In the fields of science and technology, the United States in particular attracts top scholars from around the world. But once faculty members roll up their sleeves in the laboratory, the need to protect intellectual property rights, say, compromises fundamental academic principles. Nor will the implications of globalization stop there. Delegates agreed that universities of the future will increasingly be required to equip students with skills to make them more competitive internationally. So we are finding that we are torn between internationalization as a concept in one direction and market skills in the other.
Witness moves toward the creation of more vocational graduate schools.
In Japan, Hitotsubashi University and Kyoto University recently announced plans to establish institutions to teach workers advanced skills, following a University Council recommendation issued last autumn. In part, the move comes in response to a feeling that Japanese degrees are simply not competitive enough in the global market. The received wisdom is that new technology will make the transmission of knowledge easier and cheaper than ever before. Richards begs to differ. While working at the University of New South Wales several years ago, the expert in electrical engineering was asked by his vice chancellor to run a working party to assess how new technology might be used to enhance the university's teaching program.