University Education: The Challenges of 21st Century

Abstract

The article discusses the prospects for the universities development in the modern knowledge society. The main objective of the research is to determine the conditions for the universities transformation from relatively close knowledge-generating structures to the full-fledged constituents of the civil society. To this end, various factors are examined that form the external environment of universities and impact the establishment of their internal context. The research is conducted with the use of comparative analysis method which allows revealing the common and specific features in the development trends of American, European, and Russian universities. The state and market are considered as significant elements of the external environment. It is shown that in the democratic post-industrial society the state traditionally playing a key role in universities development delegates a number of its functions in terms of university management to the civil societies. The substantiation is provided for the necessity to form the universities’ strategy in the market environment as a means for enhancing their competitiveness. The author further shows how such factors as globalization, internationalization and demography change impact the implementation of both the challenging task of establishing world class universities and the objective to implement the principle of equal opportunities in the educational field. Eventually, a number of conditions are defined that will allow making universities and higher education as a whole not only part of innovative economy but also the foundation for sustainable and fair society

COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption on university teaching and learning and competence cultivation: Student evaluation of online learning experiences in Hong Kong

“…For example, urbanisation has widened the gap between different economic groups within countries that leads to inequality (Carneiro and Draxler, 2008). Moreover, the lack of resources and inadequacy of funding contribute further to inequality (Medvedeva, 2015). These challenges are further magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic that no one expected.…”

A Review of Cross Border Higher Education in Africa: Focus on Graduate Level Training in Engineering and Technology

“…Like other parts of the world, the institutions of higher learning in Africa are expected at the minimum to provide education and conduct research (both theoretical and practical) for industrial development and sustain socio-economic in the continent. To a great extent, the evolution of the society is determined by the quality of higher education offered by universities and institutions of higher learning (Medvedeva, 2015). Given that these societies spread across regions, cross border education presents numerous opportunities that can be tapped into for the benefit of communities.…”

Untitled

“…Like other parts of the world, the institutions of higher learning in Africa are expected at the minimum to provide education and conduct research (both theoretical and practical) for industrial development and sustain socioeconomic in the continent. To a great extent, the evolution of the society is determined by the quality of higher education offered by universities and institutions of higher learning (Medvedeva, 2015). Given that these societies spread across regions, cross border education presents numerous opportunities that can be tapped into for the benefit of communities.…”