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Equity, institutional diversity and regional development: a cross-country comparison

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Abstract

This paper investigates historical and current developments regarding governmental policies aimed at enhancing spatial equity (access) or decentralisation of higher education provision in three countries—Australia, Canada and Norway. We then shed light on the links or interrelations between policy objectives and initiatives and institutional diversity and regional development more broadly. We found evidence of convergence trends in Norway and Canada resulting in the rise of hybrid organisational forms, as well as the critical importance of policy frameworks in either maintaining or eroding the traditional binary divide. The cross-country data suggest a rather mixed or nuanced picture when it comes to regional development. Finally, the paper identifies a number of key challenges facing the systems, suggests possible ways of tackling them and sheds light on avenues for future research.

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Notes

  1. Each of the three northern territories has a single multi-campus college.

  2. Including distinct city campuses, rural campuses and in some cases TAFE provision. Precise numbers are difficult to provide as there is no consistent definition of a campus.

  3. Additionally, there is an Open University in Australia which provides online degree modules from a number of universities and aggregates them into programmes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and Management, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Agder, Post Box 422, 4604, Kristiansand, Norway

    Rómulo Pinheiro

  2. Lincoln Business School, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN6 7TS, UK

    David Charles

  3. Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1V6, Canada

    Glen A. Jones

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  1. Rómulo Pinheiro
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Correspondence to Rómulo Pinheiro.

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Pinheiro, R., Charles, D. & Jones, G.A. Equity, institutional diversity and regional development: a cross-country comparison. High Educ 72, 307–322 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9958-7

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