Globalization and Higher Education

Part I. The Larger Context

pa r t 1 The Larger Context The Larger Context Introduction • 3 • Peter Wagner begins this volume with a sensitive and wide-ranging look at globalization. He notes that “there are conjoined economic, cultural , and political processes that we may describe as ‘globalization,’ and they do have an impact on research and higher education, the two core functions of the universities.” But he sees many reasons why we should not jump to conclusions about the future of the institutions of higher education. Globalization is a multidimensional process—and not, for example, merely a process of “marketization.” Second, not only are there countertendencies in all these processes, but also it is an error to ignore very large differences in institutions of higher education, both nationally and regionally. To examine this, Wagner develops some analytical tools and concludes that the outcomes will “depend upon the strength of the belief in substantive academic autonomy and the willingness of political actors, including university administrators who implement internal hierarchy, to permit both community and market principles to work.” For him, “historical and cultural differences” will be “decisive in these comparative outcomes.” Alan Bowen-James had led off our conference with an enthusiastic endorsement of what he saw to be the future of higher education in the new context of globalization. His position is essentially what is usually termed neo-liberal. Accordingly, he was an essential contributor to our conference. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, he was unable to offer a final version of his presentation. Fortunately, we have a synopsis of his contribution taken at the time of his presentation. We think that it captures the main threads of his presentation, which we summarize here. Bowen-James examined the role of technology in global and higher education from the perspective of transnationalism rather than nation- alism or internationalism, and argued that “there will soon be a disaggregation of traditional customs and an unshackling of competitive advantage” in higher education, concluding finally that “in short, everything will be commodified.” For Bowen-James, Higher education is an anachronism, as it is not necessarily universal nor higher. We are now threatened with deinstitutionalization and a twilight zone—neither what is thought nor what it aspires to be. There are in fact two models of learning: just-in-case learning and just-in-time learning. The commanders of the former dominate current higher education ; the latter is cutting edge and overlaps. In this time of the diminishing of higher education, the difficulty is to appease conflicting masters. Accordingly, the higher education industry must change or become marginalized. Currently, it is protected by laws, restrictive trade practices, and selfgovernance . It may have to link with trade associations and the like to become an international growth industry. For instance, education is considered an industry in China and it has already begun to partner with commercial companies. Increasingly, brand, flexible work practices, price elasticity, and perceived career value are more essential. The industry can offer child care, a social life, an influence network, jobs, the convenience of access, and an education. International forces in the industry are leading to value chain contestability, deflationary forces, and a consumer orientation. This increases the international tradability of the industry. Protectionism will fail, and education will fail in the globalized economy. Productivity in higher education should lessen cost; students will choose where to go, and it will be cheaper in China. In the United States, the public higher education system must consider who owns international property as well as remuneration policies, and out of state tuition is uncompetitive. Although this is fine art, not McDonald’s customization , there are fixed marginal costs. It is not scaleable, not replicable to multiple sites, does not generate cash flow, inventory cannot be replicated , and the industry is unwilling to disaggregate. Competition for market share will happen, and already distance education is far advanced in Asia (and the United Kingdom). India currently has several hundred thousand online students. In Harbin, China, all dorms are wired. China is advanced in the areas of online education, the Internet, and outsourcing /insourcing. Because of the price elasticity of demand, the product 4 • Globalization and Higher Education cannot be delivered. With international competition, the university must stay local or go global, and may come to be seen as a node. At some distance from...