Changing boundaries in Israeli higher education

Abstract

This paper analyses the main changes that took place in the Israeli higher education system in the last decades, and accounts for the reconstruction of its external and internal boundaries. It also provides a conceptual framework for comparing national higher education systems from a comparative perspective. The paper examines the developments that characterise the restructuring of the Israeli higher education from an international comparative outlook, and relates to the following parameters: (a) expansion in size; (b) diversification of the higher education institutions; (c) the emergence of new academic fields of study; (d) the upgrade of many professions and occupations to an academic status; (e) the redefinition of graduate degrees; (f) the impact of the new information technologies on shaping academic environments; and (g) the influence of the globalisation and internationalisation trends on the development of national higher education systems.