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The purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper insight on how education boosts economic progress in key emerging economies. This project is aimed at exploring the interactive dynamics between the tertiary education sector and economic development in BRICS countries. The author also aims to examine how the structure of higher education contributes to economic expansion.

The author uses the time series data of BRICS countries across approximately two decades to determine the statistical causality between the size of tertiary enrollment and economic development. The linear regression model is then used to figure out the different impact levels of academic and vocational training programs at the tertiary level to economic development.

Data from all BRICS countries exhibited a unidirectional statistical causality relationship, except the Brazilian data. The national economic expansion Granger Caused increased tertiary enrollment in Russia and India, while in China and South Africa, higher education enrollment Granger Caused economic progress. The impact from tertiary academic training is found to be positive for all BRICS nations, while tertiary vocation training is shown to have impaired the Russian and South African economy.

This project is based on a rather small sample size, and the stationary feature of the time series could be different should a larger pool of data spanning a longer period of time is used. In addition, the author also neglects other control variables in the regression model. Therefore, the impact level could be distorted due to possible omitted variable bias.

Tertiary academic study is found to have a larger impact level to all countries’ economic advancement, except for China, during the time frame studied. There is a statistical correlation between the education and economic progress. This is particularly true for BRICS countries, especially China. But the exception is Brazil.

The government should provide education up to the certain level, as there is a direct correlation to the job creation and economic progress. Furthermore, the government should also work closely with industry to ensure growth of industry and creation of new jobs.

The comparative analysis and evaluation of the dynamic interaction of tertiary enrollment and economic output across all five BRICS nations is unique, and it deepens the understanding of the socioeconomic development in these countries from a holistic management perspective.

This study aims to explore the higher education expansion phenomenon and to what extent that expansion could reshape the pattern of gender.

We selected Taiwan's higher education as a research target. First, we describe the gender diversity patterns in the humanity, social science and STEM programs according to Trow's definition. Second, we identify discrepancies in gender in the major programs according to different indices. Becker’s D, Blau index, GPI, trend analysis and multiple comparisons were used to transform the comparison series data.

First, to assess system-wide gender diversity, it was shown that in the elite stage, the D is more sensitive than the Blau index in plotting trends. Second, neither the D nor the Blau index showed sensitivity in humanity and social science programs in the post-mass stage. Third, the GPI more accurately detects differences in gender patterns in the mass and universal stages.

This study illuminates gender diversity patterns with indices transformation in higher education. Considering higher education expansion is a global phenomenon, the fitted indices can be used to detect gender diversity issues in wider higher education settings.

This study provides an example for addressing the issue using different indices to identify previous and future trends in the higher education system. The study suggests alternative interpretations for gender diversity in various programs that will assist in modifying related gender policies in higher education.

Global participation in higher education has expanded greatly since the late twentieth century. The implications for the cultural, social, and economic fabric of societies have been substantial. To explain transitions from elite to mass higher education systems, theoretical insights from Technical-functionalism, Neo-institutionalism, World Academic System, and Credentialism perspectives have been put forward. It is the contention of this paper that there are emerging and complementary factors driving steadily growing participation in “high-income” universal higher education systems. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

With reference to Ulrich Beck’s concept of the “risk society”, it is discussed how higher education participation is increasingly a response by young people (and their families) seeking to mitigate heightened instability in work and employment under a “risk regime”. Publicly available data from national and supra-national organisations are used to evidence trends and support the arguments put forward by this paper.

Participation is perceived as quasi-compulsory to “survive” amid concern that those without higher education attainment are being “left behind” in modern labour markets. This environment has contributed to more students from more diverse backgrounds viewing higher education as the only viable option to secure a livelihood regardless of rising private costs of participation and rising uncertainty over graduate employment outcomes. The expansion of higher education has therefore potentially developed a self-perpetuating dynamic as the perceived cost of non-participation escalates.

It is shown that to better understand higher education participation in “high-income” countries with universal higher education systems, one needs to consider the conceptual idea of “survivalism”, that underlines risk and the vulnerabilities of modern societies.

There is little mystery as to why the publicly subsidised expansion of college enrolments has been common during postwar years: popular demand that college opportunities be made more universal has motivated government officials to establish programmes promoting enrolment expansion. It should also be recognised that such programmes are often carried out to complement more comprehensive public efforts designed to meet national needs. A concentration on the most important events in the US which have contributed to the linkage of policies for national development and expansion of higher education shows that higher education is unlikely to lose its dual role as a centre of research, and as an institution open to a wide cross‐section of society. Further, most colleges and universities are so dependent on public financial support that future plans will be dependent on the policy makers.

This article aims to review the latest developments of the higher education sector in China since the mid‐1990s by focusing on the expansion of university education.

It is argued that while massification of higher education is an important indication of the progress in China's higher education system, the quest for world‐class universities indicates China's ambition to earn international reputation in higher education sector compatible with its increasing economic power.

The driving force of these two developments is from the state, which demonstrates the dominant role of the Chinese government in higher education policy and administration. However, the ambitious state constitutes both a driving force and a constraint for China's higher education. The strengthening administrative control accompanied by the financial benefits from the government has led to bureaucratization of China's universities. China's world‐class pursuit necessitates a fundamental change of the existing pattern of relationship between the state and university and university governance model.

The strategic plan to build up world‐class universities shows that China is not satisfied with the quantitative growth of its higher education, but is seeking to achieve a breakthrough in quality higher education.

The paper explains how China's desire to achieve world class status within the area of higher education is being achieved.

This paper aims to review policy innovations in China for addressing the graduate unemployment crisis that has been created by the expansion of higher education in the past decade.

The authors draw on government documents, research findings, and mass media reports to highlight the key measures of the Chinese government to alleviate the over‐education problem and to improve college graduates' employment prospects.

The review describes government efforts both at the institutional level to enhance student employability and at the national level to create alternative employment channels. The Chinese experiences show that the challenges posed by the graduate employment crisis may turn out to be a new opportunity to reform higher education in order to better address the needs unique to a country's own society.

The review of the Chinese case will inspire policy makers in other countries to seek alternative routes for the development of their own higher education.

This is the first study of its kind to address the recent policy innovations and their implications for potential reform.

Tertiary education has been going through dramatic transformation in recent times. Such transformation is seen in teaching and learning at tertiary education. This study, therefore, aims to understand the transformation of teaching and learning in tertiary-level education, particularly by accounting the experiences and perspectives of postgraduate learners.

The study narrowed higher education transformation into four key drivers such as expansion, excellence, extension, external and explored their dynamics and impacts for teaching and learning in tertiary education. The data was gathered from 25 doctoral students from three different cohorts, who shared their critical reflection on their experiences and perspectives on the transformation of teaching and learning in a reflective journal. The 25 reflective journals were used as the qualitative transcripts for analysis. Standard required ethical protocols were followed in the research. The results were analysed using thematic analysis.

The findings indicate that teaching and learning in the higher education are transformed largely using technology, by engaging various stakeholders, several pedagogic methods, a range of assessments and numerous contents and materials. The findings suggest that higher education transformation has affected teaching and learning in tertiary education positively in the UAE, while identifying some relevant areas for improvement.

Single data and small sample size (although suitable for the study) are the limitations. The experiences and perspectives of the postgraduate scholars on teaching and learning offer relevant insights for postgraduate learners, academic, researchers, curriculum developers, policymakers. The study asserts that accounting student's experiences and perspectives supports the understanding on the transformation of teaching and learning in tertiary education.

The study contributes to the ongoing debate on how students are helping shape teaching and learning practices in tertiary education, particularly from the UAE context using informed critical reflection. The study contends and concludes that teaching and learning in tertiary education are continued to be shaped by emerging trends and development.

China has invested massively in higher education, reaching a mass system, envisaging, as a next step, reaching a universal system. Brazil is still an elite system but needs to create adequate public policies to migrate to a mass system. The purpose of this article is to analyze the paradigms for a mass educational system, with regard to the quality of education offered, and the prospects for achieving a universal system, with Brazil and China as a reference.

The author applied an exploratory and qualitative method, through categorical content analysis. The data were collected through nine interviews with government managers, 15 unstructured (open) questionnaires to specialists in higher education and four student leadership.

The results indicate that the change from an elite system to a mass system impacts quality, as there is an inevitable change in experience. However, this modification does not testify against the mass system, as it is necessary for a nation to pass through it and structure itself adequately in order to reach the universal system, a path desired by both countries.

The study presented the reflections observed by the migration from the elite system to the mass system from the main stakeholders of the system in China and the prospects for Brazil to become a mass system. Additionally, it presented the perspectives for both countries to achieve the desired universal system.

The worldwide expansion of higher education participation has destabilised the value of higher education as a currency of opportunity. An increasing number of graduates are experiencing the precarity of unemployment, under-employment and low salaries. This study aimed to investigate how university students in China understand and respond to the changing relationship between higher education and career opportunities.

The research team conducted 100 in-depth interviews with final-year undergraduates at one elite and one lower-tier university in a metropolitan city in Guangdong Province.

The students were acutely aware of fierce competition in the graduate labour market. When asked “what matters most” for post-graduation career prospects, they identified elite universities and high-status fields of study as “traditional” currencies of opportunity. Nonetheless, to stand out in a competitive environment, they perceived a growing need to supplement higher education credentials through university experiences (internships, student governance, study abroad programmes), party membership, personal connections and (overseas) postgraduate education. Moreover, in a “race to the top”, they discussed how qualitatively distinctive university experiences and elite postgraduate education are “new” currencies of opportunity for high-status professional employment.

The study demonstrates how intensified competition for graduate employment can result in an “opportunity trap”. The students were participating in an “arms race” to accumulate positional advantages for their post-graduation careers. The net impact of such efforts on a systemic level is to create an upward spiral in what students are expected to do in preparation for their post-graduation careers and further destabilise the value of higher education as a currency of opportunity.

This study aims to analyse the contribution of the expansion and diversification of higher education to Chile's increase in wage inequality from 1992 to 2000 and its subsequent decrease from 2000 to 2013.

The wage equation for each year is estimated using data from the national household survey, Encuesta de Caracterización Socioeconómica Nacional (CASEN). Using the method proposed by Firpo et al. (2009), the evolution of wage changes is decomposed into composition and wage structure effects of each explanatory variable at different points of the wage distribution.

The results show that the positive composition effect of higher education, derived from the increasing share of both workers with university degrees and those with vocational degrees, is substantially larger at the upper quantiles and exceeds the negative wage structure effect, thereby contributing to increasing wage inequality from 1992 to 2000. By contrast, the negative wage structure effect of higher education, primarily derived from the decreasing return to university degrees, is substantially larger at the upper quantiles and exceeds the positive composition effect, thereby contributing to decreasing wage inequality from 2000 to 2013.

This study contributes to the literature by showing that the expansion of higher education increased inequality in the 1990s and decreased it in the 2000s while the increasing supply of workers with vocational degrees decreased wage premiums for university degrees in the latter period.