Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society provides a thorough international investigation of tertiary education policy across its many facets – governance, funding, quality assurance, equity, research and innovation, academic career, links to the labour market and internationalisation.

Tertiary-education policy is increasingly important on national agendas. The widespread recognition that tertiary education is a major driver of economic competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy has made high-quality tertiary education more important than ever. The imperative for countries is to raise higher-level employment skills, to sustain a globally competitive research base and to improve knowledge dissemination to the benefit of society. Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society provides a thorough international investigation of tertiary education policy across its many facets – governance, funding, quality assurance, equity, research and innovation, academic career, links to the labour market and internationalisation. The report presents: · an analysis of the trends and developments in tertiary education; · a synthesis of research-based evidence on the impact of tertiary-education policies; · innovative and successful policies and practices that countries have implemented; and · tertiary-education policy options. The report draws on the results of a major OECD review of tertiary education policy – the OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education -- conducted over the 2004-08 period in collaboration with 24 countries around the world. FURTHER READING A companion series - OECD Reviews of Tertiary Education - offers an in-depth analysis of tertiary education policies in each of the 14 countries which opted for a country review: China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland and Spain. www.oecd.org/edu/tertiary/review.

Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society provides a thorough international investigation of tertiary education policy across its many facets – governance, funding, quality assurance, equity, research and innovation, academic career, links to the labour market and internationalisation.

Higher education helps learners acquire the knowledge and skills they need to lead productive working lives, and it sparks the innovation that fosters economic growth and social progress. However, creating higher education systems that operate at a high level of research and teaching quality, with responsiveness to social and labour market demands, requires effective public policies and institutional practices.

This review of higher education policy in Mexico was requested by the Mexican Ministry of Education to take stock of progress since the last OECD review of the higher education system in Mexico, published in 2008, and to support development of the new government’s National Development Plan...

This OECD review of innovation policy in Croatia offers a comprehensive assessment of the country’s innovation system, focusing on the role of government.

This review illustrates policy actions promoting the entrepreneurial and innovative activities in the Italian Higher Education System, and focuses on 11 case study universities. It discusses strategies and practices adopted by Italian higher education institutions to innovate, engage, and generate value for the society and the economy. This review is part of a series of national reports implementing the HEinnovate framework. HEinnovate is a guiding framework that the OECD and the European Commission have developed to promote the “entrepreneurial and innovation agenda” in higher education.