Call for paper:Redefining Higher Education: Pathways and Solutions for Global Challenges in the 21st Century

Redefining Higher Education: Pathways and Solutions for Global Challenges in the 21st Century

This special issue aims to explore how higher education institutions can be reimagined and restructured to better serve global society in the 21st century. The objectives are to:

To showcase innovative solutions in curriculum design, pedagogy, and institutional governance that pave the way for academic advancements and operational excellence in higher education.
To critically examine the capacity of higher education institutions to effectively respond to complex societal issues such as climate change, social inequality, digital transformation, and erosion of public trust.
To facilitate meaningful interactions among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, focusing on re-envisioning universities as proactive agents of social good.

These aims will be met through rigorous empirical research, conceptual frameworks, policy analysis, and practitioner perspectives from global contributors.

Existing literature points to many critical trends that higher education must urgently address. These include the integration of sustainability into institutional strategy and curriculum (Gorski et al., 2023), the ethical use and impact of artificial intelligence in teaching and governance (Yadav, 2024; Selwyn, 2019), and the importance of inclusive and decolonial pedagogies to address historical marginalization (Le Grange et al., 2020; de Oliveira Andreotti et al., 2015). Furthermore, the emergence of lifelong learning and micro-credentialing, the growing mistrust in public institutions, and the global skills mismatch continue to challenge traditional university models (Siivonen et al., 2023).

This special issue, Redefining Higher Education: Pathways and Solutions for Global Challenges in the 21st Century, directly addresses this need. By inviting contributions from across education, law, business, public administration, social sciences, arts, sciences, and media and communication studies, this issue encourages collaborative thinking and cross-sector dialogue.

List of topic areas

We invite contributions from different regions and educational settings that address, but are not limited to, the following areas:

Transformations in higher education systems: analyses of changing governance, leadership, or institutional missions, and their implications for society.
Technology, ethics, and governance: examinations of artificial intelligence, digital innovation, data responsibility, and public trust in higher education.
Skills, learning, and future work: studies on curriculum design, pedagogical innovation, and the role of universities in fostering transferable skills and lifelong learning.
Universities and global challenges: research on how higher education responds to issues such as climate change, inequality, or public health crises, and on collaborative approaches with governments, industry, and communities.
Equity, inclusion, and social justice: explorations of diversity, accessibility, decolonial perspectives, and institutional strategies for building more just and inclusive systems.

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see here.

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else while under review for this journal.