Overview

American Higher Education in a Global Context: Historical Perspectives describes the current state of universities on each continent, providing a comprehensive analysis of the numerous factors that have affected higher education systems around the world. This book studies higher education from its emergence in antiquity to the establishment of the American research university model and its adoption around the globe, through the current Covid-19 pandemic and concomitant economic and political crisis. The author pays special attention to the shortcomings of the neoliberal trend of the last four decades, which increased social stratification at institutions of higher learning. Calling for an expansion of access to tertiary education, and in particular, to research universities, this book examines the competition between China and the United States in the field of higher education, stressing the importance of academic freedom, without which there can be no true academic excellence.

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9781666900095

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Reviews

"Christina Gonzalez's book provides an excellent general description and analysis of higher education globally. It is an important resource for scholars of higher education and science and for a range of leaders and practitioners in higher education, government, and industry who are involved in building international programs and collaborations among universities and scientific institutions. The book's emphasis on inequality and access as well as the role of neoliberal policies and privatization is well placed. Finally, situating each country's higher education system in a historical, economic, political, and social context adds considerably to the value of the manuscript. --William Lacy, University of California, Davis González presents this sweeping overview of higher education's origins and development within a cogent framework that clarifies complex information and makes this ride through higher education hyperspace well worth the effort. Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. -- ""Choice Reviews"" We are indebted to Cristina Gonzalez for her insightful account of the worldwide radiation of the university form, from its origins in Europe to its modernization in the United States (above all in the state of California) and its spread across the world. Universities are the good news story of the period since World War II, playing a key role in the spread of science and technologies and the lifting of human agency on a massive scale. This is a scholarly work in accessible style that speaks to all of us. Highly recommended! --Simon Marginson, University of Oxford"

Christina Gonzalez's book provides an excellent general description and analysis of higher education globally. It is an important resource for scholars of higher education and science and for a range of leaders and practitioners in higher education, government, and industry who are involved in building international programs and collaborations among universities and scientific institutions. The book's emphasis on inequality and access as well as the role of neoliberal policies and privatization is well placed. Finally, situating each country's higher education system in a historical, economic, political, and social context adds considerably to the value of the manuscript. González presents this sweeping overview of higher education's origins and development within a cogent framework that clarifies complex information and makes this ride through higher education hyperspace well worth the effort. Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. We are indebted to Cristina Gonzalez for her insightful account of the worldwide radiation of the university form, from its origins in Europe to its modernization in the United States (above all in the state of California) and its spread across the world. Universities are the good news story of the period since World War II, playing a key role in the spread of science and technologies and the lifting of human agency on a massive scale. This is a scholarly work in accessible style that speaks to all of us. Highly recommended!

Author Information

Cristina González is professor emerita of Spanish and professor emerita of Education at the University of California, Davis.

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