The Struggle Over Global Higher Education: Actors, Institutions, and Practices

Abstract

This article examines the intensification, since the creation of the so‐called Shanghai list of world universities in June 2003, of a political struggle in which a variety of actors, universities, national governments, and, more recently, supranational institutions have sought to define global higher education. This competition over global higher education has highlighted issues such as the internationalization and denationalization of higher education, the international mobility of students, the role of English language as the language of science, and the privatization of higher education. In contrast to IPE or Marxist analyses, we analyze the symbolic logic of ranking lists in higher education, their uses, and the European Commission’s initiative to create an alternative world university classification (see World Social Science Report, UNESCO Publishing; Europa zwischen Fiktion und Realpolitik/L’Europe—Fictions et réalités politiques, Transcript for analysis). This initiative represents a political move in a process of rapid restructuration of higher education at the global level.

L’organisation de l’international par l’occidental : quelques réflexions sur la discrimination par le diplôme au sein des organisations internationales

“…Définir ce qu'est un « bon » et un « mauvais » capital culturel n'est pourtant pas une opération neutre, mais une construction sociale extrêmement complexe (Kauppi et Erkkilä, 2011). À ce jeu de mise en scène, force est de constater que les Occidentaux sont actuellement gagnants.…”

Sustainable spatial development in higher education

“…Transforming the policy of European higher education in the classification system of university ranking could also contribute to a fairer and more equal society. Currently, the Shanghai ranking system and THE-QS are the most important ranking systems in higher education; however, they are both strongly focused solely on quantitative performance research (Erkkila, 2014) and are subject to numerous criticisms (Kauppi & Erkkila, 2011). The European Commission has therefore encouraged the development of a new university evaluation system, which represents a deviation from the ranking of universities based solely on the evaluation of research work.…”

Polish Higher Education and the Global Academic Competition: University Rankings in the Reform Debates

“…If we look at rankings as global 'policy scripts' (Hazelkorn, 2011;Schofer and Meyer, 2005;Kauppi and Erkkilä, 2011), the Polish reform design reproduces trends observed in other regions of the world: concentration of resources, stronger evaluation of higher education and research institutions and of the academics themselves, the creation of poles of excellence, an attempt to steer research politically by providing funding to strategic branches. However, a distinction must be made between the reform announcement and the reform outcome as such.…”

“…These policy instruments, based on specific indicators, with different weightings attributed to each of them, have been largely analysed through the lens of their methodology (Usher and Medow, 2009;Shin et al, 2011). A number of authors have focused on their development, their diffusion and their political significance (Marginson and 3 van der Wende, 2007;Kehm and Stensaker, 2009;Kauppi and Erkkilä, 2011;Hazelkorn, 2011;Tofallis, 2012). However, their policy impact, which has been reflected in these recent stimulating works, needs to be further investigated.…”

“…I analyse how experts and decision-makers refer to international league tables in order to construct the (lack of) competitiveness of national higher education and research as a public problem. I agree that rankings can be considered as an element of 'global scripts' paving the way for reforms of university governance and funding (Gornitzka and Maassen, 2011 in this volume) or as part of international power struggles relating to higher education internationalisation, privatisation and student mobility (Kauppi and Erkkilä, 2011). According to Erkkilä (in this volume), the impact of rankings can be pinpointed through the way ideas of 'competition, economism and elitism' are being spread, leading to a global isomorphic trend.…”