1021
Higher Education, Social Justice and Development in the BRICS Countries
Language: Spanish and English
Joint sessions of the Brazilian Sociological Society, Russian Sociological Society and the Indian Sociological Society.
The session will bring together representatives from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) in an examination of their systems of higher education that have gone through significant changes over the last two decades. The comparative assessment of undergraduate and post-graduate education in the context of increased emphasis on social justice will be examined for its impact on present and future.
Issues to be examined include: 1) A description of the structures of the higher education systems in each country, and their changes over the last two decades, 2) Policies of financing and control, 3) A characterization of social justice and/or social inclusion policies and their impact, 4) How do the four vectors: marketization, bureaucratization, social justice and/or inclusion policies and expansion impact relationships between teachers, administrators and students? 5) What is known about the differences in the aforementioned impacts in the private and public sectors? 6) What is the effect of university education on careers of students and their position in the labor market? 7) How does higher education contribute to overall life satisfaction? 8) How are modern technologies employed? 9) Is higher education still a route into the middle class? 10) What is the importance of higher education in contemporary politics? 11) What are the implications of these analyses given the emergence of a BRICS Network University and the BRICS University League?