Geography and the Changing Landscape of Higher Education

Abstract

Colleges and universities in the USA and many other countries find themselves in a deepening financial challenge that is significantly influencing operating decisions as well as student access to higher education. These trends are attributed to the weakened finances of governments, competition from non-discretionary public spending, the nature of education as a service industry and the fraying of the social contract between higher education and the public. This paper argues that Geography as a discipline can both survive in and benefit from this changing educational landscape. There are several themes that will strongly influence higher education in the years ahead, including competition, technology, globalization and sustainability. The nature of such forces over space and time continues to be ripe for geographic inquiry, but they will require the field to be more analytical, more connected to other disciplines and more international in its teaching and research.

Keywords:

• Globalization
• sustainability
• public spending
• internationalization

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the editorial board of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education, especially co-editors Derek France and David Higgitt, for the invitation to present the annual JGHE lecture at the Association of American Geographers 2011 Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington. I also wish to thank Brenda Hameister for her research and editorial support.