Centers and Peripheries in the Academic Profession: The Special Challenges of Developing Countries

T he academic profession worldwide is united by its commitment to teaching and the creation and transmission of knowledge. Yet, as pointed out by Burton Clark, it is also composed of “small worlds, different worlds” divided by discipline, role, and other factors (Clark, 1987). This chapter examines the conditions of the academic profession and workplace in developing countries. A growing proportion of the world’s postsecondary students are found in developing countries, and the rate of expansion of higher education is greatest in this part of the world. By the mid-1990s, 44 million of the world’s 80 million postsecondary students were in developing or middle-income countries— despite the fact that only 6 percent of the population in these countries have attained postsecondary degrees, while 26 percent in high-income nations have similar qualifications (Task Force on Higher Education and Society, 2000, pp. 111 and 115). Further, many developing countries are building up large and complex academic systems, including research universities. Yet very little is known about the professionals who are responsible for teaching and research in these universities. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.