Success in Higher Education

Abstract

Higher education plays a critically important role in society. It contributes to physical and mental well-being for individuals. Higher education has a powerful role to play in improving economic prosperity; it promotes better use of resources and supports sustainable development. However, around the globe, higher education faces many challenges and problems. Higher education is in a state of transition brought on by global competition, massification and advances in technology. The demand for higher education has exploded creating opportunities for wider participation but causing a crisis of resourcing at the same time. New models of learning and teaching are required to support the global demand. Many of the chapters in this book address the challenges and opportunities in higher education around the world. In this first chapter, we examine definitions of success from different perspectives. We propose a transition model of success in higher education: transition to becoming an effective student; transition to higher levels of knowledge and skills and transition to becoming a professional. We propose eight perspectives of success from an individual viewpoint, we propose eight institutional practices that will promote success and (bravely) we propose eight key trends for the future of success in higher education.