The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education

Well before COVID-19, the scale and rapidity of change in higher education made this cross-Atlantic project challenging for editors David (education, emerita, Univ. Coll. London; Reclaiming Feminism) and Amey (educational administration, Michigan State Univ.). These volumes update and broaden the scope of Burton Clark and Guy Neaves’s Encyclopedia of Higher Education. David and Amey’s focus is global, looking at today’s universities as competitive, entrepreneurial, expanding, and evolving institutions. They address issues such as employment uncertainty, intersectionality, equity deficits, ways in which bias works against inclusivity, and, above all, the mission of higher education. Interactions between the academy and the world, including expected social and economic impacts, are a recurring theme. A reader’s guide provides a topic index in 12 groupings, such as governance, impact, curriculum, and equity. Several brief entries on distance and online learning will be of particular interest given shutdowns owing to COVID-19. Although the editors acknowledge this is only partial coverage of sexual harassment on college campuses, the work is remarkably thorough, covering both theory and practice. Entries sometimes employ jargon but presuppose little background and often include historical context. “See also” references and a bibliography follow each entry.