Development Studies Education in Universities in the New Millennium: A United Kingdom Perspective

Abstract

This paper examines recent trends in development studies education in the UK, and considers their relevance for Japanese universities. The UK development studies sector has expanded its student numbers greatly in the past two decades. However, its growth has been conditioned by financial pressures and by increasing external evaluation of its teaching and research. While these external pressures to some extent have improved teaching quality and research performance, they also have diverted staff efforts towards the short term and towards money making. One by-product of the need to recruit overseas fee-paying students is that the UK now is playing a significant role in educating a new generation of Japanese development professionals. Some problems are common to both countries, such as how to combine multi-disciplinarity with professional training, and how to help students gain the initial experience necessary to establish themselves in a career.