The Oxford Handbook of Higher Education Systems and University Management

The world's systems of higher education (HE) are caught up in the fourth industrial revolution of the twenty-first century. Driven by increased globalization, demographic expansion in demand for education, new information and communications technology, and changing cost structures influencing societal expectations and control, higher education systems across the globe are adapting to the pressures of this new industrial environment. To make sense of the complex changes in the practices and structures of higher education, this Handbook sets out a theoretical framework to explain what higher education systems are, how they may be compared over time, and why comparisons are important in terms of societal progress in an increasingly interconnected world. Drawing on insights from over 40 leading international scholars and practitioners, the chapters examine the main challenges facing institutions of higher education, how they should be managed in changing conditions, and the societal implications of different approaches to change. Structured around the premise that higher education plays a significant role in ensuring that a society achieves the capacity to adjust itself to change, while at the same time remaining cohesive as a social system, this Handbook explores how current internal and external forces disturb this balance, and how institutions of higher education could, and might, respond.

Auteur

Gordon Redding is a British professor, academic, author, editor, and consultant. Currently Senior Advisor to the HEAD Foundation (Human Capital and Education for Asian Development) in Singapore, he is a specialist on China and the regional ethnic Chinese, and also works on the comparison of different systems of capitalism, and on the role of education in societal development. Previously Director of the Euro-Asia Centre of INSEAD in France and founder and director of the HKU Business School (now the Faculty of Business and Economics) at the University of Hong Kong, he now holds a Visiting Professorial Fellowship at the Institute of Education, University College London. Antony Drew is Assistant Dean International at The University of Newcastle, Australia, representing its work in global alliances, inbound and outbound student mobility, and international research collaboration. His research focus is in institutional theory, economic sociology, and international business, and in developing a theoretical framework for better analysing how informal business institutions evolve over time in different polities. Stephen Crump is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at The University of Melbourne and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tasmania. His previous positions include inaugural Head of School of Professional Studies and Director for the Centre for Regional Studies at the University of Sydney, and Pro Vice-Chancellor - External Relations at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He has also done extensive consultancy work and international visiting positions in the USA, UK, Netherlands, and Sweden.