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Higher Education as a Global Reality

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The International Encyclopedia of Higher Education Systems and Institutions

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Synonyms

Global higher education; International higher education

Definition

International higher education concerns the study and analysis of higher education in the international and global context.

Higher education has experienced dramatic expansion in the past half-century. Massification has changed the reality of postsecondary education everywhere. At the same time, the global knowledge economy has made higher education and research a key player and the international dimensions of universities more important than ever. Universities have always had an international focus, although different by time, by location, and by type of institution. In this chapter, we describe and analyze the major trends in higher education worldwide: its massification, privatization, diversification, and internationalization. We also focus on access and equity, the role of the academic profession, autonomy and academic freedom, and the role of reputation, rankings, and excellence. Altbach et al. (2010)...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Boston, MA, USA

    Hans de Wit & Philip G. Altbach

Authors
  1. Hans de Wit
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  2. Philip G. Altbach
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans de Wit .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CIPES - Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies and Faculty of Economics - U., Porto, Portugal

    Pedro Nuno Teixeira

  2. Department of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Jung Cheol Shin

Section Editor information

  1. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Boston, MA, USA

    Hans de Wit

  2. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

    Laura E. Rumbley

  3. Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Lombardy, Italy

    Fiona Hunter

  4. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

    Lisa Unangst

  5. Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

    Edward Choi

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© 2020 Springer Nature B.V.

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de Wit, H., Altbach, P.G. (2020). Higher Education as a Global Reality. In: Teixeira, P.N., Shin, J.C. (eds) The International Encyclopedia of Higher Education Systems and Institutions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8905-9_213

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