Academic Conferences and Publishing International (ACPIL) have just launched a new book called the University of the Future.
The University of the Future reviews the current state of the university sector and makes some suggestions as to how universities will develop in the forthcoming years to meet the challenges they now face.
Universities are under considerable pressure to change, perhaps under more pressure than at any time since the modern university was created in the early 1800s.
Universities are being criticised for not producing adequately work-ready graduates.
They have been criticised for their intense focus on research which has sometimes been said to have been at the cost to their mandate to educate.
Universities are being criticised for their bureaucracy which has led to the coining of the expression managerialism.
Universities are being criticised for the current market orientation which is reflected in the fees they charge and the high salaries paid to Vice Chancellors, Deans and others holding high office.
However, what is actually happening within universities and what is likely to happen in the future is much more nuanced than most of the criticism which is levelled at them. Universities are a reflection of society and thus they are always a work-in-progress, continually in need of reinventing themselves.
This book is a compilation of 17 chapters written by 28 authors from 15 different countries over 5 continents.
I am running a London Knowledge Café on the same topic at Regents University What knowledge, skills and/or capabilities should be prioritised for learners at universities in the 21st Century? in late February. If you are around, do register and come along - the event is free.
Peter Sharp, our speaker on the evening has also been blogging on the topic
