Prelims

Global Higher Education Practices in Times of Crisis

Global Higher Education Practices in Times of Crisis: Questions for Sustainability and Digitalization

EDITED BY

DIEU HACK-POLAY

Crandall University, Canada and University of Lincoln, UK

DEBORAH LOCK

Birmingham City University, UK

ANDREA CAPUTO

University of Lincoln, UK and University of Trento, Italy

MADHAVI LOKHANDE

WeSchool, India

AND

UDAY SALUNKHE

WeSchool, India

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL.

First edition 2025

Editorial matter and selection © 2025 Dieu Hack-Polay, Deborah Lock, Andrea Caputo, Madhavi Lokhande, and Uday Salunkhe.

Individual chapters © 2025 The authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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ISBN: 978-1-83797-053-7 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83797-052-0 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83797-054-4 (Epub)

Dieu Hack-Polay is Professor of Management at Crandall University (Canada) and Associate Professor in Organizational Behaviour and Management in the Lincoln International Business School, University of Lincoln, UK. He worked for several years in various sectors of activity including the voluntary sector and local government as a human resources and training practitioner in the UK. He also has several years of experience as an academic. He worked for various institutions in the UK, Canada, and China. His main research interest is in the economic performance of migrants in host countries and international human resource management. He has authored two textbooks and several book chapters as well as published several research articles in international journals. His professional affiliations include chartered fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, and fellowship of the Society for Education and Training.

Deborah Lock is a Professor and Deputy Dean, Faculty of Business, Law and Social Science at Birmingham City University, UK. She is an experienced academic leader with more than 20 years strategic level experience in higher education. As a career-hopper, she has had numerous jobs (Bid Writer, Business Development Manager, Director of Enterprise, College Director of Education to name a few) through which she has developed a reputation for the successful delivery of education related change management projects. She is passionate about ensuring HE business education provides students and graduates with the opportunity to develop the skills required to enhance their employability prospects irrespective of whether they are at market entry or career progression level. She was awarded her professorship in 2019 based on her work around inclusive education practices.

Andrea Caputo is an Associate Professor in Management at the University of Trento, Italy, and at the University of Lincoln, UK, where in 2018, he co-founded with other academics the UNESCO Chair in Responsible Foresight for Sustainable Development. He received his PhD from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy. His main research interests include entrepreneurial decision-making, negotiation, digitalization and sustainability, internationalization, and strategic management of small- and medium-sized enterprises. He is the Editor of the book series Entrepreneurial Behaviour (Emerald), and Associate Editor of the Journal of Management & Organization, Management Decision, and BRQ Business Research Quarterly. His award-winning research was published in over 100 contributions, including articles in highly ranked journals, for example, HRM Journal, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Small Business Management, Small Business Economics, International Small Business Journal, International Journal of Conflict Management, Studies in Higher Education, Business Strategy and the Environment, and IEEE TEM, among the others. In 2021 and 2022, he was ranked among World’s Top 2% Scientists List of outstanding researchers prepared by Elsevier BV, Stanford University, USA.

Madhavi Lokhande is the Dean at Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, WeSchool, Bengaluru. She is a Fellow of the Cost Accountants of India and the Institute of Management Accountants, USA. As a researcher, she has published several papers and case studies in leading journals and international and national case clearing houses. She was awarded by the Higher Education Forum for Excellence in Contribution to Management Education. She also holds the position of National Vice President – Homepreneurs Council, Women’s India Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is the President of the Institute of Management Accountants, Bangalore Chapter. Her recent accolades include the prestigious fellowship from the Executive Leadership Academy from UC Berkeley. Her work with women micro entrepreneurs helped her get a PhD from SNDT Women’s University and also led her to be a mentor for the ISB Goldman Sachs 10k programme. Her other interests are: She founded ‘Padhaai’, a charitable trust that promotes the cause for inclusive education. She is the cofounder of Imagilytica Leadership Consulting LLP that curates learning programmes using the philosophy of kinaesthetic learning.

Uday Salunkhe has headed WeSchool as its Group Director for over two decades. His passion for leadership, design thinking, and innovation, supported by ‘Disruptive thinking’ and encouraging ‘Opposing minds’, has helped WeSchool carve a niche in the space of design thinking and innovation-led management education. A strong believer in self and positivity, driven by a philosophy of ‘Force Multiplier’ effects, he has been singularly responsible for taking WeSchool Global, by building several partnerships worldwide, be it with his alumni, business, or the academia circle. A strong networker himself, he believes that one’s net worth is determined by their network. An ‘Edupreneur’, with PhD in Turnaround Strategy and a recipient of the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship, USA, he has also been a scholar at the Linnaeus–Palme programme at the Malardalen University, Sweden. He has to his credit various pioneering programmes and initiatives along with many research publications. Beyond his role at WeSchool, he is Chairman of the Education Committee of the Council of EU Chambers of Commerce in India, a former President of Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS), among other regulatory and governing bodies in the strategic and advisory capacity.

This book of collected works comments on some of the major changes and shifts in higher education teaching practices which emerged because of the COVID-19 pandemic socio-economic and political turbulence in the past four years. While the sector had been slowly moving towards hybrid delivery prior to this, the rapid acceleration of digital adoption due to lockdown restrictions provided academics and institutions alike with the opportunity to experiment with innovative ways of teaching and develop new pedagogies which reflect the nature of digital citizenship in an age of technological transformation. With the dramatic development of artificial intelligence, the past few years, new challenges have emerged that educators have to deal with to maintain standards and stimulate the learning environment. Many of the examples in this book highlight some of these key challenges for higher education which are constant themes irrespective of geographical boundaries and/or political systems: accessibility and inclusiveness, and how to use innovative learning technologies to the best effect to ensure students develop the skills and competences required to be successful.

As noted by George Couros (leader in innovative teaching, learning, and leading), ‘Technology will never replace great teachers, but in the hands of great teachers, it’s transformational’, and this book aims to capture some of the transformations which have taken place over recent years. This book also raises fundamental questions about the future of teaching and learning and the necessity for the education sector to evolve alongside technological development. This book is an invitation to stakeholders in academia to continuously engage with debate and share experiences and good practice. Undoubtedly, the fast changes in the higher education environment command a greater flow of information sharing among practitioners to ensure comparability of the student’s level of education, particularly as both student and professor mobility is increasingly normalized and on the increase. The significant number of chapters in this book and other similar books denote the fact that technological change is one of the greatest managerial and educational challenges of our time. The survival of the higher education sector and quality within it tightly hinges on the sector capacity to adapt.

This book provides a variety of chapters covering various socio-economic and cultural contexts. However, we were pleased to incorporate many chapters from the Global South whose good practices are often not heard of enough and integrated to global higher educational practices. Such practices have become important owing to the intertwining of global higher education systems, the increased mobility of teachers, graduates, and professionals. We hope that the readers will enjoy this additional text.