Trends in the development of tertiary education in the context of modern challenges

Abstract

Achievement of stable economic growth and ensuring innovative development, the needs of the creative economy for specialists with digital skills can be considered as one of the main challenges for the sphere of tertiary education. Therefore, the education system should provide a high level of service quality in order to meet the needs of the labour markets. Globalization and international cooperation between the EU and Asia exacerbate these problematic issues. The purpose of the research lies in systematizing the basic challenges of the external environment and their impact on the transformation and development trends of tertiary education on the example of the EU states. Methodology. The research is based on quantitative methodology and statistical analysis. The development indicators of higher education of the EU countries for 2013-2018 from Eurostat and the World Bank database have been used for the analysis. The results prove the complexity of the links between social-economic, environmental, and political issues, which determine the dynamics of tertiary education and transformational changes in tertiary education. The following key challenges have been highlighted in the academic paper, namely: 1) development of creative economy, innovation economy, and knowledge economy; 2) external shocks, such as a pandemic; 3) technological progress and integration of technologies into education; 4) increasing the level of migration flows and strengthening the problem of educational inequality; 5) spreading the practice of commercialization and privatization of tertiary educational institutions (TEIs); 6) globalization and internationalization of tertiary education due to international cooperation between different countries and regions. The following basic trends in the development of tertiary education in the EU countries have been identified, namely: 1) problems of implementing the concept of ``knowledge and competence{''}; 2) challenges in the management of TEIs and management of the educational process; 3) dynamic development of online and distance learning; 4) the growing importance of academic integrity and ethics; 5) challenges related to achieving the goals of sustainable development within the SDG 4 ``Quality education{''}; 6) systemic reduction of TEIs' funding under the conditions of slow economic growth; 7) increasing the level of international students' mobility and students' migration, which necessitates the adaptation of TEls and foreign students to a multicultural learning environment; 8) flexibility and adaptability of TEIs; 9) challenges related to inclusive education; 10) challenges related to the integration of technology into tertiary education.