ABSTRACT
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when there was so much talk about a ‘paradigm shift’ in higher education, I thought that this was just another passing fad. I was wrong on at least two counts. First, in recent years, leaders in Malaysian government, industry, commerce and education have acknowledged that the continuing economic development of the country can only be maintained by major investment in the education and training of its people. Within higher education, there has been a parallel acknowledgement that a major paradigm shift is required among the staff if the institutions are to help the nation achieve its developmental goals.
