This volume contains the papers presented at an international colloquium entitled “Transition to Mass Higher Education – International Comparisons & Perspectives” which took place at the Samuel Neaman Institute at the Technion, in Haifa, Israel on December 5-6, 2004. In addition to the full papers, the volume also contains the questions and answers following each paper, the Round Table discussions and the Report of the Rapporteurs.
The colloquium was sponsored by the Samuel Neaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology, the Fulbright United States-Israel Educational Foundation and ISEF – the International Educational Foundation and was supported by the British Council Israel, the Embassy of the Netherlands, and the Italian Cultural Institute, Haifa.
The organizers of the conference believe that the Israeli higher education system is at an important juncture in its development from an elite system to a mass higher education system, and that it has reached its ‘moment of truth’. Therefore it was deemed both timely and appropriate to examine the system within a broad international perceptive.
We believe that this volume contains a rather comprehensive snapshot of the Israeli higher education system at the turn of the century, in the midst of a difficult transition, with its successes and failures, its accomplishments and challenges, and its hopes and concerns. The Israeli perspective was presented at the conference by leading educators from the universities and colleges who now hold, or have held in the past, key positions. Many of them have indeed made major contributions to the creation and development of the system as it is today.
However, what makes this volume unique is that side by side with the Israeli perspective, it also presents a balanced view from the outside by world-class experts and leaders of higher education from Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Not only do they present a fresh perspective on the position of the Israeli higher education system, but they also provide information and insight into the similar transitions that took place in their own countries. Thus, the reader is exposed to a very broad perspective on the major changes higher education systems are undergoing worldwide, and is given the opportunity to examine the changes of their own system in this global mirror.
The volume concludes with an epilogue written by Prof. Sheldon Rothblatt of the University of California, Berkeley, on behalf of all the participants from abroad, which has hopefully sparked a dialogue between Israel’s colleges and universities.
