Ei-iE

Higher education and research

Spotlight

We champion higher education and research as a public service, not a commercial enterprise. We advocate at the international level to ensure high quality, accessibility and the freedom of staff to teach and conduct research free from political, economic or other special interests.

Higher education and research must be publicly funded and administered, and accessible to all qualified students without financial or social barriers. We oppose privatisation and marketisation, the trade in education services and intellectual property, and the casualisation of employment.

We promote the academic and employment rights of staff by advocating for the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel. We work closely with UNESCO, the ILO and other UN bodies, and lobby international agencies such as the OECD, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organisation. At the European level, we are a consultative member of the Bologna Follow-up Group.

We also campaign to support colleagues whose academic freedom and civil liberties are under attack, and we defend the trade union rights of member organisations.

Building solidarity and strength within the sector is a key part of our work. We organise a biannual international conference to share best practices and to collectively confront the global challenges before us.

Our work on higher education and research

  1. Fighting the commercialisation of education 25 October 2023

    Go Public! Advancing Further and Higher Education and Research for the Common Good

    Statement

    On 24-26 October, Education International (EI) member organisations convened in Mexico City for EI’s 12th Further and Higher Education and Research Conference. Together, they adopted the following statement:

    Read more Go Public! Advancing Further and Higher Education and Research for the Common Good
  2. Fighting the commercialisation of education 24 October 2023

    Go Public! Leading further and higher education and research for the common good

    The 12th International Further and Higher Education and Research Conference, co-hosted by Education International and its member organisation Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE), is taking place in Mexico City from October 24 to the 26.

    Read more Go Public! Leading further and higher education and research for the common good
  3. Higher education and research 28 September 2023

    Copyright problems impede cross-border teaching

    Patricia Aufderheide, Juliya Ziskina, Kimberly Anastácio

    For teachers who work across national borders, copyright and licensing restrictions can create barriers that prevent them from doing their work. This affects the quality of instruction, and also impedes the growth of global learning strategies that otherwise have the potential to lower the North/South gap in educational access.

    Read more Copyright problems impede cross-border teaching
  4. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4

    Higher Education in the International Digital Economy: Effects of Conflicting Copyright Regimes on Cross-Border Teaching

    Patricia Aufderheide, Juliya Ziskina, Kimberly Anastácio
    28 September 2023

    This study investigates how clashing copyright regimes affect the work of cross-border teaching in higher education. It explores constraints on pedagogy both from copyright policies at the national level and from conflicts between regimes internationally. As the recent pandemic demonstrated, and as previous research has shown, pedagogy requires flexibility that...

    Higher Education in the International Digital Economy: Effects of Conflicting Copyright Regimes on Cross-Border Teaching
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more: Our work on higher education and research

Our policy on higher education and research