policy and Initiatives

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 629-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Oba
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Develop World ◽  
Funding Policy ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
World Class ◽  
The Government ◽  
World Class Universities

For a very long time the Japanese government concentrated its higher education investment on a handful of national institutions, until the policy came to be called into question in the late 1980s in the face of globalisation and other factors. Higher education reform was significantly accelerated in the 1990s: the government has continuously deregulated the higher education system including the incorporation of national universities, and has brought more and more competition through diverse competitive funding schemes. Some policies – not only higher education policies but also science and technology ones – were explicitly designed to develop ‘world-class’ education and research centres, such as the 21st COE programme. This article suggests that although a funding policy based on competition, with a strict evaluation, seems to be a move in the right direction, a right balance of budget allocation between competitive funds and basic education-research funds should be sought. Furthermore, the programmes of the government have to be offered in a more consistent manner, and more concerted and integrated efforts will be required, to address the critical problem of building world-class universities.

scholarly journals China Calls for Smarter Standards for Its World-Class Universities

2016 ◽  
pp. 10-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Zha
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Development ◽  
Higher Education Development ◽  
Class Standing ◽  
Chinese Characteristics ◽  
World Class ◽  
World Class Universities

China recently launched a new stage of world-class university campaign, and emphasized developing the “Chinese characteristics” this time. Arguably, global rankings remain the most powerful illustration of who can claim world-class standing, which in turn renders the “Chinese characteristics” in question. This article argues that China would benefit from a kind of explicit “Chinese standards” to help establish a clearer direction for higher education development in the country.

scholarly journals HIGHER EDUCATION AND PUBLIC POLICY

2017 ◽  
pp. 88-92
Author(s):  
Prerna Pandya
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Indian Higher Education ◽  
World Class ◽  
Access And Quality ◽  
Basic Infrastructure ◽  
Policy And Planning ◽  
World Class Universities ◽  
Do So

The Indian higher education system is facing a crisis that is affecting its ability to build world class higher education institutions. Indians have the ability to cope up with that crisis but sometimes they fail to do so because of the ‘EDUCATION SYSTEM’. This paper will focus on issues and challenges related to quality, access and integrity of the higher education system in India.The government is responsible for the overall development of the basic infrastructure of Higher Education sector, both in terms of policy and planning. The combination of these two will expand the access and quality improvement in the Higher Education, through world class Universities, Colleges and other Institutions. The paper will throw light on the Vision, Mission, Objectives and Functions for making Higher Education peculiar by using public policies.

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