Universities and Economic Growth
Introduction by Professor Nigel Thrift, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Warwick
The relationship between universities and economic growth is, in the UK and countries across the developed world, a topic of far greater significance to national higher education sectors and government than it was just a decade ago. To begin the Universities and Economic Growth conference in 2013, our now former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Nigel Thrift, introduced a blog series by a number of guest bloggers, invited to offer their thoughts on the future of higher education.
In Europe, there has long been a tradition of government subsidisation for higher education. However, the combination of steeply rising demand for student places from both domestic and international markets (in itself a signifier of globalised economic growth) and the economic downturn of the late 2000s has meant that some governments are having to rethink their model of investment in higher education.
Despite the fact that according to the OECD, until recently, only two countries have instigated real-term cuts in university funding (the UK and Romania sharing that dubious distinction), universities are now being asked by policy-makers to enunciate their relationship with economic growth in more explicit terms. This is not, however, something to be feared – as there is a clear causal link between higher education institutions and socio-economic prosperity. This argument is no longer solely predicated on the longer-term benefits of graduates to national economies (e.g. via graduate contributions to the exchequer), but is bolstered by a raft of more tangible evidence; with universities driving innovation, working with industry and leveraging their global connections to the benefits of their local communities.
The Global University Summit, which this year is being hosted by Warwick in London, is a perfect opportunity for this debate to transcend national boundaries. Higher education has, for centuries, been at the vanguard of globalism – with academics and students swapping ideas and innovations long before the current system of economic globalisation emerged. However, what is the future for this dynamic between universities and economic growth? Will the current (and undeniably expensive) model of tertiary education provision prove sufficient to match the inexorable growth in the global demand for learning?
All this and more will be explored in two days of discussion and debate between university leaders, international business executives and policy-makers. Following the debate, the Summit will formally adopt a declaration of policy recommendations that will be submitted to the G8 summit of world leaders in June.
However, we begin the debate here, on the Knowledge Centre, with a series of thought-pieces and blogs written by Summit contributors and participants in the run-up to the main-event in May.
There are some summit resources, below:
Declaration of the 2013 Global Universities Summit to the G8
Universities and Economic Growth (Pre-Summit Report)
Further Resources:
- Audio presentations by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London; the Rt. Hon. Dr Vince Cable MP; Lord Robert Skidelsky and Dr Nemat Shafik, Deputy Managing Director, IMF
- The future of education: Guest blogs by Alex Bols (1994 Group), Professor John Holmwood (Campaign for the Public University), Toni Pearce (National Union of Students/NUS), Louis Coiffait (The Pearson Think Tank), Sir Michael Barber (Pearson), Professor Dame Julia King (Aston University), David Ward (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Anthony McLaren (QAA), Michael Peak (British Council), Simon Nelson (FutureLearn), Neil Carberry (CBI), Dave Kochalko (Thomson Reuters), Professor Eric Thomas (University of Bristol), Sir John O’Reilly (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills/BIS), Srikanth Iyengar (Infosys Limited), Dame Helen Alexander (University of Southampton), Simon Bradley (EADS), Dr Joanna Newman (UK Higher Education International Unit), Dr Wendy Piatt (Russell Group), Dr Dirk Jan van den Berg (Delft University of Technology), Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz (University of Cambridge), Dr Nemat Shafik (IMF), Dirk Van Damme (OECD)
- University of Warwick blogs by Professor Lawrence Young, Ken Sloan, Professor Mark Taylor, Professor Tim Jones and Dr Richard Hutchins.
Declaration of the 2013 Global Universities Summit to the G8
The 2013 Global University Summit, hosted by the University of Warwick in London on 29 and 30 May, concluded with the presentation of its Declaration to Dominic Martin, Director of the G8 Presidency Unit. Containing a series of commitments and policy recommendations discussed over the two days by international vice-chancellors, business leaders and policymakers from organisations such as the IMF and OECD; the Summit Declaration asks the G8 to:
- Take action to allow easier movement of academics, researchers and university students between states.
- Invest more in universities to ensure economic growth
- Simplify and open-up the international patent infrastructure to allow greater innovation from research.
Universities and Economic Growth
The Global University Summit pre-summit report
This report provides an overview of the themes and issues to be explored by the 2013 Global University Summit (May 28-30 2013), hosted by the University of Warwick in London in May 2013.
Incorporating the thoughts and contributions of many of the Summit’s exceptional line-up of speakers and discussants, the report sets the scene for two days of vibrant and challenging debate on the topic of ‘universities and economic growth’.
The Global University Summit in Pictures
A gallery of images from the 2013 Summit is available to view online. The gallery includes pictures of the speakers (including Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, Rt. Hon. Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), Professor Lord Robert Skidelsky, former Chairman of the Social Market Foundation and Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Broadcast Journalist and presenter of the Summit) as well as guests who attended.
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
Rt. Hon. Dr Vince Cable MP
Lord Robert Skidelsky
Dr Nemat Shafik, Deputy Managing Director, IMF
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| Alex Bols Director 1994 Group |
Professor John Holmwood Campaign for the Public University |
Toni Pearce President-elect National Union of Students (NUS) |
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| Louis Coiffait Head of Research The Pearson Think Tank |
Sir Michael Barber Chief Education Strategist Pearson |
Professor Lawrence Young Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research (Life Sciences and Medicine) and Capital Development University of Warwick |
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| Professor Dame Julia King Vice-Chancellor Aston University |
Ken Sloan Registrar and Chief Operating Officer University of Warwick |
David Ward Interim Chancellor University of Wisconsin-Madison |
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| Anthony McLaren Chief Executive QAA |
Michael Peak Research Manager, Education and Society British Council |
Simon Nelson CEO FutureLearn |
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| Neil Carberry Director for employment and skills CBI |
Dave Kochalko Vice-President of Strategy and Business Development Thomson Reuters |
Professor Mark Taylor Dean Warwick Business School University of Warwick |
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| Professor Eric Thomas Vice-Chancellor University of Bristol |
Sir John O’Reilly Director General, Knowledge and Innovation Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) |
Srikanth Iyengar Vice-President and UK Head Infosys Limited |
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| Professor Tim Jones Pro Vice-Chancellor: Research (Science and Medicine) University of Warwick |
Dame Helen Alexander Chancellor University of Southampton |
Simon Bradley Vice-President EADS |
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| Dr Joanna Newman Director UK Higher Education International Unit |
Dr Wendy Piatt Director General and Chief Executive Russell Group |
Dr Dirk Jan van den Berg President Delft University of Technology |
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| Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz Vice-Chancellor University of Cambridge |
Dr Richard Hutchins Director, Jaguar Land Rover Programmes WMG University of Warwick |
Dr Nemat Shafik Deputy Managing Director IMF |
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| Dirk Van Damme Head of the Innovation and Measuring Progress division OECD |
The Global University Summit recieved media interest preceeding, during and following the event. A selection of this coverage is available to view on the Knowledge Centre.
Published
May 2013
Terms for republishing
The text in this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
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