Many countries in different regions have increased enrollment in higher education during the 21st century. To this end, they have implemented both traditional and innovative strategies: among the former, we could mention the creation of institutions aimed primarily at students underrepresented in the student body, the geographical deconcentration of campuses in places where access was limited or non-existent, the redesign of admission procedures and the introduction of streams reserved for certain types of students. Secondly, the introduction of career paths and innovative models of face-to-face or virtual teaching, the diversification of teaching media and the rapid consolidation of mechanisms for the off-line delivery of educational content, the installation of study programs in line with economic or social needs identified at a regional or global level.

These changes have been encouraged by public and institutional policies and by national and international investments in equity and inclusion. They have been translated into multi-level organizational changes in terms of curricula, databases and teacher training, confronted with "new" students, with profiles, learning styles and living conditions different from those of their predecessors. 

 The many lines of research developed in recent years on these topics have highlighted both the results and the limitations of the policies applied in terms of the production of relevant monitoring information, the concrete impact of programs and institutions, enrollment in higher education and school "survival" rates, the number of beneficiaries, and the possibility of triggering a significant transformation of institutions in this way, beyond the rhetoric of redressing historical injustices related to colonialism, capitalism, and local or larger territorial conflicts.

Pasithee | Library & Information Center | University of Patras