The purpose of this volume is to help jump-start an urgently needed conversation about fairness and justice in access to higher education to counteract the ubiquitous mantras of neoliberal globalization and managerialism. The book seeks to carve out a strong moral and normative basis for opposing mainstream developments that engender increasing inequality and market-dependency in higher education. The book’s chapters consider how different national communities channel access to higher education, what their “implicit social contracts” are, and what outcomes are produced by different policies and methods. The book is essential reading for scholars of higher education and students concerned with increasing inequality in a globalizing educational marketplace.

What does "fairness" mean internationally in terms of access to higher education? Increased competition for places in elite universities has prompted a worldwide discussion regarding the fairness of student admission policies. Despite budget cuts from governments--and increasing costs for students--competition is fierce at the most prestigious institutions. Universities, already under stress, face a challenge in balancing institutional research goals, meeting individual aspirations for upward social mobility, and promoting the democratic ideal of equal opportunity. Fair Access to Higher Education addresses this challenge from a broad, transnational perspective. The chapters in this volume contribute to our thinking and reflection on policy developments and also offer new empirical findings about patterns of advantage and disadvantage in higher education access. Bringing together insights drawn from a variety of fields, including philosophy, linguistics, social psychology, sociology, and public policy, the book sheds light on how "fairness" in university admissions has been articulated worldwide.

American Higher Education in a Global Context: Historical Perspectives describes the current state of universities on each continent, providing a comprehensive analysis of the numerous factors that have affected higher education systems around the world. This book studies higher education from its emergence in antiquity to the establishment of the American research university model and its adoption around the globe, through the current Covid-19 pandemic and concomitant economic and political crisis. The author pays special attention to the shortcomings of the neoliberal trend of the last four decades, which increased social stratification at institutions of higher learning. Calling for an expansion of access to tertiary education, and in particular, to research universities, this book examines the competition between China and the United States in the field of higher education, stressing the importance of academic freedom, without which there can be no true academic excellence.

How can new ways of thinking about education improve the lives of poor students? In Rethinking Education and Poverty, William G. Tierney brings together scholars from around the world to examine the complex relationship between poverty and education in the twenty-first century. International in scope, this book assembles the best contemporary thinking about how education can mediate class and improve the lives of marginalized individuals. In remarkably nuanced ways, this volume examines education's role as both a possible factor in perpetuating—and a tool for alleviating—entrenched poverty. Education has long been seen as a way out of poverty. Some critics, however, argue that educational systems mask inequality and perpetuate cycles of poverty and wealth; others believe that the innate resilience or intellectual ability of impoverished students is what allows those individuals to succeed. Rethinking Education and Poverty grapples in turn with the ramifications of each possibility. Throughout these compelling, far-reaching, and provocative essays, the contributors seek to better understand how local efforts to reduce poverty through education interact—or fail to interact—with international assessment efforts. They take a broad historical view, examining social, economic, and educational polices from the postWorld War II period to the end of the Cold War and beyond. Although there is no simple solution to inequality, this book makes clear that education offers numerous exciting possibilities for progress.

This book deepens readers’ conceptual understanding of and provides practical insights into Vietnam’s higher education reforms. Globalisation has had profound impacts on higher education worldwide, creating transnational linkages and junctures, as well as disjunctures. At the same time, it has generated fluidities, hybridities and mobilities. Within the postcolonial context of Vietnam, it is imperative to identify the unique global traits that characterise the Vietnamese higher education system. The book focuses specifically on key aspects of culture and values that are decisive to the reform of Vietnamese higher education under the forces of globalisation. It critically examines how global forces have shaped and reshaped Vietnam’s higher education landscape. At the same time, the book explores local demands on Vietnamese higher education, and deciphers how higher education institutions are responding to globalisation, internationalisation and local demands. Based on empirical research, theoretical approaches and the experiences of researchers from Vietnam and overseas, it addresses critical perspectives on the aspects fundamental to the reform of Vietnamese higher education and outlines viable paths for the future.

The massive expansion of higher education across all continents is one of the defining features of our century. This volume examines two dimensions of this: those of access and equity.