This is a study of higher education expansion and its changing quality in the world's four largest developing economies—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—known as the BRIC countries. These four economies are already important players globally, but by mid-century, they are likely to be economic powerhouses. The purpose of this book is to understand the large, rapid transformation of universities in these economies as a way to judge the potential each of these economies has for future development. It also assesses the quality of engineering education in the BRICs and the impact that the huge and ... More

This is a study of higher education expansion and its changing quality in the world's four largest developing economies—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—known as the BRIC countries. These four economies are already important players globally, but by mid-century, they are likely to be economic powerhouses. The purpose of this book is to understand the large, rapid transformation of universities in these economies as a way to judge the potential each of these economies has for future development. It also assesses the quality of engineering education in the BRICs and the impact that the huge and increasing numbers of engineering and computer science graduates in India and China may play in altering the global configuration of high tech production in the coming decades. The book is the first to take a comprehensive look at the largest expansion of university enrollment in world history and to assess its implications for national and global development. The approach is also unique, using political theory and the context of the changing global economy to understand educational change comparatively. The book argues that BRIC governments play a key role in shaping the expansion of their higher education systems. It shows that these government strategies have consciously poured increasing public resources into a limited number of elite “world class” universities, while financing “mass” enrollment growth largely through private tuition. The result has been huge increases in engineering graduates, but only a small proportion of high enough quality to compete with those in developed countries.