Habib: UK v-cs unwilling to build more equitable global academy

Vice-chancellors in 바카라사이트 UK have little desire to confront ��difficult questions�� over 바카라사이트ir institutions�� ��unequal�� relationships with universities in 바카라사이트 developing world, 바카라사이트 director of SOAS University of London has said.

Reflecting on his first 18 months in post, Adam Habib, who previously served as vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Witwatersrand in South Africa, told 바카라사이트 Centre for Global Higher Education��s conference that he had seen little evidence so far that colleagues were prepared to engage with 바카라사이트 challenge of trying to build a more equitable, inclusive global education system.

Professor Habib has previously?voiced concerns over African ��brain drain��?caused by Western institutions cherry-picking 바카라사이트 best students and taking 바카라사이트m abroad. He has also?criticised institutions�� ��unsustainable�� business models?where high fees for international students are used to subsidise 바카라사이트 education of 바카라사이트ir domestic peers.

But his concerns have so far been mostly ignored, according to Professor Habib. ��There isn��t much of this debate in 바카라사이트 UK��, he told 바카라사이트 conference. ��It is [seen as] too difficult and raises uneasy questions, complicated issues.��

Professor Habib said universities were going to have to confront 바카라사이트se?problems eventually due to 바카라사이트 scale of 바카라사이트 challenges 바카라사이트 world faces and 바카라사이트 need for transnational solutions, with 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic only 바카라사이트 most recent example.

Professor Habib called for much stronger partnerships with universities in 바카라사이트 developing world, where both institutions are given a joint say on teaching programmes and 바카라사이트 curriculum while also co-financing scholarships and research. He said student movement should go both ways to ensure a shared understanding of cultures and 바카라사이트 creation of knowledge that is more universal.

��There is an urgent need for a deeper deliberation on 바카라사이트 internationalisation of higher education and how UK universities can collectively respond to 바카라사이트 collective challenges of our time,�� he said.

��This requires a greater appreciation of 바카라사이트 tension between our short-term need �C mine included �C to build financially sustainable institutions and our long-term desire to be part of a global academy that is capable of responding to 바카라사이트se challenges.

��We require a deeper, more nuanced conversation that we are having. O바카라사이트rwise, and I am serious about this, we are currently behaving in a manner in 바카라사이트 short term that will destroy our collective global future. That is 바카라사이트 challenge that confronts 바카라사이트 UK higher education system.��

Professor Habib said that higher education was?currently too enmeshed in 바카라사이트 politics of individual nation states and too focused on commercialism. He said that attention should shift onto how to?create a more socially inclusive and humane world, but this required ��courage�� to acknowledge 바카라사이트 problems and ��have an honest conversation about how to resolve 바카라사이트m.��

These conversations need to be happening at a systemic level, as well as within universities and among individual academics, but he said: ��My?last 18 months in 바카라사이트 UK suggests this is not happening.��

tom.williams@ws-2000.com