EBOOK: Beyond Mass Higher Education: Building on Experience

Book excerpt: What are the key elements of mass higher education? How does mass higher education affect students and staff? What are the policy, pedagogic and management issues that need to be addressed? More is now expected of higher education provision. It has to meet demands for expansion, excellence, diversity and equity in access and assessment, teaching and research, as well as entrepreneurial engagement with the world outside. Thirty years ago, Martin Trow wrote of higher education systems moving from elite provision through a mass system to universal levels of access. The UK is now approaching such universal levels; Scotland has already reached them. It is nearly fifteen years since Trow's mass threshold was reached. Despite being on the brink of universal provision, there is still no clear picture of what a mass system should look like. This collection looks forward to the next decade of higher education, and identifies strategic issues that need to be tackled at institutional and management levels. It considers how far the higher education system has adapted to respond to the requirements of a mass and universal system, rather than struggling to sustain an elite system with mass participation. Beyond Mass Higher Education is key reading for those leading and managing universities and colleges, as well as higher education researchers and policy makers. Contributors: John Brennan, Centre for HE Research and Information; Grainne Conole, University of Southampton; Stephen Court, AUT; Jim Gallacher, Glasgow Caledonian University; Peter Knight, The Open University; Carole Leathwood, London Metropolitan University; Brenda Little, Open University; Lisa Lucas, University of Bristol; Ian McNay, University of Greenwich; Robin Middlehurst, University of Surrey; Bob Osborne, University of Ulster; Richard Pearson, Institute for Employment Studies; Wendy Saunderson, University of Ulster; Michael Shattock, Institute of Education, London; Celia Whitchurch, King's College London; Mantz Yorke, Liverpool John Moores University.