1. Higher Education in a Global Context—Some Concerns
Richard Yelland
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD)
SHEEO, Boston, August 2007

2. An organisation with global reach
OECD Member Countries
Working with countries around the world

3. Growth in all tertiary qualifications Approximated by the percentage of persons with ISCED 5A5B/6 qualfication born in the period shown below (2004) 8
Why doesn‘t the US have the age profile from ?
US :36% :5% :-1% :0
EU :18% :5% :4% :4%
OECD :16% :5% :4% :4%
A1.3a

4. Expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP (2003) Tertiary education1
US Total Public Private 1.6
OECD Total Public Private 0.4
EU-19 Total Public Private 0.2
B2.1b

5. Distribution of foreign students by country of destination (2004) Percentage of foreign tertiary students reported to the OECD who are enrolled in each country of destination
Text has not been updated
C3.8

6. Trends in international education market shares Percentage of all foreign tertiary students enrolled by destination.
Market share (%)
OECD countries
C3.8

7. Governance: Burton Clark’s triangle
State
Academe
Market

8. Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development
Respond to initiatives across OECD to mobilise HE in support of regional engagement
Synthesise experience into coherent body of policy and practice to guide HEIs and regional and national governments
Provide opportunity for dialogue between stakeholders and clarify roles and responsibilities (i.e. assist with capacity building in each country/region)

9. Methodology
Common framework for regional self-evaluation developed by OECD task group
Self-evaluation report by regional consortium using OECD guidelines
Site visit by international peer review team (HEI, Regional, National Experts)
Peer Review Team report and response from the region
Analysis and synthesis by OECD task group drawing upon regional case studies and commissioned review of literature
Production and dissemination of synthesis report covering 14 regions in 12 countries

10. Emerging findings
Abundance of action in most regions, but a lack of systematic processes and limited co-operation among HEIs and between HEIs and stakeholders
Sustainability of funding is a problem
Focus on research, technology transfer, business-related competitiveness
Less emphasis on social, cultural and environmental development and ”knowledge transfer on legs”
Common challenge: What to do with lowtech SMEs?
Need for more ’joined-up’ Government and explicit recognition of the role of HE in regional development

11. International conference
Globally competitive, locally engaged - HE and regions
Valencia, Spain
19-21 September 2007
For more info on the project see

12. Challenges for Governments everywhere
Ensuring fairness and equity in the system
Managing diversity without reinforcing hierarchy
Ensuring quality without over-regulation
Improving the transmission of information between the labour market, individuals and the institutions
Supporting innovation and research
Understanding the interplay of quality, equity and efficiency

13. Thank you for your attention richard.yelland@oecd.org