Consternation in UK universities as Britain votes to exit the EU

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. Following the momentous Brexit vote in favour of the UK leaving the European Union, Yojana Sharma reports on the consternation and incomprehension among staff and students in British universities, with grave concerns about the future status of EU funding, faculty and students and the standing of UK research in the world. In Commentary, Alan Ruby contends that the unfortunate repercussions of the Brexit vote will be that the UK will be perceived as insular and unwelcoming, with English academic life becoming poorer for the losses in mobility, diversity, exchange and reciprocity.
Other Commentaries this week focus on South Africa, China, Europe, Latin America and Saudi Arabia. Zenobia Ismail says protesting South African students who set fire to university buildings need to reflect on the costs and benefits of making the university the frontline in another struggle as there is little victory in the ashes. Catherine Montgomery looks at what drives transnational partnerships in top Chinese universities, from aiming to partner with elite Western peers to seeking partnerships based on local social and cultural factors. Andrée Sursock says few European universities have so far linked up e-learning with internationalisation to help enhance internationalisation at home. And Angel Calderon gives pointers to Latin American universities on ways to improve their ranking positions in the wake of the release of the QS Top 300 ranking for the region.
In our series on ‘Transformative Leadership’ in which University World News is partnering with The MasterCard Foundation, Mary Beth Marklein interviews US journalist and author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon about women and leadership and the impact of higher education.
In Features, Nicola Jenvey reports that, despite massification of access to universities in Latin America, students from poor families still do not have access to the same quality of higher education as those from wealthier families. Read more...