United Kingdom risks a drop of 30-40% in international student numbers

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In Commentary, Simon Marginson says the UK general election in June will not help resolve the uncertainties facing the higher education sector, which include the effects of Brexit on international student numbers with a possible 30-40% drop, on EU citizens working in British universities and on UK participation in European collaborative research. Catherine Paradeise names some of the higher education issues that should be on the agenda of a new presidency in France – university autonomy, government micromanagement, building excellence, resources – and favours Emmanuel Macron’s approach. Ellen Hazelkorn and Andrew Gibson suggest the time has come for universities to make a case for how they work for the public good, or risk creeping government intervention and accusations of being too self-serving. Angel Calderon says every higher education reform in Australia since the late 1980s has seen the system further eroded and the latest package of measures is no exception. Eric Fredua-Kwarteng and Catherine Effah examine the issue of the underrepresentation of women in engineering programmes in African universities and suggest that these universities advocate for girls’ education at all levels. And Danny Quah writes of the need to prepare students – as the next generation of global leaders – for a world which is becoming more Asia-focused and to alert them to the intelligent management that globalisation requires in the face of major disruptions.

   In our World Blog, Patrick Blessinger discusses how open education has become an important element in democratising knowledge and tertiary education, creating a culture of openness and inclusion in society.

   In Features, Wagdy Sawahel reports that the latest Africa Wealth Report shows a growing number of super-rich Africans – and they have the potential to make their mark as philanthropists supporting higher education in Africa. And Brendan O'Malley reports on a timely study on levels of public confidence in higher education in the United States, which shows why universities need to engage in particular with Evangelicals, political conservatives and Blacks to demonstrate the value of higher education. Read more...