Swinburne Lecture 21 November 2008 - Centre for the Study of ...

Looking Forwards:
What will Swinburne be like
in another 50 years
ʻThe Idea of a Universityʼ
yesterday, today and tomorrow
Simon Marginson
Centre for the Study of Higher Education
University of Melbourne, Australia
Faculty of Life & Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology
The Centenary Lectures 2008
21 November 2008, Hawthorn Campus

Newman was the founding rector of
University College, Dublin, Ireland

ʻ … here are two methods of Education; the end of the one is to be philosophical, of the other to be
mechanical; the one rises towards general ideas, the other is exhausted upon what is particular and
external. Let me not be thought to deny the necessity, or to decry the benefit, of such attention to
what is particular and practical, as belongs to the useful or mechanical arts; life could not go on
without them; we owe our daily welfare to them; their exercise is the duty of the many, and we owe
to the many a debt of gratitude for fulfiulling that duty. I only say that Knowledge, in proportion as it
tends more and more to be particular, ceases to be knowledgeʼ.
~ JH Newman, The Idea of a University, 1852 (1982), p. 85

Clark Kerr was President of the
University of California system

ʻThe basic reality, for the university, is the widespread recognition that new
knowledge is the most important factor in economic and social growth. We are just
now perceiving that the universityʼs invisible product, knowledge, may be the most
powerful single element in our culture, affecting the rise and fall of professions and
even of social classes, of regions and even of nationsʼ.
~ Clark Kerr, The Uses of the University, 1962 (2001), p. xii

ʻThe “Idea of a University” was a village with its priests. The “Idea of a Modern University”
was a town – a one-industry town – with its intellectual oligarchy. “The Idea of a
Multiversity” is a city of infinite variety. Some get lost in the city; some rise to the top within
it; most fashion their lives within one of its many subcultures. There is less of a sense of
community than in the village but also less sense of confinement. There is less sense of
purpose than within the town but there are more ways to excelʼ.
~ Clark Kerr, The Uses of the University, 1962 (2001), p. 31

Stanford
University
University of California,
Berkeley
Students at the Kennedy School,
Harvard University

The Global Research University (GRU)

Shanghai Jiao Tong University global
university research rankings: weightings
criterion
weighting
Alumni of institution: Nobel Prizes and field medals
Staff of institution: Nobel Prizes and field medals
High citation (HiCi) researchers
Articles in Nature and Science
Articles in science and social science citation indexes
Research performance (as above) per head of staff
10%
20%
20%
20%
20%
10%
total
100%

Times Higher global university
rankings: weightings
criterion
ʻPeer reviewʼ (survey)
ʻGlobal employerʼ review (survey)
Internationalization of academic staff (proportion)
Internationalization of student body (proportion)
Student-academic staff ratio
Research citations per head of academic staff
weighting
40%
10%
5%
5%
20%
20%
total
100%

Profile of the Global Research University
TWO ‘INNER’ PRODUCTIVE FUNCTIONS
1. Production and dissemination of research and knowledge
2. Formation of students as self-forming individuals
THAT ARE THE FOUNDATION OF THREE FUNCTIONS IN THE LARGER RELATIONAL SETTING
3. Contributions to modernization and development
4. Global public goods (collective benefits of higher education)
5. Regulation of educational and social opportunity

World top 100 research universities 2008
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Institute of Higher Education
Australia
3%
Switzerland
3%
France
3%
Sweden
4%
Canada
4%
Japan
4%
Netherlands
2%
Denmark
2%
others
4%
USA
54%
Others (one each):
Israel, Norway,
Finland, Russia
Germany
6%
UK
11%

Annual rate of growth of scientific
publications, 1995-2005
United States National Science Bureau data, 2008
18.0
16.0
16.5
15.7
14.0
12.0
13.9
12.2
10.0
8.6
8.0
6.0
5.3
4.5
4.0
2.0
0.0
2.3
2.0 1.8 1.7
0.6
0.0
China
South Korea
Taiwan China
Singapore
Thailand
Malaysia
India
world average
Australia
European Union
Japan
USA
UK

Shares of world output:
1978
other
29.4%
China
4.9% India
3.3%
Japan
7.6%
Western Europe
24.2%
Russia
9.0%
USA
21.6%

Shares of world output:
2030
other
29.2%
China
23.1%
Russia
3.4%
India
10.4%
Japan
3.6%
USA
17.3%
Western Europe
13.0%

Languages with 100 million
speakers or more
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
English
Putonghua (Mandarin)
Hindi/ Urdu
Spanish
Russian
Arabic
Bangla
Portuguese
Malay/ Indonesian
Japanese
French
German

http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/people/staff_pages/Marginson/Marginson.html
Published by
Peter Lang, New
York, early 2009
Published by Peter
Lang, New York, late
2009