New book chapter: the global ambitions of Irish universities
Dr Aline Courtois has written a chapter entitled ‘The global ambitions of Irish universities: internationalizing practices and emerging stratification in the Irish higher education sector’ in a new book, Universities and the Production of Elites: Discourses, Policies, and Strategies of Excellence and Stratification in Higher Education.
This book explores how universities as organisations influence and construct the production of academic elites and elitist institutions. It analyses the role played by the reorganisation of higher education institutions, stimulated by new performance-based narratives aimed at building attractiveness towards stakeholders such as governments, prospective employers, academics, and students.
Based on American, European, and Asian case studies of HE systems and institutions considered at various scales, the book analyses the consequences of increasing competition between universities which are facing challenges such as the internationalisation of higher education supply, the shortage of public resources and the structural changes of labour market demands.
It argues that policy discourses and tools, as well as assessment devices such as rankings and accreditation, incentivise universities to develop positioning strategies that contribute to stratification and the production of elites.