4.6.1 The Direct Effects of Demographic Change
Undoubtedly, the most immediate impact of demographic change in the coming years will be upon institutions of higher education in the developed world from the reduction in the number of young people. Universities will be competing amongst
each other for a reducing number of suitably qualified students. Governments may intervene to promote wider access to university education. But if this policy is promoted, questions will arise about whether young people who would not previously have entered university have the capacity and the motivation to pursue an academic education. This in turn raises questions about the future calibre of cohorts of graduates and about academic standards generally under a policy of wider access.
The alternative, if the higher educational sector in the developed world is to avoid reducing its capacity, is for institutions to attract an increasing number of students from the developing world. This alternative could be pursued in two ways. First, students could be encouraged to migrate to take up places in developed countries which are no longer filled by indigenous students. Second, institutions could increase their cooperation with institutions in the developing world to enable an increasing number of young people to study in their home country. This would be likely to involve greater mobility of academic staff to support this development.
The first of these strategies, attracting students from the developing world to study in the developed world, raises the ethical issues outlined above. This strategy could lead to increasing migration from countries which need to retain their talented and better educated young people for their own economic, social and political development. There would not be a problem if students did return to their own countries after a period of study but the risk is that they will be inclined to pursue their future careers in the developed world. This strategy also risks diluting cultural diversity as young people become influenced by the dominant languages and cultures of the developed world.
On the other hand it could be argued that, in an increasingly global economy and society, this migration will happen anyway. This phenomenon is not just an issue for higher education. It will arise from the development of global commerce and of international political institutions. Also, the developing world is now providing effective competition for trade in goods and services. The developed world needs to look after its own interests and replace existing exports of goods and services with new sources of earnings. Exploiting a competitive advantage in education provision is entirely justified and will ultimately lead to improved economic welfare worldwide.
The second strategy involving partnerships between institutions in the devel- oped and developing world might be attractive to those institutions in the devel- oped world which place ethical or sustainable development objectives higher on their own list of priorities. This would also match the aspirations of developing countries and so provide a natural synergy which could be beneficial to both developed and developing nations.
A further alternative is for developed countries to have different strategies for different regions of the developing world. Those countries such as China and India which are providing effective economic competition can be assumed to be capable of looking after their own interests. There is, therefore, no ethical issue for institutions in the developed world in pursuing whichever strategy suits their own interests. But for regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa, different considerations
could apply. As noted above, this region is yet to enter the window of opportunity provided by a reducing dependency ratio. It is also well recognised as the region which has the greatest problems in terms of economic, social and political development. While educational standards and levels of participation are increasing, many countries still have a long way to go. The more sustainable approach for this region would be the partnership strategy.
The above analysis focuses on the interests of educational institutions in the developed world. The interests of institutions in the developing world could vary according to their respective stages of development. Those regions which are currently successful in the global competitive environment may wish to expand their own educational institutions or set up in partnership to import the expertise of the developed world. Less developed regions may be more dependent upon foreign aid for some years to come. Partnerships may be essential to reduce the risk of brain drain and to develop their own higher educational infrastructures.
Institutions of higher education in developed countries which seek to expand their activities internationally will need to decide which strategy to adopt. They will also need to decide in which regions and in which countries in those regions to target their activities. These decisions will inevitably be affected by current activities and by relationships already established, but to succeed and prosper in an increasingly competitive environment, institutions may need to target new areas. The data pre- sented in this chapter provide a start for the analysis which needs to be conducted by institutions confronting their challenges and making their strategic decisions.
Whatever strategic decisions are made, institutions will face a number of other challenges from demographic change and from the inevitable increase in the internationalisation of higher education. We focus on three key areas: the educational model, faculty development and the implication of new information and communications technology.
4.6.2 The Educational Model
Altbach (1998) identifies the modern university as an international institution with strong national roots. The university was established in medieval Europe and attracted students from across the continent using Latin as the common language.
The faculty system emerged from the University of Paris. The collegiate system arose in England. The research ideal emerged in late nineteenth century Germany.
The modern American university adopts the English collegiate system and the German research ideal. Almost all the world’s universities stem from the European models, driven by colonialism but sometimes by choice, as in the case of Japan; and by the increasing dominance of English as an international language. There were alternatives such as the Islamic model but the Western model has been dominant.
It may be argued, however, that while modern universities have common origins in terms of their educational models, there are differences between national systems.
Some emphasise knowledge transfer, others analysis, argument and discourse; some
focus strongly on technical skills, others place more value on behavioural skills. All universities are affected by the cultural context in which they operate. These differences have implications for students and for academic staff. Students educated in a system that values knowledge transfer will find difficulty in adapting to a system which values analysis and discussion. Students who specialise in technical skills may need to develop new interpersonal skills, and vice versa. Differences between national systems also affect students moving from one system to another in terms of the recognition of their prior studies and qualifications (Teichter2004).
As international student mobility increases, and as diversity and cultural sensitivity become more valued, these issues will become increasingly important.
Difficult questions arise about the model to be adopted by institutions, particularly those in the dominant developed regions, as they expand their international activ- ities. The questions encompass the content of the curriculum, the style of teaching, the resources to be deployed and the nature of the examination process. Thompson (2001) argues that the appropriate style of learning, leading to the development of individual student characteristics believed to be associated with the generation of international mindedness, is essentially experiential in nature. His focus is on secondary school education but his argument could equally apply to tertiary education. He argues for an appropriately balanced curriculum, an exposure to cultural diversity through human resources and a balance in the selection of materials that promote the acquisition of knowledge, skills, concepts and attitudes.
These issues need to be seen in the context of the dominance of Western economic and political models, sometimes referred to as the ‘Washington con- sensus’. Aid to developing countries is often linked to commitments from those countries towards economic and political reform along Western lines. The dom- inance of Western ideas has, however, come under increasing pressure from the resurgence of Islam, from the perceived failure of military intervention and more recently from the crisis in financial markets. Are Western ideas still the ‘‘best’’?
Institutions of higher education in the developed world clearly need to examine their own ideas and methods. There can be no assumption that the current model and the theories in use are valid in an increasingly international context. Possible alternatives need to be considered to deliver the objectives and strategies adopted by the institution.
The risk is cultural relativism, the assumption that all ideas are equally valid. While institutions must evaluate different options, they must also make value judgements.
4.6.3 Faculty Development
Whatever choices an institution of higher education makes in terms of its strategy for internationalisation and the education model adopted, there will be significant impli- cations for faculty recruitment and development. Academic staff will need the appropriate competences and attitudes to succeed in an international and culturally diverse environment. Clearly, all staff will need to have an understanding of, and empathy with, different cultures and values. They will need interpersonal and other
behavioural skills, including the ability to resolve any conflicts which may arise. Such conflicts are already creating challenges for organisations operating in multi-cultural environments. New legislation in many countries now requires organisations not to discriminate against people on the grounds of their gender, ethnic origin, sexual ori- entation or religious belief. But ethnic origin and religious belief are often associated and sometimes correlated with attitudes about sexual orientation or gender. Such issues require people working in multi-cultural environments to have new cognitive and behavioural skills together with an appropriate attitudinal approach.
A further issue is concerned with the question of language skills. English is increasingly becoming an international language but academic staff will need compe- tence in the languages spoken in the regions in which they are operating. This is not just for day-to-day communication but valuing cultural diversity requires the recognition and use of different languages. This is a particular challenge in the English speaking world as the widespread use of English worldwide militates against the development of language skills among those who’s first, and maybe only language, is English.
Academic staff, as teachers, will also need to be able to impart these skills and attitudes to their students. Educational institutions are under increasing pressure to prepare their students for life and work in an international context. This inevitably means a broadening of the curriculum but it also requires academic staff to behave at all times with their students in a way which is consistent with the behaviours and attitudes that the institutions seek to impart. It is incumbent on all organisations, commercial, governmental, voluntary or educational; to train and develop their employees in the skills and attitudes required to operate in an international context.
But educational institutions have a leading role to play in developing young people in these skills and attitudes and institutions have a special imperative therefore to develop their faculty staff appropriately.
A closely related issue for institutions is their recruitment policy. An organisation which seeks to promote an understanding of cultural diversity needs to be itself culturally diverse. There is a clear advantage for an organisation to have a workforce that reflects the customer and client base it seeks to serve. Many organisations now monitor, for example, the gender and ethnic mix of their workforces and set them- selves targets to increase numbers from under-represented groups. While in many countries it is illegal to discriminate on these matters in selecting people for positions to meet such targets, it is permitted to encourage applications from under-represented groups. Institutions of higher education will therefore need to devise the appropriate recruitment and selection policies to meet the needs of their organisational strategy and diversity policy.
4.6.4 New Information and Communications Technology
Collis and van der Wente (2002) present a survey of educational institutions which seeks to establish the emerging scenarios with respect to the use of ICT in higher education. They found that institutions did not expect revolutionary change as a
result of new ICT. In general, institutions did not feel under pressure to change by external forces or developments. ICT had become part of the blend of on-campus delivery but the lecture was still seen as the core medium for teaching. Change was gradual and ICT was being adopted. Web-based systems were seen as valuable and led to more efficient practices. But overall, the survey suggested that institutions were taking a ‘business as usual’ approach.
This survey was conducted 10 years ago and since then the technology has further developed. The capacity, speed and mobility of ICT systems have increased dramatically, creating further opportunities for the transfer of informa- tion and the improvement of communication. More significantly, however, a new generation of young people is now coming into higher education with new skills and attitudes, having grown up in this technological environment. These young people will not be familiar with the era without home computers, the internet, gaming machines, mobile phones and iPods. They will have used these instru- ments from an early age. The skills necessary to exploit them will be much more deeply embedded than will be the case of people who were not familiar with these tools until adulthood. With the development of such phenomena such as Facebook and Twitter, a new medium for communication, networking and socialising has emerged. Young people will, therefore, expect their educational institutions to be familiar with and to exploit ICT fully.
In the context of the internationalisation of higher education, this presents new opportunities and challenges for institutions. ICT creates a new dimension to the strategic question of whether institutions seeking to expand internationally do so either by enrolling students migrating from their home countries or by setting up partnerships or branches in those countries. The greater familiarity of young people with ICT sharpens these questions. Is the lecture theatre still the most appropriate medium for the delivery of education? Can it now be replaced by the video link? At a time when concern over climate change and the contribution of air travel to climate change is increasing, is it appropriate to expect academic staff and students to become more mobile when there are more sustainable alternatives?
Such questions present substantial challenges and risks for institutions of higher education now, and increasingly in the future.