Over the past decade, the global geopolitical balance has undergone considerable upheaval. In the competition for a new world order between China, Europe and the United States, the unsettling rise of ‘authoritarian neoliberalism’ marks a major turning point. The international order is caught between the Chinese-US giants causing tension in economics and technology, but also in scientific diplomacy.
What about academic and technological sovereignty in the face of new Big Tech competitors? Will the Anglo-Saxon model of higher education organised around the Big Four (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the US) be able to resist these challenges? Below we look at four major trends.
- New initiatives to attract students
In recent years, higher education and research (enseignement supérieur et la recherche or ESR in French) has seen the emergence of new university hubs in geographical areas undergoing fundamental changes (in the Indo-Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East).
- Academic and technological sovereignty: a major challenge
Over the past five years, many Asian universities have made their way into the top international university rankings, attracting greater numbers of international students into their fold. China, for example, has managed to attract 492,185 international students, yet this dynamic remains largely regional and 45% of these students come from the Asian continent.
- Transmission of knowledge vs commodification of knowledge
Academic and technological sovereignty also faces increasing competition from the growing influence of Big Tech and large edtech companies.
- The new challenges to the Anglo-Saxon paradigm
While the Big Four have capitalised on teaching in English as a lever of attractiveness, almost 20% of the teaching programmes delivered in English in the world are now delivered in other countries. The competition comes first from Europe, but countries outside the West have also entered the race for English: in the Middle East, in English-speaking Africa and in East Asia.
Although transnational education is still a recent development, with no guaranteed return on investment, it could offer the opportunity to respond to some of the main new issues that are affecting university geopolitics.
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20220208142502416