U.S. and Non-U.S. Scholars

Fulbright New Century Scholars Program
Overview • Previous NCS Programs • NCS Scholar List • NCS Brochure • 2007-2008

Knight, Jane

• Adjunct Professor
  
• University of Toronto
  
• Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
  
• Comparative, International and Development Education Centre
  
• Canada

Dr. Jane Knight focuses her research and professional interests on the international dimension of higher education at the institutional, system, national and international levels. Her work and residency in many countries of the world helps to bring a comparative, development and international policy perspective to her teaching and research.  She is the author/editor of many publications on internationalisation concepts and strategies, quality assurance, institutional management, mobility, cross-border education, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and capacity building.
In the last ten years she has taken a leadership role in working with international teams on three regional studies/ publications on the internationalization of higher education in Europe/North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America for OECD and the World Bank. Currently she is involved with a similar project in Africa.  Dr Knight has also been the principle researcher and author of several survey projects on internationalization including the worldwide 2003 and 2005 surveys conducted by the International Association of Universities.
She is an adjunct professor at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto and serves on the editorial board of several journals including the Journal for the Study of International Education.  As the recipient of awards for outstanding leadership and research in the international dimension of higher education her work has been recognized both in Canada and internationally.

Select Publications

• Knight, J. (2006) “Commercial Crossborder Education: Implications for Financing Higher Education” in Higher Education in the World: The Financing of Universities.  GUNI.  Palgrave Macmillan. London.  Basingstoke. UK. pp 103-112.
• Knight, J. (2006) “Internationalization: Concepts, Complexities and Challenges” in J. Forest and P. G. Altbach. (eds) International Handbook of Higher Education.  Springer Academic Publishers. Dordrecht. The Netherlands. pp 345-396
• Knight, J. (2006)  “Crossborder Education: An Analytical Framework for Program and Provider Mobility” in J. Smart (ed) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Practice. Springer Academic Publishers. Dordrecht. The Netherlands. pp 207-227
• Knight, J. (2006) “ Internationalization of Higher Education:  New directions, New Challenges. The 2005 IAU Global Survey Report” . International Association of Universities, Paris, France. 172 pages
• Knight, J. (2005) GATS and Crossborder Education: Developments and Implications in Asia- Pacific. Background Report for UNESCO Seminar on ´The Implications of WTO/GATS for Higher Education in Asia and the Pacific.” Seoul. Korea

Crossborder Education: A new opportunity or potential threat for increased access to higher education?

The overall demand for higher and adult education is increasing in most countries. This is due to a number of reasons: changing demographics, increased number of secondary school graduates and movement to lifelong learning, and the growth of the knowledge economy. While demand is growing, capacity to satisfy this need is being challenged -especially in developing countries where access is often limited due to economic, social, political, gender and cultural reasons.

At the same time, innovations in information and communication technologies are providing alternate and virtual ways to deliver higher education. New types of providers, including private and public institutions and commercial companies are emerging. They are delivering education across national borders to students in their home country. Branch campuses, franchise and twinning arrangements, double degrees, articulation agreements, and distance education are only a few of the new cross-border delivery modes. As a result, there are new variables at play in determining access to higher education and new issues to be explored about equity. A key challenge facing policy makers is ‘if’ and ‘how’ foreign providers can help meet national domestic policy objectives- especially related to increasing access and diversifying opportunities for higher education. A rather complex picture of cross-border education is emerging and there remains uncertainty about whether it is a new opportunity or a threat to increasing access to higher education