By Elliot Storm and Grace Karram. There is no question that Hugo Chávez has left a controversial mark on the pages of social and political history. For some he was a charismatic, bold visionary committed to social justice and the eradication of inequality. But for his critics, the late president was a harbinger of democratic decline and economic decay. His influence on Venezuela’s higher education system was likewise divisive, marked by direct clashes with university administrators and student leaders. What the government intended as reforms for participatory, 'protagonist' democracy, universities took as a challenge to the traditional values of autonomy and academic freedom. In reaction to Chávez’s reforms, universities have mounted serious opposition to the regime on both procedural and substantive grounds. Read more...

By Katherine Forestier. Hong Kong: zero. Japan: 2.3. India: three. Kuwait: three. Turkey: seven. UK: 14. Australia: 17. The numbers tell a story. They are the percentages of universities that have women as leaders in a range of jurisdictions around the world. Knowledge that women are under-represented in the upper echelons of higher education is not new. But after academics from countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa shared experiences and information, they came up with an action plan for change. On 6 March the “Manifesto for Change” was resoundingly endorsed by participants attending the session “Action for Women in Higher Education Leadership” at the Going Global 2013 conference, the culmination of a year of workshops held by the British Council in Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait and finally Dubai, supported by new research. The manifesto calls for actions to hold institutions to account by: including gender equity in ranking and quality indicators; transparency about the representation of women, including their participation in research – usually the stepping stone to leadership; a commitment to invest in women; and the need for more international data on and research into what is holding women back, and what enables success. Read more...