ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book covers the current sociological approaches to higher education as presently found in Western societies generally, and those modeled on the Anglo-American model specifically. It is timely because of the massive expansions of higher educational systems around the globe that are coming under increasing public, policy, and academic scrutiny. A good part of this scrutiny involves a questioning of traditional, non-instrumental forms of higher learning in terms of prevailing neoliberal ideologies that demand efficiency, short-term accountability, and cost-reduction. Consequently, traditional academic values of learning for learning's sake without a regard to costs are being questioned by a variety of stakeholders inside and outside of higher education institutions. The book examines that the developments in China appear to be bucking many global trends, in which mass higher education has become synonymous with a decline in funding and standards.
