15: Advocating for Access: World Access to Higher Education Day and Beyond

Higher education (HE) should be at the forefront of attempts to navigate a route through the confluence of disruptive forces affecting the world in the early twenty-fist century. The early part of the century has seen inequality, in particular, return to the fore. In its survey of over 200 global experts worldwide, the World Economic Forum (2017) stated that:

Yet, HE remains a bastion of inequality increasingly obsessed with rankings, which openly celebrate elitism in an era where elites are increasingly derided. Fostering inequality and celebrating elitism are becoming high-risk strategies in the midst of the post-crash populism of the 2010s. There are other routes open to what HE can be; safer and better ones for HE itself. However, it will take global advocacy and action if they are to be followed. This chapter presents the key evidence for, and a model, for such advocacy.