E-Book Overview
In spite of the increasing attention attributed to the rise in prominence of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, few studies have looked at the ways in which broader social expectations with respect to the role of higher education across the BRICS have changed, or not, in recent years. Our point of departure is that, contrary to the conventional wisdom focusing on functionalistic perspectives, higher education systems are not just designed by governments to fulfill certain functions, but have a tendency for evolving in a rather unpredictable fashion as a result of the complex interplay between a number of internal and external factors. In reality, national higher education systems develop and change according to a complex process that encompasses the expectations of governmental agencies, markets, the aspirations of the population for the benefits of education, the specific institutional traditions and cultures of higher education institutions, and, increasingly so, the interests and strategies of the private firms entering and offering services in the higher education market. This basically means that it is of outmost importance to move away from conceiving of "universities" or "higher education" as single, monolithic actors or sector. One way of doing this is by investigating a selected number of distinct, but nonetheless interrelated factors or drivers, which, taken together, help determine the nature and scope of the social compact between higher education (its core actors and institutions) and society at large (government, industry, local communities, professional associations).
E-Book Content
Higher Education in the BRICS Countries
HIGHER EDUCATION DYNAMICS VOLUME 44 Series Editor Peter Maassen, University of Oslo, Norway, and University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands Johan Müller, Graduate School of Humanities, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa Editorial Board Alberto Amaral, CIPES and Universidade do Porto, Portugal Akira Arimoto, Hiroshima University, Japan Nico Cloete, CHET, Pretoria, South Africa David Dill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA Jürgen Enders, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands Patricia Gumport, Stanford University, USA Mary Henkel, Brunel University, Uxbridge, United Kingdom Glen Jones, University of Toronto, Canada
SCOPE OF THE SERIES Higher Education Dynamics is a book series intending to study adaptation processes and their outcomes in higher education at all relevant levels. In addition it wants to examine the way interactions between these levels affect adaptation processes. It aims at applying general social science concepts and theories as well as testing theories in the field of higher education research. It wants to do so in a manner that is of relevance to all those professionally involved in higher education, be it as ministers, policy-makers, politicians, institutional leaders or administrators, higher education researchers, members of the academic staff of universities and colleges, or students. It will include both mature and developing systems of higher education, covering public as well as private institutions. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6037
Simon Schwartzman • Rómulo Pinheiro Pundy Pillay Editors
Higher Education in the BRICS Countries Investigating the Pact Between Higher Education and Society
1 3
Editors Simon Schwartzman Institute for Studies on Labor & Society Rio de Janeiro Brazil
Pundy Pillay Witts School of Governance University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
Rómulo Pinheiro Department of Political Science and Management, Faculty of Social Sciences University of Agder Kristiansand Norway
ISSN 1571-0378 ISSN 2215-1923 (electronic) Higher Education Dy