Multiple Futures for Higher Education in a Multi-Level Structure
chapter 49 in Adrian Curaj, Peter Scott, Lazăr Vlasceanu, Lesley Wilson (eds) [2012]: European Higher Education at the Crossroads: Between the Bologna Process and National Reforms, pp. 969-993, Heidelberg: Springer
19 Pages Posted: 15 Apr 2012 Last revised: 29 Aug 2015
Date Written: October 10, 2011
Abstract
‘Futures’ (images of the future) are often devised at the level of a single university or at a national lev-el for the overall higher education system. However, the bulk of trends and driving forces shaping universities’ future are international in their nature and universities operate in broader socio-economic and S&T systems. Hence, futures devised in a multi-level structure would better assist decision-makers and stakeholders. This approach is a demanding one in several respects, but offers significant advantages: (i) the potential changes in the social, economic and S&T systems, in which universities are embedded, as well as their impacts on higher education can be considered systematically; (ii) the substantial diversity of higher education systems and individual universities can be taken into account; and (iii) the likely impacts of various policy options can also be analysed.
Keywords: mission, methods and models of higher education, multiple futures, multi-level prospective analysis, features and benefits of forward looking techniques, methodological experiment
JEL Classification: I21, I23, I28, O38, O33, O52
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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