Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book talks about the idea of a compact for higher education as it confronts a new millennium. A compact for higher education was proposed by the Dearing Report. The book describes two different agendas are set: Barnett's arguments favour a notion of an entrepreneurial university operating in a society of super complexity while the government and Lord Desai would appear to promote greater privatisation of the universities. It considers how discourses of quality and equality interact or collide in the context of massification and the changing demography of higher education. The book emphasises on the role of communications and information technology (CIT). It examines precisely the issue of how higher education can be fully inclusive. It also focuses to the role of government agencies such as the HEFCs in funding research through the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).