The Encyclopedia of higher education

The Encyclopedia of Higher Education is an entirely original work providing an up-to-date, comprehensive, critical, state-of-the-art review of higher education worldwide on a scale previously unknown. The articles are authored by internationally recognized experts in their field. A distinctive feature of the Encyclopedia is its exceptionally strong thematic coherence. Rather than using the traditional A-to-Z structure, the Encyclopedia divides the 300 plus articles into four volumes grouped under major themes and topics. Volume I is entirely given over to reports of 137 national systems of higher education - from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Volumes II and III present 120 analytical papers organized into five themes: Higher Education and Society; The Institutional Fabric of the Higher Education System; Governance, Administration and Finance; Faculty and Students: Teaching, Learning and Research; and Disciplinary Perspectives. Volume IV contains analytical accounts of the changing nature of research and learning in the basic disciplines forming the knowledge core of higher education together in a single volume for the first time. Articles also discuss the post-1945 development and the current structure, and problems of major disciplines in the physical sciences, biological sciences, medical sciences and social sciences, the humanities and arts. The comprehensive, multilevel subject index and extensive author index make specific information easy to access. Full bibliographic entries and extensive cross-referencing allow interested readers to pursue a given topic further. The Encyclopedia is thematic, internationally comparative and logically integrated. It will become the definitive reference work in the area and be used by government officials, educational admininistrators, and the educational establishment, as well as teachers, students and academics in the field.

Section Headings: Volume 1: National Systems of Higher Education. Volume 2: Analytical Perspectives. Section I: Higher Education and Society. Section II: The Institiutional Fabric of the Higher Education System.