Report: Shocks and recovery in higher education

It is important to remember, though, that this is not the first major crisis that the sector has experienced and recovered from. Universities have encountered world wars, devastating earthquakes and deep recessions. These events, and their social, economic and political aftermaths, have had far reaching impacts upon higher education. For institutions, they have led to both short-term measures and long-term changes in attitudes, organisation, policies and practice as they respond to the situation at hand.

At this chaotic time, taking pause to reflect upon what was learnt from these past shocks may yield some valuable lessons. This paper takes a lens to these past crises and analyses their impact upon universities and strategies for recovery that proved successful in order to forecast and draw lessons that can be applied today.

It is important to remember, though, that this is not the first major crisis that the sector has experienced and recovered from. Universities have encountered world wars, devastating earthquakes and deep recessions. These events, and their social, economic and political aftermaths, have had far reaching impacts upon higher education. For institutions, they have led to both short-term measures and long-term changes in attitudes, organisation, policies and practice as they respond to the situation at hand.

At this chaotic time, taking pause to reflect upon what was learnt from these past shocks may yield some valuable lessons. This paper takes a lens to these past crises and analyses their impact upon universities and strategies for recovery that proved successful in order to forecast and draw lessons that can be applied today.