Possible futures of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean: background, current situation, scenarios and alternatives

Abstract

In the 21st century, efforts have been made by UNESCO, the OECD, the World Bank and other institutions -as well as in universities and research centers- to trace the prospects of higher education and its possible scenarios. But the most systematic effort, in my opinion, has been the one carried out recently by UNESCO and UNESCO-IESALC. This article carries out a brief analysis of 5 documents published by UNESCO, between 2021 and 2022, prior to the UNESCO Third WHEC, - held in May 2022 in Barcelona -; and formulates alternative scenarios to those offered by UNESCO in some of these reports, regarding the possible futures of higher education in a world dominated by uncertainty and complexity and facing challenges such as: climate change, geopolitical rearticulation, increasing inequality, political polarization and accelerated technological disruption. It is also highlighted that although Latin America and the Caribbean is a single unit, the differences between the various subregions are enormous. Therefore, it is not easy to make a prospective of higher education in the region as a whole. Despite this situation, in this essay we recommend specific concrete actions regarding higher education in the region, which, if adopted, would imply a better alternative for the future of higher education than what prevails today. But this will depend on the variables that we list in this article and on a multiplicity of regional and global factors.