Open University Press What Kind of University?

Universities worldwide are experiencing rapid and substantial change. Will the universities of the twenty-first century be recognizable as the institutions we know today? How far are universities around the world converging towards a common form and how far will they be shaped increasingly by the characteristics of their host societies. What Kind of University? discusses the nature of universities emerging in different parts of the world, the conditions which shape and constrain them, their common features, and the main faultlines which define their differences. The twenty contributors from four continents address three major topics: * What will count as important knowledge, how will it be organized, and how will it be researched and taught? * Who will be the university's students; how will access to and participation in our universities develop? * How will the management and organization of institutions change: how much autonomy will be appropriate at the levels of the individual, the department and the university; and what will be decided by the market or the state? Two powerful themes pervade this book. The first is the recognition that higher education, like the economy, has become global; and the second is the role of technology (which is a significant enabler of global communication in higher education). What Kind of University? brings together the thinking of university leaders and researchers into universities, sets an agenda for the future university, and is essential reading for all those interested in the international development of higher education.