Spring Term, 2006
Instructor: John C. Weidman, Professor of Higher Education and of Sociology
University of Pittsburgh
School of Education
Department of Administrative and Policy Studies
5910 Wesley W. Posvar Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
Telephone: (o) 412-648-1772; (FAX)
412-648-1784
WWW Home Page: http://www.pitt.edu/~weidman
SYLLABUS
Catalog Description: This is a seminar focusing on contemporary problems in the planning and conduct of higher education throughout the world. The seminar begins with a brief historical introduction, followed by a review of case studies and other documents on higher education in the United States and other countries. Special attention is given to an examination of comparative and contrasting policies and issues in higher education as they unfold in various developing regions and in the United States.
REQUIRED READINGS
Chapman, David W. and Ann E. Austin (Eds.), Higher Education in the Developing World: Changing Contexts and Institutional Responses. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
El-Khawas, Elaine, Robin DePietro-Jurand, and Lauritz Holm-Nielsen. Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Recent Progress; Challenges Ahead. Washington, DC: World Bank, 1998 (October, document 21199; .pdf copy to be provided by instructor).
Heyneman, Stephen P. “The Sad Story of UNESCO’s Education Statistics.” International Journal of Educational Development, 19 (1999): 65-74.
Johnstone, D. Bruce, Alka Arora, and William Experton. The Financing and Management of Higher Education: A Status Report on World-Wide Reforms. Washington, DC: World Bank, 1998 (document 19129; .pdf copy to be provided by instructor).
Weidman, John C. "Diversifying Finance of Higher Education Systems in the Third World: The Cases of Kenya and Mongolia." Education Policy Analysis Archives 3 (No. 5, 1995). http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v3n5.html
Weidman, John C. and Regsurengiin Bat-Erdene. “Higher Education and the State in Mongolia: Dilemmas of Democratic Transition.” In David W. Chapman and Ann E. Austin (Eds.), Higher Education in the Developing World: Changing Contexts and Institutional Responses. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
World Bank. Follow-up to the World Conference on Higher Education, UNESCO, Paris, 23-25 June 2003. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003 (CD, copy to be provided by instructor).
World Bank. Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002 (.pdf copy on UNESCO Follow-up CD).
World Bank. Lifelong Learning in the Global Knowledge Economy: Challenges for Developing Countries. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003 (.pdf copy on UNESCO Follow-up CD).
World Bank. Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2000 (.pdf copy on UNESCO Follow-up CD).
World Bank. Higher Education: The Lessons of Experience. Washington, DC: World Bank, 1994 (.pdf copy on UNESCO Follow-up CD).
SUGGESTED READINGS
Altbach, Philip G. and D. Bruce Johnstone (Eds.) 1993. The Funding of Higher Education: International Perspectives. New York: Garland Publishing.
Clark, Burton R. 1995. Places of Inquiry: Research and Advanced Education in Modern Universities. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Clark, Burton R. 1983. The Higher Education System: Academic Organization in Cross-National Perspective. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Gibbons, Michael. Higher Education Relevance in the 21st Century. Washington, DC: World Bank, 1998 (October, document 19717).
Kelly, Gail P. and Sheila Slaughter (Eds.). 1991. Women’s Higher Education in Comparative Perspective. Dordrecht/Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Mauch, James E. and Paula L.W. Sabloff (Eds.). 1995. Reform and Change in Higher Education: International Perspectives. New York: Garland Publishing.
Morsy, Zaghloul and Philip G. Altbach (Eds.). 1996. Higher Education in an International Perspective: Critical Issues. New York: Garland Publishing.
Postiglione, Gerard A. and Grace C.L. Mak (Eds.). Asian Higher Education: An International Handbook and Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Van de Graaff, et al. 1978. Academic Power: Patterns of Authority in Seven National Systems of Higher Education. New York: Praeger.
Weidman, John C. and Namgi Park (Eds.). Higher Education in Korea: Tradition and Adaptation. New York, NY: Falmer Press, 2000.
Yeager, John L., Glenn M. Nelson, Eugenie A. Potter, John C. Weidman, and Thomas G. Zullo (Eds.). ASHE Reader on Finance in Higher Education. Second Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2001.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
I. Class Participation. Each student is required to participate fully in the seminar discussion and to take responsibility for leading a portion of at least one class session.
II. Term Paper.
A. Option 1. A 20-30 page (double spaced) term paper on a topic that includes a comparative dimension relevant for higher education. Some examples are comparing selected aspects of the higher education systems in at least two countries; assessing library and information needs of higher education for countries located in a particular geographic region; reviewing problems and prospects for the implementation of computer technology in the higher education systems of developing countries; comparing curricular structures of higher education systems in at least two countries, etc. Students are required to make a presentation in class on their term papers. The following list suggests several of the comparative factors that might be included in the analysis presented in the term paper:
1. Higher education system in cultural context: ethnic groups and dominance; popular languages spoken in order of prevalence.
2. Colonial or other antecedents of the higher education system.
3. Language(s) of instruction in higher education.
4. Purpose of the higher education system (official as well as actual).
5. Internal and external (international) influences.
6. Governance: location and use of authority and power; centralization; power of faculty/student/administrative groups; organization of higher education system; structural similarities and differences across types of institutions; internal and external influences; levels of control and lines of responsibility; role of alumni; role of political parties and degree of politicization; degree of institutional autonomy; role of private and voluntary organizations in higher education.
7. Numbers and types: of higher education institutions; of academic programs and degrees; of students by race/gender/language/social class; percentage of cohort group enrolled; rates of growth by institutional type.
8. Finance: budgeting process; sources of funds by percentage; proportion of national budget and of GNP/GDP devoted to higher education.
9. Admissions, transfer and graduation: processes for each, relationship to secondary education sector; retention, transfer, repeating, study length; elitist nature of admissions and matriculation; effect of higher education on the national social structure; equity; access of women and minority group members; massification of higher education.
10. Reform of higher education: planning alternatives; higher education in the nation’s service; models of reform approved, planned, and implemented.
B. Option 2. A 20-30 page (double spaced) essay review of a major comparative higher education report. The paper should include the following:
1. Summary of the basic contents of the chapters, including the main topics covered and the basic approach used (e.g., reliance on World Bank reports, use of outside sources, etc.).
2. Critique of the chapters, including the main strengths and weaknesses, including the extent to which the report draws on previous research. Relevant research literature not cited in the report should be used to support the critique presented. Each team should review higher education literature from at least two regions of the world to test generalizations presented in the report. Exemplary sources should be cited and discussed, as appropriate.
3. Analysis of the extent to which data presented in the report (including appendices) are useful for understanding the points made.
4. Suggestions about additional topics that might have been included in the report, along with examples of exemplary sources.
ASSIGNMENTS
9 January Introduction to the Course
16 January NO CLASS: Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday
23 January World Bank. Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise.
30 January World Bank. Higher Education: The Lessons of Experience.
6 February Johnstone, D. Bruce, Alka Arora, and William Experton. The Financing and Management of Higher Education; Weidman, John C. "Diversifying Finance of Higher Education Systems in the Third World: The Cases of Kenya and Mongolia;" Heyneman, Stephen P. “The Sad Story of UNESCO’s Education Statistics.”
13 February Chapman, David W. and Ann E. Austin, “The Changing Context of Higher Education in the Developing World; and Salmi, Jamil, “Higher Education at a Turning Point,” Chapters 1 and 2 in Chapman and Austin.
20 February NO CLASS: Independent work on term papers.
27 February Chapman and Austin, Section II: Seeking a New Balance in Government-University Relationships
6 March NO CLASS: UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SPRING RECESS.
13 March NO CLASS: Independent work on term papers.
20 March Chapman and Austin, Section III: Coping with the Challenges of Greater Autonomy; Lewis, Darrell L. and Halil Dundar, “Equity Effects of Higher Education in Developing Countries,” Chapter 9 in Chapman and Austin.
27 March Chapman and Austin, Section VI, Supporting Academic Staff in New Roles.
3 April World Bank. Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education.
10 April El-Khawas, Elaine, Robin DePietro-Jurand, and Lauritz Holm-Nielsen. Quality Assurance in Higher Education; El-Khawas, “Quality Assurance for Higher Education;” Austin, Ann E. and David W. Chapman, “Balancing Pressures, Forming Partnerships,” Chapters 10 and 13 in Chapman and Austin.
17 April Class presentations of term papers.
TERM PAPERS DUE.