Highlights from day two

• In a wide-ranging array of themes across dozens of sessions, delegates were strongly encouraged to take strategic, practical, technical, social and diplomatic steps to address pressing challenges including diversity, public perceptions of tertiary education, technological developments, threats facing certain disciplines, and geopolitical and social shifts. In almost every case, institutions and their staff have an invaluable role to play in shaping future progress.
• In a middle plenary session, delegates heard how the runaway development of artificial intelligence is outpacing regulation and governance, and this is posing significant challenges for the higher education sector as well as policymakers and the general public. Universities were urged to play a proactive role in protecting values, standards, ethics and data amid this revolution.
• The British Council provided a sneak preview of its forthcoming 2025 Global Perceptions research, showing which international study destinations are gaining ground in the global market, and why.
• Two sessions considered what steps tertiary institutions and organisations should be taking, in light of recent experience and good practice, to tackle diversity and equality issues for disabled students and staff, and women in the sector. 
• Alumni of UK higher education shared how their experiences had inspired them to join the British Council's Alumni UK programme launched in 2022 and funded by the UK Foreign Office which aims to connect and support former students.

Key points arising from sessions:

• What can be done to protect and sustain the arts and humanities as they face significant threats in a world preoccupied by measurable outcomes, asked Professor Dame Sally Mapstone, Principal and Vice-Chancellor at the University of St Andrews, as she introduced a session to probe these questions. To shed light on the issues, she cited a British Academy study mapping provision across the UK which found mixed fortunes for the humanities across regions and institutions. It points to “a call to rethink the ecology of provision, how institutions can collaborate rather than compete, and how existing networks – regional, national and global – might be harnessed to sustain these disciplines”, she said. (Arts and humanities under threat: international strategies for sustainability)
• Professor Malabika Sarkar, former Vice-Chancellor at Ashoka University in India, warned that institutions are in danger of sending the wrong signals to policymakers and the next generation of students by focusing mostly on STEM subjects in their provision, so that excellence in the humanities is no longer seen as a measure of success. “If that trend continues then our younger generation will lose their sense of history and their understanding of the joy that great literature can bring, and the way history, literature, philosophy – all of those things – can help us navigate our lives.” she said. (Arts and humanities under threat: international strategies for sustainability)
• The arts and humanities academic community should respond “quite drastically” to threats to their disciplines from politicians and policymakers, financial pressures, and the impact of the internet, by taking steps to make their work and provision more accessible to everyone, argued Kelvin Everest, Emeritus Professor at the University of Liverpool. “There is a very big gap between what professional academics write about and what ordinary people like to read. We are over-professionalised, over-specialised, and sort of self-enfoldingly exclusive,” he said. (Arts and humanities under threat: international strategies for sustainability)
• More thought needs to be given to how the arts and humanities can demonstrate measurable outputs and reap the rewards of cross-disciplinary research, in order to arrest a decline in their standing in higher education, argued Professor Nilanthi De Silva, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. (Arts and humanities under threat: international strategies for sustainability)
• Artificial intelligence is developing at breakneck speed, but governance and regulation of the technology is not keeping up – partly because governance and AI safety are often at odds with innovation, warned David Lefevre, Professor of Practice, Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College Business School, London, in a session that asked how AI’s full value can be captured while managing its dangers. (AI at a crossroads: how can we capitalise on AI while managing the risks?)
• With the US and China so dominant in the field of AI development – as 85 per cent of patents in this field are awarded to institutions and organisations in the two countries – other regions such as African nations are being left behind. It means that the values, standards, ethics and data going into AI models is not representing Africa, or other regions that are not major players, said William Rufaro Mutero, Director of the Centre for Inclusive Digital Transformation of Africa, Carnegie Mellon University Africa, Rwanda. “This transition directly affects our students and their employability prospects for the future. Therefore, you are entered into a race, but you do not have the skills base and the skills pipeline to be an effective contributor to it,” he said. (AI at a crossroads: how can we capitalise on AI while managing the risks?)
• How can universities demonstrate their worth and their role amidst the AI revolution?  David Lefevre, Professor of Practice, Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College Business School, suggested that even though it was possible to create AI platforms to run courses, many students will continue to prefer traditional models of teaching. William Rufaro Mutero, Director of the Centre for Inclusive Digital Transformation of Africa, Carnegie Mellon University Africa, Rwanda suggested that universities needed to change their approach from just disseminating information to teaching students how to understand data, and how to conceptualise and use information. (AI at a crossroads: how can we capitalise on AI while managing the risks?)
• There are numerous things higher education institutions can do in their efforts to become more inclusive, such as helping disabled students learn technologies that will boost their performance in exams, or encouraging them to consider a broader range of disciplines – but some of the most effective changes they can make are the simplest practical steps, said Professor Anica Zeyen, Vice Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Professor in Entrepreneurship and Inclusion at Royal Holloway, University of London. She gave the example of one university teaching cleaning staff not to move plant pots, because blind students used them to find their way to classrooms. (Supporting progress in disability inclusion in tertiary education)
• Disabled staff in higher education can face as many issues as students. Dr Wuri Handayani, Lecturer and Director of the Disability Service Unit, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia, said a British Council-backed project in his country found that a culture of ableism and inequitable recruitment practices were limiting opportunities. Dr Hamied Haroon, a research fellow at the University of Manchester, described the work of the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN), of which he is Director, which connects disabled staff so they can share the challenges they face and the solutions they have found. (Supporting progress in disability inclusion in tertiary education)
• Progress is being made in Pakistan with support from the Higher Education Commission towards overcoming barriers for disabled students, including those with disabilities that are not visible, said Lt. Gen. (R) Moazzam Ejaz Rector National University of Technology, Pakistan. A number of universities have set up disability resource centres, and following a zoom event the UK disability framework has been adopted as best practice. (Supporting progress in disability inclusion in tertiary education)
• Professor Carol Evans, PVC Education and Student Experience at the University of Salford, described the dilemma disabled international students can face with having two different identities – one in their home country where they do not disclose their disability and another in the UK where they do. She said: “How do you manage those two different identities and move between them? You can have self-advocacy in one environment where I am able to champion my rights and my needs, but in another environment you can be completely disabled.” Institutions can taken on some of the heavy lifting in that situation through shared advocacy, she added. (Supporting progress in disability inclusion in tertiary education)
• Access to higher education for refugees has risen from one per cent in 2019 to nine per cent today. But by the end of 2024, an estimated 123 million people have been forcibly displaced from their communities by conflict and violence. This number has nearly doubled in the last decade. This session invited education agencies in the USA and Europe to talk about how affected students, researchers and academics are being supported. (Transatlantic perspectives on supporting education in emergencies)
• Panellists outlined the various projects they are undertaking to help displaced people worldwide. For example, Institute of International Education (IIE) President Jason Czyz discussed the impact of the Scholar Rescue Fund for displaced scholars, as well as the Odyssey Scholarship for student refugees. Donatienne Hissard, Director General of Campus France, talked about her organisation’s work with the UNHCR op UNIV’R, a programme enabling refugee students to study a Master’s degree in France. (Transatlantic perspectives on supporting education in emergencies)
• Dr Marco Schouten, Director General of Nuffic in the Netherlands, shared that his institution was working with partners such as DAAD and Campus France to deliver the EU-funded European Mobility Programme for Myanmar (EMPM). He praised this as an excellent example of organisations working together, and said it represented a potential way forward, where partners could collaborate and be flexible in moving resources to where they were most needed in ongoing projects. (Transatlantic perspectives on supporting education in emergencies)
• How do organisations respond to a climate where humanitarian projects face a battle to retain and attract funding? Dr Piotr Kepski, Director of Institutional Programme Development at NAWA in Poland, believes institutions could benefit from sharing more stories about what they do, although budget and time often makes that difficult. Jason Czyz added that his institution had achieved some success talking about the localised arguments and impacts of their work, rather than just relying on global ones. Donatienne Hissard said it was vital to maintain “a community of practice” to help sustain effort in teams around the world. (Transatlantic perspectives on supporting education in emergencies)
• Dr Marco Schouten stated that it was important for organisations to work together to “create critical mass”, as that scale would make projects “more interesting for funders” and create more stability. It would also help build a more compelling case for the work, as institutions would be able to demonstrate wider impact. (Transatlantic perspectives on supporting education in emergencies)
• Despite recent challenges facing UK-EU academic collaboration, many institutions have developed new ways to engage through transnational education (TNE), research and summer schools. Speakers on this panel discussed a selection of partnerships between UK and EU universities in countries such as France, Greece and Spain. (UK-EU higher education collaboration: what it reveals about the future of global UK partnerships)
• Session chair Erika Boak, the EU Education Director of the British Council, said that while some programmes did not continue after the UK’s exit from the EU, many relationships have endured or been built due to the “tenacity and creativity” of partners in the UK and EU. (UK-EU higher education collaboration: what it reveals about the future of global UK partnerships)
• Swansea University Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Judith Lamie shared details of Swansea’s work with Université Grenoble Alpes. The international strategic partnership started in 2008 and aims to deliver joint research, staff and student mobility, and curriculum development for Master’s and PhD programmes. She said it was built on strong management governance, with an implementation plan split into themes of AI, compound and advanced semiconductors, and resilience. (UK-EU higher education collaboration: What it reveals about the future of global UK partnerships)
• Professor Lamie said that institutions considering partnerships should focus on making sure the quality of work was high, that they are aware of regulations, and that the partnership “financially stacks up for everyone involved”. (UK-EU higher education collaboration: what it reveals about the future of global UK partnerships)
• Professor Sebastián Bruque, Vice President for Internationalisation at Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio (UAX) in Spain, introduced a British Council report analysing UK Transnational Education in Spain. He also made a case for Spain as a potential partner for UK higher education institutions. He said that Spain offered a “unique and underexploited opportunity”, with Spanish enrolments in UK TNE programmes rising 45 per cent between 2014 and 2022. There are 91 Spanish universities, but currently no UK branch campuses in Spain. (UK-EU higher education collaboration: what it reveals about the future of global UK partnerships)
• Introducing this session, the British Council’s Head of Gender Equality Gillian Cowell noted that there have been “major leaps and successes” in addressing gender equality in tertiary education over the last century, but that progress has not been uniform globally. As economic and geopolitical instability threatens to challenge this progress, she called for “practical actions” and “resilience and innovation” to continue the drive for greater equality. (How tertiary education can work collaboratively to drive change around gender inequality: learning from practice)
• Elizabeth Shepherd, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Times Higher Education (THE), talked about THE’s research into how Global South institutions were addressing gender equality. In this study, Thailand posted the highest average scores in many categories, including the proportion of degrees awarded to women, and female academic authors. Shepherd noted that there were “pockets of exemplary practice” in the Global South. She offered a range of recommendations for continuing to support inclusive leadership, including operational and academic partnerships to disseminate best practice, international networking to improve women’s outcomes, government and philanthropic funding, good data infrastructure, and more advocates and champions. (How tertiary education can work collaboratively to drive change around gender inequality: learning from practice)
• Professor Dr Heba Salem, President of The 6th of October Technological University, stated that Egypt had done a lot of work in the last decade to increase the number of talented women in leadership positions. She said that any gender equality work must encompass education, political reform, job management and cultural norms, and that these changes must be “sustainable and long-lasting”. (How tertiary education can work collaboratively to drive change around gender inequality: learning from practice)
• Delegates were asked to form groups to discuss issues such as promoting women’s leadership, women in STEM, and creating safer learning environments for women. They talked about what work they had done in their institutions to address women’s leadership, what the challenges were, and how working in global partnership could strengthen its impact. (How tertiary education can work collaboratively to drive change around gender inequality: learning from practice)
• Groups offered a range of insights into the challenges, and how they could be addressed. One table cited the importance of data and evidence-driven interventions in creating safer learning environments, as well as leveraging partnerships as a powerful tool for knowledge exchange. Another stressed the importance of shifting perceptions in STEM, both among women and in society as a whole. Introducing STEM subjects in Early Years education was considered a key part of this, so women could discover their capabilities earlier. The need for better messaging was also highlighted, as well as an environment which empowers women to grow as leaders. (How tertiary education can work collaboratively to drive change around gender inequality: learning from practice)
• Protecting freedom of speech and academic freedom while at the same time fostering respectful, inclusive campuses is a huge issue for universities all over the world, said Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, Chair of the Jo Cox Foundation, opening the session. University leaders are grappling with this question as debates grow more complex, more urgent and more and more politicised, she added. (Balancing acts: free speech, inclusion and the evolving role of universities) 
• Freedom of speech has become highly contested in the UK in an age of polarised politics and the amplification of social media, and British universities have found themselves positioned as having “cancelled cultures”, said Professor Rajani Naidoo, Vice-president and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (People and Culture) at the University of Exeter, UK. A government regulation in the UK means universities not only have to protect free speech but must enhance it, she added. (Balancing acts: free speech, inclusion and the evolving role of universities) 
• Universities should “hold the space” where disagreements can happen safely and fairly, and hold the tensions productively instead of trying to erase them, added Professor Naidoo. To do this Exeter created policies co-signed by the student and staff unions, developed community protest guidance and set up a small group of colleagues to scan the horizon ready to move quickly, she said. Training on such things as mediation and crowd control was also essential. (Balancing acts: free speech, inclusion and the evolving role of universities) 
• A "holding space" approach was also suggested by Professor André Keet from Nelson Mandela University, South Africa who argued that instead of trying to balance the conflicting demands, universities could create spaces for them. Conflict between free speech and inclusion is not a bug in the system but the future, added Professor Keet, the Vice Chancellor for Engagement and Transformation. Universities should acknowledge the permanent presence of diverse interests and learn how to hold the tensions as constitutive of society and the university itself. (Balancing acts: free speech, inclusion and the evolving role of universities) 
• The British Council's Alumni UK programme, launched in 2022 and funded by the UK Foreign Office, already has 138,000 members who studied in the UK or on British programmes abroad through transnational education, and has 24 ambassadors around the world working on different projects. Storytelling campaigns for alumni to share their activities and showcase events are planned in order to reach more people said Helen Etheridge, the British Council's Global Programme Lead for Alumni UK. (Global citizenship in action: international alumni as change makers)
• Ambassador Dr Urvashi Prasad, a Public Health Advisor in India, told how being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer at the age of 35 had inspired her to establish a project seeking ways to support young cancer sufferers and examine issues such as risk factors and screening guidelines. Rawan Taha from the UN World Food Programme in Namibia, told how her own period of graduate unemployment led her to form Job Key, an AI tool to guide and coach graduate job seekers. (Global citizenship in action: international alumni as change makers)
• Universities across the world have shared interests and should discuss ways to better influence their governments and demonstrate the value and contribution of higher education in many essential fields, such as health, trade, diplomacy and security, delegates said at a packed session on global engagement. (Higher education and global engagement; collaboration, influence, and the future of nation building)
• A "sneak preview" of the forthcoming report on the 2025 Global Perceptions research was given by Christine Wilson, the British Council's Director of Research and Insight. The US and the UK remain the most popular study destinations for young people across the G20 nations but other countries are catching up. (Higher education and global engagement: collaboration, influence, and the future of nation building)
• Other countries are marketing themselves by actively campaigning as being innovative, as being outward looking and attractive places to study, and this is having a real result for them. What we would posit from this new research is that the much-heralded Asian Century is upon us now, Christine Wilson, the British Council's Director of Research and Insight added. (Higher education and global engagement; collaboration, influence, and the future of nation building)

Key points from research launched/debated today

TNE in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) represents a “significant opportunity for the UK’s further education sector to contribute to global skills development while fostering long-term mutually-beneficial partnerships, according to a new research report launched in a breakfast session today.

The study, the first commissioned by the British Council to focus exclusively on TNE in TVET, concludes that future success in this area requires patient relationship-building, adequate financial support, and recognition of TVET’s unique characteristics and contributions.

The research, conducted by the Edge Foundation in partnership with the Association of Colleges, found that there is a growing international recognition of TVET’s importance for successful economic development, where there are requirements for technical skills and growing emphasis on lifelong learning and future-focused skills including green technologies and digital competencies. Simultaneously, rising graduate unemployment is creating demand for practical, employment-focused education, with arguably changing student preferences towards shorter, practically-oriented programmes.rowth has been boosted by technological advances which are expanding TNE delivery possibilities through AI, virtual reality, and augmented reality, which can enable remote practical training. Hybrid models can combine online preparation with intense face-to-face delivery, and virtual masterclasses can connect learners across geographical boundaries.

However, TNE in TVET faces a number of challenges, including financial barriers such as insufficient start-up funding and complex international payment systems; administrative complexities; political risks; and staffing constraints. The report recommends a number of practical steps to address these challenges, including providers developing contingency plans and maintaining strong and open dialogue between partners to mitigate against exposure to policy changes, geopolitical shifts and financial volatility.