The Decline of the Guru: The Academic Profession in Developing and Middle-Income Countries

The academic profession faces new challenges everywhere. The pressures of mass higher education, accountability, fiscal constraints, distance education and the new technologies, and changing attitudes concerning academic work have combined to place unprecedented strains on the professoriate. There is no country that has avoided these challenges, although the changes vary. This book brings together some of the best analysts of the academic profession in a wide ranging comparative analysis of the changing academic workplace. The stress here is on middle income and developing countries, but the issues discussed are relevant everywhere. This book, precisely because of its comparative and international perspective, is useful worldwide. Among the topics considered in the case study chapters are: – The changing demographics of the academic profession, including the role of gender in the professoriate – New developments in academic appointments, including the terms of academic work, evaluation of professors, and the tenure system – External pressures on the academic profession, including demands for accountability, threats to academic freedom, and others – The changing nature of academic work, including patterns of teaching and evaluation of students and increases in teaching responsibilities – The role of research in a changing academic environment – The impact of the new technologies and distance education – Future prospects for the professoriate. Philip G. Altbach is J. Donald Monan, S. J. University Professor and Director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, USA. He has been distinguished scholar leader of the Fulbright New Century Scholars Program. He is co-author of Trends in Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution.