Globalization: Threat, Opportunity or Both?

Higher Education stands at the heart of the Knowledge Society. It faces far-reaching challenges, particularly from the thrust towards Globalization. According to the Spanish sociologist, Manuel Castells, one of the leading authorities on Globalization, effects on the university will be more drastic than industrialization, urbanization and secularization combined. It is, he claims, the biggest challenge the University has faced for more than a century and a half.
Issues in brief will be -

• Dramatic Issue
  
• Convergence
  
• The Gift of Time
  
• The Dark Side
  
• Commodification
  
• Unacceptable Constrictions
  
• Gravest of Doubts
  
• Alternative Forms and ‘Providers’
  

Globalization: Threat or Opportunity?

Short overview of some aspects of globalization, aiming to identify ways in which countries can tap the gains of this process, while remaining realistic about its potential and its risks.

Concludes that:

• As globalization has progressed, living conditions (particularly when measured by broader indicators of well being) have improved significantly in virtually all countries. However, the strongest gains have been made by the advanced countries and only some of the developing countries
  
• The income gap between high-income and low-income countries has not been caused by globalization. Low-income countries have not been able to integrate with the global economy as quickly as others, partly because of their chosen policies and partly because of factors outside their control. No country, least of all the poorest, can afford to remain isolated from the world economy
  
• The international community should endeavor—by strengthening the international financial system, through trade, and through aid—to help the poorest countries integrate into the world economy, grow more rapidly, and reduce poverty. That is the way to ensure all people in all countries have access to the benefits of globalization.