The Transformation of Global Higher Education, 1945-2015 (African Histories and Modernities)

This book explores some of the major forces and changes in higher education across the world between 1945 and 2015. This includes the explosions of higher education institutions and enrollments, a development captured by the notion of massification. There were also profound shifts in the financing and economic role of higher education reflected in the processes of privatization of universities and curricula realignments to meet the shifting demands of the economy. Moreover, the systems of knowledge production, organization, dissemination, and consumption, as well as the disciplinary architecture of knowledge underwent significant changes. Internationalization emerged as one of the defining features of higher education, which engendered new modes, rationales, and practices of collaboration, competition, comparison, and commercialization. External and internal pressures for accountability and higher education’s value proposition intensified, which fuelled struggles over access, affordability, relevance, and outcomes that found expression in the quality assurance movement. Preface 6 Acknowledgments 10 Contents 14 List of Tables 16 Chapter 1: The Postwar Boom: The Universalization of Higher Education 18 Introduction 18 Institutional Explosion 20 Degrees of Massification 29 Persistent Inequality 39 Demographic Destinies and Other Disruptions 64 Conclusion 75 Notes 77 References 78 Chapter 2: Money Matters: Economic and Occupational Disruptions 83 Introduction 83 Waves of Privatization 85 The Cost-Sharing Craze 96 Shifting Economic and Occupational Landscapes 109 Struggles for Affordability and Accountability 126 Conclusion 138 Notes 139 References 141 Chapter 3: Disciplining Knowledges: Ruptures in Academic Systems 154 Introduction 154 Shifting Knowledge Landscapes 156 Disciplinary Restructuring 182 The Digital Academy 205 Conclusion 215 Notes 216 References 218 Chapter 4: Global Village: The Competitive Challenges of Internationalization 227 Academic Sojourns Abroad 230 Exporting Institutional Models 246 Regional Dimensions and Actors 255 The Seductions and Sanctions of Rankings 271 Geographies and Hierarchies of Knowledge Collaboration 277 Conclusion 290 Notes 290 Bibliography 293 Chapter 5: Quality Control: Struggles for Accountability and Value 310 Introduction 310 The Invasion of Assessment Culture 312 The Curriculum Goes to Market 339 The Unbundling of Faculty Life 344 Conclusion 365 Notes 366 Bibliography 368 Index 381 Front Matter....Pages i-xvi The Postwar Boom: The Universalization of Higher Education....Pages 1-65 Money Matters: Economic and Occupational Disruptions....Pages 67-137 Disciplining Knowledges: Ruptures in Academic Systems....Pages 139-211 Global Village: The Competitive Challenges of Internationalization....Pages 213-295 Quality Control: Struggles for Accountability and Value....Pages 297-367 Back Matter....Pages 369-385