Higher Education & Development

Master in HE, Class 2008HEM 4230: Internationalisation, Globalisation and the

Knowledge Economy

Rómulo PinheiroOslo, 18 October 2007

Topics being covered

• The types of contributions by HE

• The dominant developmental paradigms

• Empirical Evidence on the role of HE

• The importance of knowledge

• The role of international policy/donors

Types of HE contributions to Society

• Social: – Better quality of life and social harmony

• Cultural: – Sense of identity and access to cultural capital

• Political:– Empowerment of minority groups, democratisation

• Economic:– Improved standards of living, productivity, and

competitiveness

Economic imperatives at the forefront

• Investments in HE important to:– Societies:

• Economic Development & Growth (thus, social stability)

– Corporations: • Increased productivity/competitiveness

– Individuals: • Higher salaries, standard of living, career mobility, job

satisfaction

Knowledge as key driver

• Post-industrial (network-based) era puts a strong emphasis on value-added services and knowledge goods (Castels)

• Global competitiveness of countries/regions increasingly affected by their ability to: (a) create, (b) transmit; and (c) adapt knowledge to local cirdumstances

• Higher Education not longer seen as a ’luxury’ but a condition for development (World Bank 2002)

HE as Development Policy

• Many (governmental) stakeholders:– Too important to be left alone to Ministries of

Education (also, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Science & Technology, Commerce, etc.)

• Focusing on core functions: – (a) training and re-training; (b) knowledge creation; (c)

knowledge transfer and innovation

• National/Regional Development emerging as key function of HE systems (third revolution?)

Dominant Perspectives of the link HE & Development (Donor Policies)

Source: Cloete et al. (2005)

Vocational & TechnicalTraining

(Sachs 2005)

Engine of the new Knowledge Economy

(Castells 1991; World Bank 2002

Luxury Ancilliary (World Bank mid 80s-90s)

Current

Is there any empirical evidence?

• Human Capital Theory (Becker & Schultz, 1960s) have demonstrated that investments in Schooling (incl. HE) deliver higher economic returns for both individuals as well as societies (economies), thus representing positive socialinvestments.

Does knowledge lead to global competitiveness?

Bottom-10

Source: World Economic Forum (2006)

Knowledge economy index

Tertiary education enrollment

Knowledge Economy and Higher education

Links: Knowledge Economy, GDP & Globalisation

Rank Country

1 Ireland

2 Singapore

3 Switzerland

4 Netherlands

5 Finland

6 Canada

7 United States

8 New Zealand

9 Austria

10 Denmark

54 Kenya

55 Turkey

56 Bangladesh

57 China

58 Venezuela

59 Indonesia

60 Egypt

61 India

62 Iran

Knowledge Economy Index & GDP Globalisation Index

Globalisation index 2004(www.foreignpolicy.com)

What about broad social (human) development?

Bottom-15

Source: United Nations (2005)

National (regional) Examples of Knowledge Investments

• Europe: Finland and Ireland (mid 1990s)

• East Asia: South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong (1970s and 1980s)

• Oceania: Australia and New Zealand (1990s)

• More recently (China & India):– Investments in HE as a parallell, rather than a

consecutive process, to primary/secondary levels– Leap-frogging developmental stages (primary-

secondary-tertiary sectors)

Is that it, then?

Well…”investment in higher education per se is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for development as the oft-quoted World Bank examples of South Korea and Ghana illustrate (World Bank, 2002)…”

”As important as the investment made in higher education is, attention must be paid to the efficiency and effectiveness of that investment which includes ensuring that there are appropriate linkages with the labour market needs of the economy.” (Cloete et al. 2005: 9)

Where are FDIs flowing?(African Continent, as an example)

• Focus on Capacity Building– Physical Infrastructure– Training of teaching staff– Training of competent managers/administrators– Information & Communication Technologies– Libraries and other information resources– Research Networks (North-South, South-South)

• But, almost no investment in problem/situation accessment (HE studies or analyst training)

Recent Developments (Donors)

• Paradigm shift in donor policy– From dependency to internal competence and accountability.

• Funding directed to HE studies (CHET 2007)– Postgraduate programmes in HE (e.g. NOMA)– Research on the link HE-Development (across Africa)– Observatory (Monitoring)

• Research Output

• Development Aid

• Policy-relevant data (input)

• Knowledge utilisation

– Advocacy (Knowledge sharing/transmission)

What about (African) HEIs?

• Awareness of the need to become more entrepreneurial (Clark 1999, CHET 2002)

• Distinct role of different types of HEIs (comprehensive vs. Technical vs. Short-term/vocational vs, flag-ships)

• The importance of proper managerial/governance structures.• Existing constraints; system-level (W.Bank/Unesco 2000)

– Absence of a vision

– Lack of political/financial commitment

– Conditions of initial disadvantage (staff, facilities, ICT, etc.)

– Disruptions brought by globalisation (need to respond national/regional level)

Remaining Challenges (HE & Development, the example of S.Africa)

• Discourses: Shift from negative to positive mobilising discourse (improve self-image of HE)

• Skills Mismatch: Tight links; graduates and employment • Growth & Quality: Both are required!• Signals across the system: between different types of HEIs and

those and the labour market/economy.• Research & Innovation: Strategic long-term rather than solely

focus on immediate needs• Differentiated Policy: New relationships (pact) between HEIs-State

(based on bargaining and negotiations.• Co-ordination: Better orchestration between government and the

various agents at the system level.• Development Discourse: instrumental (skill-based) runs the risk of

neglecting knowledge-based one. Explore the links between issues like equity, restrcuturing and efficiency.

Source: CHET (2005b: 1-3)

To Conclude

• HE is intrinsically linked with socio-economic development

• Development paradigms have changed to acknowledge the role of ’knowledge’ and HEIs as engines of development

• International Policies (Donors) finally focusing on building capacity for problem identification

• Major regional barriers still remain (e.g. across Africa) but an active debate is ongoing!

Suggested Reading

• HE & Regional Development (OECD 2007)

http://www.oecd.org/document/33/0,3343,en_2649_34413_39378401_1_1_1_1,00.html

• CHET (2005b). HE and Development. Reflecting on the

challenges. http://www.chet.org.za/publications.jsp

• World Bank/Unesco. 2000. Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise. The Task force on Higher Education and Society. Online at:

http://www.tfhe.net/report/readreport.htm