Higher education and the challenges of the twenty-first century: An introduction

Abstract

This chapter deals, first, with the origin and evolution of universities in Europe and Latin America, seeking to highlight the motivations and values that have presided over their emergence and continue to serve the education of new generations, such as the value of knowledge, freedom of study and research, institutional autonomy and collegiality. This is also the story of the sometimes harmonious, sometimes conflicting, relationship between universities and the powers of Church and state, and then increasingly with the economy. Second, the chapter considers how university institutions establish themselves in both contexts and manage the different demands and expectations of teachers, students and the wider society, seeking to respond to growing pressures for access, relevance in human capital formation and quality research, and rising costs.