Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Higher Education and National Development, Meanings and Purposes

Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions

  • 280 Accesses

Synonyms

Tertiary education; Postsecondary education; Nation state; Socio-economic progress

Definition

The contributions of higher education to social and economic progress in a national context.

Functions of Higher Education

Higher education institutions perform four basic functions, which form the foundation for their social contract (or “pact”) with society (Gornitzka et al. 2007). These functions, and their contradictions, have been discussed extensively in the academic literature: producing values and social legitimation, selecting the elite, training of the labor force, and producing new knowledge (see Castells 1993, 2001; Cloete et al. 2015; Trow 1970). Specifically in relation to development, the last two functions, namely training the labor force (the education function) and producing new knowledge (the research function), are of relevance.

In the long history of higher education, the close relationship and mutual reliance of the two main functions of education and research...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ashenfelter, O., C. Harmon, and H. Oosterbeek. 1999. Empirical estimation of the school/earnings relationship-a review. Labour Economics 6: 453–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, D., D. Canning, and K. Chan. 2006. Higher education and economic development in Africa. Cambridge: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bils, M. and P.J. Klenow. 1998. Does Schooling Cause Growth or the Other Way Around? NBER Working Paper, No. 6393. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnoy, M., P. Loyalka, M. Dobryakova, R. Dossani, I. Froumin, K. Kuhns, J. Tilak, and R. Wang. 2013. University expansion in a changing global economy: Triumph of the BRICs? Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. 1993. The university system: Engine of development in the new world economy. In Improving higher education in developing countries, ed. A. Ransom, S.-M. Khoo, and V. Selvaratnam, 65–80. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. 2001. Universities as dynamic systems of contradictory functions. In Challenges of globalisation: South African debates with Manuel Castells, ed. J. Muller, N. Cloete, and S. Badat, 206–223. Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. 2009. The role of universities in development, the economy and society: Transcript of a lecture on higher education. Cape Town: Centre for Higher Education Transformation. http://www.chet.org.za/papers/role-universities-development-economy-and-society

  • Cloete, N., and A. Gillwald. 2014. South African informational development and human development: Rights vs. capabilities. In Reconceptualising development in the global information age, ed. M. Castells and P. Himanen. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloete, N., P. Maassen, and T. Bailey (eds.). 2015. Knowledge production and contradictory functions in African higher education. Cape Town: African Minds.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Meulemeester, J., and D. Rochat. 1995. A causality analysis of the link between higher education and economic development. Economics of Education Review 14(4): 351–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Douglass, J.A. 2007. The conditions for admission: Access, equity and the social contract of public universities. Redwood City: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gornitzka, Å., and P. Maassen. 2007. An instrument for national political agendas: The hierarchical vision. In University dynamics and European integration, ed. P. Maassen and J.P. Olsen, 81–98. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gornitzka, Å., P. Maassen, J.P. Olsen and B. Stensaker. 2007. Europe of Knowledge: Search for the new Pact. In University Dynamics and European Integration, eds. P. Maassen and J.P. Olsen, 181–214. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hanushek, E.A., and L. Woessmann. 2008. The role of cognitive skills in economic development. Journal of Economic Literature 46: 607–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayward, F.M., and D.J. Ncayiyana. 2014. Confronting the challenges of graduate education in Sub-Saharan Africa and prospects for the future. International Journal of African Higher Education 1(1): 173–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IHEP. 1998. Reaping the benefits: Defining the public and private value of going to college. Washington, DC: Institute for Higher Education Policy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irwin, N. 2015. Why more education won’t fix economic inequality. New York Times, no. 31 March 2015 (March). http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/upshot/why-more-education-wont-fix-economic-inequality.html?_r=0

  • Kerr, C. 1991. The great transformation in higher education, 1960–1980. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimenyi, M.S. 2011. Contribution of higher education to economic development: A survey of international evidence. Journal of African Economies 20(AERC Supplement 3): iii14–iii49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, A.B.., and M. Lindahl. 2001. Education for growth: Why and for whom? Journal of Economic Literature 39(4): 1101–1136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maassen, P. 2012. Separated connectedness: Institutional anchoring of networks aimed at stimulating economic development and innovation. In International conference on higher education and economic development. Pointe-Aux-Piments, Mauritius, 3–5 September 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maassen, P. 2014. A new social contract for higher education? In Higher education in societies. A multi scale perspective, ed. G. Goastellec and F. Picard, 33–51. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mattes, R., and T.M. Luescher-Mamashela. 2012. The roles of higher education in the democratisation of politics in Africa: Reports of HERANA studies. Journal of Higher Education in Africa 10(1): 139–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montenegro, C.E., and H.A. Patrinos. 2014. Human development reports comparable estimates of returns to schooling around the world. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nybom, T. 2007. A Rule-governed Community of Scholars: The Humboldt Vision in the History of the European University. In University Dynamics and European Integration, eds. P. Maassen and J.P. Olsen, 55–80. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Patrinos, H.A. 2015. Higher education: Returns are high but we need to fund it better. Education for Global Development, no. 21 October 2015. http://blogs.worldbank.org/education/higher-education-returns-are-high-we-need-fund-it-better

  • Piketty, T. 2014. Capital in the twenty-first century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pillay, P. 2011. Higher education and economic development: A review of the literature. Cape Town: Centre for Higher Education Transformation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell, W.W., and K. Snellman. 2004. The knowledge economy. Annual Review of Sociology 30: 199–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Psacharopoulos, G. 1985. Returns to education: A further international update and implications. Journal of Human Resources 20(4): 583–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Psacharopoulos, G. 1995. The profitability of investment in education. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Psacharopoulos, G., J.-P. Tan, and E. Jimenez. 1986. Financing education in developing countries: An exploration of policy options. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rüegg, W. 2004. Themes. In A history of the university in Europe. Vol. 3: Universities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (1800–1945), ed. W. Rüegg, 3–35. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilak, J. 2003. Higher education and development in Asia. Journal of Educational Planning and Administration 17(2): 151–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trow, M. 1970. Reflections on the transition from mass to universal higher education. Daedalus 99(1): 1–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, P. 2010. The German genius. Europe’s third renaissance, the second scientific revolution and the twentieth century. London: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET), Wynberg, South Africa

    Nico Cloete

  2. DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (SciSTIP), Pretoria, South Africa

    Nico Cloete

  3. Department of Education, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Peter Maassen

  4. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Pundy Pillay

Authors
  1. Nico Cloete
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter Maassen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pundy Pillay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nico Cloete .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Jung Cheol Shin

  2. CIPES, Faculty of Economics, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Pedro Teixeira

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this entry

Cite this entry

Cloete, N., Maassen, P., Pillay, P. (2017). Higher Education and National Development, Meanings and Purposes. In: Shin, J., Teixeira, P. (eds) Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_18-3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_18-3

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9553-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9553-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Higher Education and National Development, Meanings and Purposes
    Published:
    15 May 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_18-3

  2. Higher Education and National Development, Meanings, and Purposes
    Published:
    28 April 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_18-2

  3. Original

    Higher Education and National Development
    Published:
    08 February 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_18-1

Search

Navigation