Glocalization of Higher Education in a Post-Socialist Country: The Case of Lithuania

Abstract

The paper focuses on some aspects of reforming higher education in a post-socialist country. The study is based on a case analysis of transformations in Lithuanian higher education and addresses the overarching research question — why post-socialist countries, which three decades ago had similar or almost identical educations systems, moved along different trajectories of change instead of initially predicted further convergence. Changes in a period of transition moved some countries closer to the predominant Western system of higher education, while some other former Soviet republics maintained many elements of the previous model or chose alternative paths of development. We assume that globalization of education still remains the driving force for many educational changes in post-socialist area. However, the Soviet legacy and other country-specific factors modify the rationale and the contents of the reforms which implies different final results. The level of socio-economic development is another extremely important factor which determines the quality and scope of education reforms. In comparative research we encounter the phenomena which is called glocalization — global developments in a specific area mix with local culture produce the specific outcomes. The study reveals that the global trends of standardization, marketization, accountability and cost-effectiveness to a certain extent correspond with the Soviet tradition of unification, lack of trust and punitive nature of controlling institutions. In Lithuanian case the Western ideas of reforming higher education were accepted selectively and stimulated reforms, which in general followed the common post-socialist pattern of „path dependency“ but at the same time produced some interesting country-specific outcomes.