The effect of globalization on the development of higher education

Abstract

Besides many other effects, globalization has also changed the situation in the area of higher education. Researches implemented by independent researchers, national and international organizations are interpreting the results of this effect in a different way. They all agree that the influence of globalization on higher education, thus on education in whole, is significant. Still, there are differences in interpretations of this effect: some are positive, some are negative, but most often we are talking about the confrontation of the good and bad aspects. Objective researchers and studies conclude that there is a necessity to have a systematic action in order to reorganize higher education on a global level. Knowledge and power are unevenly distributed among countries of the world. On the grounds of applied knowledge, the most developed countries of the world have enormous wealth and dominate the world's economy. On the other hand, majority of inhabitants of the world live in poverty and misery and do not have their own capacities to bridge that developmental gap. Also, brain drain of educational resources and commercialization of education sector contributes to widening of differences between developed and underdeveloped regions and countries.

Pored mnogih drugih efekata globalizacija je promenila situaciju i u oblasti visokog obrazovanja. Istraživanja koja su sproveli strani samostalni istraživači, nacionalne i međunarodne organizacije različito tumače rezultate pomenutog uticaja. Svi se slažu da je uticaj globalizacije na visoko obrazovanje, pa time i na znanje u celini, značajan. Međutim, postoje razlike u tumačenju efekata: za neke su oni pozitivni, za neke negativni, a najčešće je reč o istovremenom uočavanju dobrih i loših aspekata. Objektivni istraživači i studije zaključuju da je neophodna sistemska akcija uređenja oblasti visokog obrazovanja na globalnom nivou. Znanje kao i moć je neravnomerno raspoređeno među državama sveta. Na temelju primenjenog znanja najrazvijenije države sveta raspolažu ogromnim bogatstvom i dominiraju svetskom ekonomijom. Na suprotnom polu, u nemaštini i bedi živi izrazita većina čovečanstva, koja nema kapaciteta da sama premosti razvojni jaz. Naprotiv, odliv visokoobrazovanih kadrova i komercijalizacija obrazovnog sektora doprinosi produbljivanju razlika između razvijenih i nerazvijenih regiona i država.