Changing Demographics in Higher EducationCatherine JahnsOrganizational Communication (CTAC 354)

Article Overview

The author identifies 5 “megatrends” that will affect higher education in the future: rising demand, changing demographics, financial constraints, changing institutional missions, and continued popularity of institutions in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Increasing Demand

Increasing Demand

One of the major trends is an increase of demand for public education in developing countries.

“Demand has more or less peaked in the developing world. But in the rest of the room, there’s a lot of room to grow”.

Higher Education in India

The author gave India as an example of a developing country that has seen a increased demand in higher education.

According to the Ministry of Human Resource Development Government of India, the number of Universities has increased 34 times from 20 in 1950 to 677 in 2014.

The author states that one of the simplest ways for a student to distinguish themselves is to earn a degree from an English-speaking country

Changing Demographics

Changing Demographics

Many countries are experiencing a change in demographics, with a peak in Europe in China

Asia remains the main source of current growth “Twenty-five years from now, Africa will have the

only set of higher education systems that will still be growing”.

Declining populations have impacted funding for higher education in some regions, leading to an increase in demand for international students.

Government Funding

Changing demographics can affect government funding when the argument to increase funding for a smaller growth in youth population becomes weak.

Many higher education institutions are faced with the decision to shrink their institution or raise tuition and other fees.

Institutions have began to find other ways to make money, such as recruiting international students or seeking grant funding

Arizona State University

Mike Proctor, ASU’s senior international officer discussed the pressures state institutions have been under with almost a 60% decline in federal funding.

ASU proposed a grant with the Mexican government in exchange for youth development across Mexico, which was suspended.

In response to this, Palmer states that institutions need to focus on strategic planning and diversifying their funding.

Lets Take a Look at the Text

Demographics in the Text

In Katherine Miller’s Organizational Communication Approaches and Responses, demographics is defined as statistical descriptions of characteristics of a population, such as age, race, income, educational attainment and so on.

“Demographics describe who we are in the most basic of terms and thus can have a foundational impact on how we communicate with each other, how we organize, and how we address critical problems in our social world as well as what those problems are in a given time and place.”

Demographics in the Text

In regards to higher education, the article discusses how age affects higher education, in the sense that higher education institutions are loosing funding due to a decrease in youth population.

Differences in the type of student institutions are interacting with, in regards to race and socioeconomic status, is demanding for institutions to increase supports in the form of scholarships and grants.

Educational attainment has been ever changing, with more first generation students attending university than ever before.

Lets Talk about Higher Education and Globalization

Globalization

The globalization movement has led to practices such as outsourcing, in which businesses move manufacturing and service centers to countries where labor is cheap. In a global economy, many organizations have a multinational or international presence, with employees of a single organization found in many locations worldwide. Furthermore, in a global economy, businesses are no longer centered in a few Western nations but are also spread among nations throughout the developing world.

Higher Education and Global Economy

““Former industrial centers have become centers of high-tech production, and there is always an educational institution at the center of that transformation,” according to the author.

He argues that most successful institutions are located in urban centers, engaged in the local economy, and the boundaries between universities and surrounding businesses is increasingly intertwined.

The University of Washington

“As a university, we need to be engaged with the wider community, be involved efforts to improve the region’s competitiveness and join in the local community’s efforts to attract foreign direct investment to bolster the economy,” said Jeff Riedinger, UW vice provost for global affairs and SIO.

UW recently launched the Global Innovation Exchange in collaboration with Tsinghua University in China to teach new degree programs and certificates at both university in partnership with Microsoft. Microsoft employees can participate as students, mentors, project advisors, and in some cases, instructors.

Eastern Michigan University

Eastern Michigan University’s College of Business campus is located off main campus about a mile in Ypsilanti’s downtown business district.

The strategic placement of this campus allows for local business owners to work hand-in-hand with business students, jumpstarting the local economy.

Final Thoughts

Follow-up Questions

Can universities combine their need for global expansion as well as a lack of funding by forming partnerships with international universities?

How will universities continue to expand with ever-changing demographics, such as the immense changes and advances in technology?

How do student’s benefit from university partnerships with corporations and local businesses, compared to students who go to universities that do not offer these programs? Does it affect a student’s ability to be hired after college?

How will new changes in our government further effect lack of funding for higher education institutions?

Work Cited http://mhrd.gov.in/university-and-higher-education https://www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/

nafsa_symposium_2016.pdf Personal knowledge of EMU’s COB due to

employment within Admissions