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INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION

Globalization and Forces for Change in Higher Education

Philip G. Altbach
Philip G. Altbach is J. Donald Monan SJ professor of higher education and director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College.

What is globalization and how does it affect higher education policy and academic institutions? The answer is deceivingly simple and the implications are surprisingly complex. For higher education, globalization implies the broad social, economic, and technological forces that shape the realities of the 21st century. These elements include advanced information technology, new ways of thinking about financing higher education and a concomitant acceptance of market forces and commercialization, unprecedented mobility for students and professors, the global spread of common ideas about science and scholarship, the role of English as the main international language of science, and other developments. Significantly, the idea of mass access to higher education has meant unprecedented expansion of higher education everywhere—there are about 134 million students in postsecondary education worldwide, and many countries have seen unprecedented and sustained expansion in the past several decades. These global trends are for the most part inevitable. Nations, and academic institutions, must constructively cope with the implications.

Contemporary inequalities may in fact be intensified by globalization. Academic systems and institutions that at one time could grow within national boundaries now find themselves competing internationally. National languages compete with English even within national borders. Domestic academic journals, for example, often compete with international publications within national academic systems, and scholars are pressured to publish internationally. Developing countries are at a significant disadvantage in the new globalized academic system, but smaller academic systems in rich countries also face problems. In a ranking-obsessed world, the top universities are located predominantly in the United States, the United Kingdom, and a few other rich countries. The inequalities of the global age are just as profound and in part more complex than the realities of the era of colonialism.

Academic systems will need to cope with the key realities of the first part of the 21st century for higher education.

Massification
Massification is without question the most ubiquitous global influence of the past half century or more. The United States had the first mass higher education system, beginning as early as the 1920s. Europe followed in the 1960s, and parts of Asia a decade or so later. The developing countries were the last to expand. Most of the growth of the 21st century is taking place in developing and middle-income countries. There are now more than 140 million students in postsecondary education worldwide, and this number continues to expand rapidly. North America, Europe, and a number of Pacific Rim nations now enroll 60 percent or more of the relevant age group in higher education. What has massification brought?

Public good vs. private good. Stimulated in part by the financial pressures of massification and also by broader changes in economic thinking, including the neoliberal agenda, higher education is increasingly considered in economic terms a private good—a benefit accruing mainly to individuals who should pay for it rather than a public good that contributes benefits to society and thus should be financially supported by the state.

Access. Postsecondary education has opened its doors to previously excluded population groups—women; people from lower socioeconomic classes; previously disadvantaged racial, religious, and ethnic groups; and other populations. While many countries still contain disparities in enrollment, massification has clearly meant access and thus upward mobility and increased earning potential. Access also greatly expanded the skills of populations, making economic expansion possible.

Differentiation. All mass higher education systems are differentiated systems. Institutions serve varied missions, with differing funding sources and patterns and a range of quality. Successful academic systems must ensure that the various segments of the system are supported and sustained. While research universities need special attention, mass-access institutions do as well.

Varied funding patterns. For most countries, the state has traditionally been the main funder of higher education. Massification has placed great strains on state funding, and in all cases governments no longer believe they can adequately fund mass higher education. Other sources of funding need to be found—including student tuition and fees (typically the largest source), a variety of government-sponsored and private loan programs, university income generating programs (such as industry collaboration or consulting), and philanthropic support.

Decline in quality and conditions of study. On average in most countries, the quality of higher education has declined. In a mass system, top quality cannot be provided to all students. It is not affordable, and the ability levels of both students and professors necessarily become more diverse. University study and teaching are no longer a preserve for the elite—both in terms of ability and wealth. While the top of a diversified academic system may maintain its quality (although in some countries the top sector has also suffered), the system as a whole declines.

Peaks and Valleys in Global Science and Scholarship
A variety of forces have combined to make science and scholarship global. Two key elements are responsible. The growth of information technology (IT) has created a virtual global community of scholarship and science. The increasing dominance of English as the key language of communicating academic knowledge is enhanced by IT. Global science provides everyone immediate access to the latest knowledge. Thus, everyone must compete on the same playing field to participate in research and discovery. It is as if some teams (the wealthiest universities) have the best training and equipment, while the majority of players (universities in developing countries and smaller institutions everywhere) are far behind. There is increased pressure to participate in the international big leagues of science—such as publishing in recognized journals in English. Thus, while IT makes communication easier it tends to concentrate power in the hands of the "haves" to the disadvantage of the "have nots." National or even regional academic communities, located in the valleys of higher education, are overshadowed by the peaks of the global academic powers that dominate the new knowledge networks.

Globalization of the Academic Marketplace
More than 2 million students are studying abroad, and it is estimated that this number will increase to 8 million by 2025. Many others are enrolled in branch campuses and twinning programs. There are many thousands of visiting scholars and postdocs studying internationally. Most significantly, there is a global circulation of academics. Ease of transportation, IT, the use of English, and the globalization of the curriculum have tremendously increased the international circulation of academic talent. Flows of students and scholars move largely from South to North—from the developing countries to North America and Europe. And while the "brain drain" of the past has become more of a "brain exchange," with flows of both people and knowledge back and forth across borders and among societies, the great advantage still accrues to the traditional academic centers at the expense of the peripheries. Even China, and to some extent India, with both large and increasingly sophisticated academic systems, find themselves at a significant disadvantage in the global academic marketplace. For much of Africa, the traditional brain drain remains largely a reality.

Conclusion
Thomas Friedman's "flat world" is a reality for the rich countries and universities. The rest of the world still finds itself in a traditional world of centers and peripheries, of peaks and valleys and involved in an increasingly difficult struggle to catch up and compete with those who have the greatest academic power. In some ways, globalization works against the desire to create a worldwide academic community based on cooperation and a shared vision of academic development. The globalization of science and scholarship, ease of communication, and the circulation of the best academic talent worldwide have not led to equality in higher education. Indeed, both within national academic systems and globally, inequalities are greater than ever.

[Online] Available: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/Number50/p2_Altbach.htm