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Challenges To Higher Education In Canada And Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Charles Beach
  • Frank Milne

    (Queen's University)

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the higher education sector in Canada, so it can serve as a comparison to that in Australia. It seeks to identify stresses and challenges to this sector in Canada. The study also seeks to offer possible lessons for the direction of higher education policy in Australia and to raise concerns for the direction in Canada. The focus of the study is on the period since 2000 when consistent data for Canada largely became available. In 2005, the Rae Report – the last major overall review of higher education in Canada – was published followed by three volumes of evaluative studies of the state of higher education in Canada (Beach, Boadway and McInnis, 2005; Beach, 2005; and Iacobucci and Tuohy, 2005). So earlier and detailed commentaries are readily available from these sources. The present paper includes discussion of both universities as well as colleges that jointly make up the higher education sector in Canada. The perspective of the discussion is largely economic and heavily based on comparative statistics and the incentives they reveal. The paper proceeds as follows. The next section points out the major distinguishing features of the Canadian higher education system. Section 3 identifies a number of challenges and stresses the higher education sector has been facing in Canada. Then Section 4 examines some background influences on the higher education sector in both Australia and Canada. Section 5 then raises concerns about the growing role of metrics in higher education and the incentive issues they raise. And Section 6 concludes with some lessons to be considered in both countries’ tertiary education sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Beach & Frank Milne, 2018. "Challenges To Higher Education In Canada And Australia," Working Paper 1407, Economics Department, Queen's University.
  • Handle: RePEc:qed:wpaper:1407
    as

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    File URL: https://www.econ.queensu.ca/sites/econ.queensu.ca/files/wpaper/qed_wp_1407.pdf
    File Function: First version 2018
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Charles Beach & Alan Green & Christopher Worswick, 2009. "Improving Canada's Immigration Policy," e-briefs 87, C.D. Howe Institute.
    2. Stefanie Stantcheva, 2017. "Optimal Taxation and Human Capital Policies over the Life Cycle," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(6), pages 1931-1990.
    3. Charles M. Beach & Christopher Worswick, 2011. "Toward Improving Canada's Skilled Immigration Policy: An Evaluation Approach," C.D. Howe Institute Policy Studies, C.D. Howe Institute, number 2011, January.
    4. Benjamin M. Marx & Lesley J. Turner, 2018. "Borrowing Trouble? Human Capital Investment with Opt-In Costs and Implications for the Effectiveness of Grant Aid," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 163-201, April.
    5. Miller,Gary J., 1992. "Managerial Dilemmas," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521372817, June.
    6. Parisa Mahboubi, 2017. "Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation: More Educated, But Less Skilled Canadians," e-briefs 267, C.D. Howe Institute.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Australia-Canada Comparison; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • A23 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Graduate
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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