LIST OF PANELS

With the rise to power of neoliberal governments in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (USA) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a new world era began in higher education with the new public management practices and reforms on the agenda of most countries (Gruening 2001), positioning universities as responsive to the economy (Chan, 2016). In this context, the IHE idea emerged and has influenced countries worldwide as a capitalist approach intended to improve the quality of higher education. However, it is neither a natural nor neutral idea; it has been influenced and strengthened in world society by the core capitalist countries, the UK and the USA, and their understanding and management of higher education.

In the case of developing countries, the IHE is mostly seen to advance their transition to a capitalist economy (Yeom, 2019). The core of the capitalist world-economy directs the economic, labor, and educational trends to strengthen itself and keep the semi-peripheric and peripheric countries the same (Wallerstein, 1974, 2011). Even though the global capitalist structure permeates internationally by spreading ideas and restructuring national institutions, the timing and aims in each country must be considered to understand the social, political, and institutional contexts in which the development of policies to achieve IHE occurs.

In this regard, this panel addresses the need highlighted by IHE leading scholars for studying national policies concerning the IHE based on comparative analyses (Kehm & Teichler, 2007; Mittelmeier & Yang, 2022; Knight & De Wit, 2018) and critical reflections on power relations and dominance issues (Mittelmeier & Yang, 2022; Buckner, 2019). The world-systems analysis perspective (Wallerstein, 2012) emerges as a key framework for such analyses by providing the core-periphery schema to build better arguments in a “moment at which capitalism has become more totalizing than ever” (el-Ojeili, 2015: 695).

This panel aims to address and seek explanations of the differences and commonalities among semi-peripheral and peripheral countries and regions with emphasis on East-West comparisons, as an attempt to deepen our understanding and explain policies aimed at the IHE worldwide based on the world-systems analysis as a framing perspective.

The research questions guiding this panel are as follows:

1)      What are the main similarities and differences between higher education policies developed in semi-peripheral and peripheral East and West to achieve IHE in the actual capitalist world-economy?

2)      What institutional and political challenges arise and must be considered when developing IHE policies in those areas?

3)      What academic and practical non-hegemonic lessons can be learned from such policies developed in both hemispheres?

To address these research questions this panel welcomes submissions of theoretical, methodological, or empirical papers to analyze and further understand the IHE process globally.

The paper proposals should be based on the world-systems analysis perspective to understand the international context in which national, regional, or local policies aimed at IHE in the East and the West are developed. The analysis of semi-peripheral and peripheral Western and Eastern areas or states is welcome, but priority will be given to analyses comparing East to West. Furthermore, although IHE is primarily an educational and educational sciences topic, the proposals must focus on policies aimed at IHE rather than merely educational issues.

The panel encourages paper submissions exploring how the world systems analysis perspective can be applied to produce more powerful and meaningful discussions on the IHE in the world. Moreover, the emphasis on comparing East to West will allow us to embrace novel approaches to comparative studies in the field. The panel is open to authors interested in comparing national, regional, and local policies and strengthening their understanding of the complexities of contexts, times, and perspectives of countries and scholars in the actual capitalist world-economy with a non-hegemonic emphasis.