by Amy Kaufman
First published 2018
Higher education once enjoyed unquestioned respect, but those days have ended. Students question whether their degrees provide real value. Employers wonder if graduates possess useful skills. Governments face budget constraints while taxpayers demand accountability. Amy Kaufman explores this mounting crisis through the experiences of education leaders, policy makers, and institutional administrators who must navigate these competing pressures. Universities can no longer rely on enrollment figures, graduation statistics, or reputation rankings to justify their existence. Stakeholders now require concrete evidence of educational quality and measurable outcomes. Kaufman presents the deliberations of international experts who gathered to address this challenge, examining various approaches to defining and measuring academic excellence. The discussions reveal the complexity of evaluating educational institutions while highlighting the urgent need for systematic reform. Through these conversations, Kaufman captures the tension between traditional academic values and contemporary demands for transparency and accountability.
Genres: politics, education, non-fiction, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: institutional-critique, social-commentary
Period: 21st-Century
216 pages · Paperback · Queen's School of Policy Studies