2013 IIE AIFS Latin American Higher Education Book Launch

On February 13th, the Institute of International Education and the American Institute for Foreign Study Foundation celebrated the launch of Latin America’s New Knowledge Economy: Higher Education, Government, and International Collaboration, the newest publication in the Global Education Research Reports Series. The event included a panel discussion led by the publication’s editor, Jorge Balán, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, with a book signing and light reception to follow. Panelists included Jason Lane, Provost Fellow and Co-Director, Cross-Border Education Research Team, State University of New York; Pedro Marcos de Castro Saldanha, Counselor, Education Section, Embassy of Brazil; and Peter Thompson, Executive Vice President, IIE.  Photos from the event are at right.

The last few decades have been a time of impressive growth and change for higher education in Latin America. Latin America’s New Knowledge Economy reviews the policies, institutions, and programs that helped bring about these changes, as well as their outcomes in terms of access, workforce training, and research. In the book, leading scholars from Latin America in the U.S. explore key issues, including higher education’s role in advanced workforce development, trends in academic mobility and outcomes for brain circulation, and investment in the region by U.S. universities and corporations.

In recent years, IIE has launched partnerships with a number of organizations and government agencies to build global talent in Latin America, to undertake new research, develop strategic higher education links, and engage leaders in dialogue on the role of higher education institutions as incubators of innovation, workforce development, and international discourse. The Government of Brazil partnered with IIE to administer the undergraduate portion of President Dilma Rousseff’s Ciencia sem Fronteiras initiative (Brazil Scientific Mobility Program) in the United States, which allows students to complete up to one year of non-degree study, in addition to an academic training and internship component.

Latin America’s New Knowledge Economy is the seventh book in the Global Education Research Reports series from IIE and the AIFS Foundation. Previous books have examined higher education initiatives and exchanges in China, India, and the Middle East, as well as new developments in global mobility.

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Table of Contents

Forewords
Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO, IIE
William L. Gertz, President and CEO, AIFS

Introduction: Latin American Higher Education Systems in a Historical and Comparative Perspective
Jorge Balán, Columbia University

Chapter 1: Government and University Autonomy: The Governance Structure of Latin American Public Institutions
Andrés Bernasconi, Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile

Chapter 2: Training the 21st Century Knowledge Workers: Higher Education and Workforce Development in Latin America
Ana García de Fanelli, Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad, Argentina

Chapter 3: Building Knowledge-based Economies in Latin America: The Role of National Study Abroad Scholarship Programs
Raisa Belyavina and Jordan Brensinger, IIE

Chapter 4: Breaking down Societal Barriers: Increasing Access and Equity to Higher Education in Latin America
Oscar Espinoza, Universidad UCINF, Chile

Chapter 5: Trends in Student and Academic Mobility: From “Brain Drain” to “Brain Gain” in Latin America
Sylvie Didou Aupetit, Cinvestav, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico

Chapter 6: Partnerships and Outposts: New Roles for U.S. Universities in Latin American Higher Education
Jason Lane, University at Albany – SUNY

Chapter 7: Toward 100,000 Strong: Western Hemisphere Academic Exchanges
Meghann Curtis and Lisa Kraus, U.S. Department of State

Chapter 8: Academic Research and Advanced Training: Building up Research Universities in Brazil
Elizabeth Balbachevsky, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Chapter 9: The Brazil Science Without Borders Program: Advancing Innovation, Competitiveness and Business Leadership
• Interview with Aloizio Mercadante, Education Minister, Government of Brazil
• The Brazil Scientific Mobility Undergraduate Program in the United States
Edward Monks, IIE

Appendix: Broadening Opportunities for Higher Education Exchange in Latin America and the Caribbean: IIE’s Role and Work in the Region
Neshani Jani and Jonah Kokodyniak, IIE