Here we argue that Africa at first appears least ready for a Liberal Management Education because of the historical challenges to organizing higher education in general in Africa. But we contradict this assumption by laying out a potential African-centred management education that draws on indigenous theories and practices of oganisation as they meet global markets and global demands.

Open admission approaches offer a mechanism to reduce barriers for students whose backgrounds are disadvantaged or underprivileged. Institutions with open admissions provide higher education opportunities to many types of students including those who need or wish to reduce the costs of a more selective four-year institution, those who are seeking vocational or technical education, those who may need further academic preparation, and those who do not qualify for admissions to other, more competitive institutions. This chapter discusses the issues surrounding the open admissions model, including the benefits and challenges of implementing such a model. Avenues for future research and applications of an open admissions model are also discussed.

This chapter proposes the use of a mathematical approach that helps support the access and diversity goals of higher education institutions while still maintaining academic standards. This approach, called constrained optimization, allows both academic requirements and other factors – race/ethnicity, income level, social status, geographic region, educational background – to be considered during the admissions process. While diversity efforts vary by country and institution, constrained optimization seeks to improve higher education access for particular groups of students. As such, this may be a useful approach for ensuring that the multiple objectives of the admissions process of any country are achieved.

Examining the Pareto Circle of thinkers who gathered at Harvard as many disciplines were beginning to articulate themselves and their methods, we look at the interdisciplinary birth of business studies and at the case study method. We argue that this history should be remembered, taught, and utliized in new interdisciplinary pursuits by management education and management studies more generally.

Presents opening arguments for a Liberal Management Education based on a reading of the historical development of the university. Using Emmanuel Kant’s work to update the purpose of management education today.

Promoting student access in higher education institutions in South Africa remains a challenge given the limitations and resources that institutions face. The chapter presents a brief history of schooling in South Africa, describes the transition towards fair and equal higher education admissions, and details the policies, practices, and criteria associated with admissions. A discussion of the National Benchmark Tests is also provided. Finally, the chapter discusses issues related to ensuring access, success, and sustainability of the higher education system in South Africa.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are key strengths of higher education institutions and are fundamental to achieving excellence in learning, teaching, and research. This chapter focuses on cross-cultural and global competencies and how they contribute to a more inclusive and diverse campus. The chapter provides a discussion of Indigenous Canadian students and how culturally inclusive approaches to admissions contributes to decolonizing practices in higher education. It also provides a summary on the significant growth and demand of international student mobility to Canadian universities, the need for Canadian students to gain cross-culturalcompetence by studying abroad, and the policies and practices that could be used to emphasize cross-cultural and global competencies for learners.

This chapter discusses the use of assessments of language proficiency in admissions decisions. Assessments of language proficiency are increasingly important given the rising numbers of international students studying abroad, the increasing numbers of refugees and students who need to demonstrate their linguistic preparedness for academic study, and the importance of language support programs for students not meeting particular language requirements. The chapter describes the need for students to have a level of language proficiency that represents minimum entrance requirements as one condition for academic success. Finally, the chapter discusses the importance of using benchmarks and standards to inform college-admissions decisions meaningfully as well as additional challenges institutions face in predicting students’ academic success.

In the conclusion we suggest that the stakes are high - that the challenges facing universities, and especially facing disciplines that remain in isolation from each other grow greater everyday and that we are entering a period of political uncertainty about higher education. We show the way Liberal Management Education creates a solidarity and a winning alternative to the crisis we face in both higher education and increasingly in our societies as a whole.

This chapter presents a case study of Queen Mary University of London and its School of Business and Management. It describes the transformation of the undergraduate curriculum into a Liberal Management Education. We discuss the importance of a public research programme as a spur to the growth of Liberal Management Education.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by OECD, produces every three years a very comprehensive database on the skills of 15-year-old students from a large number of countries in mathematics, reading, and science. In addition to the data on skills, PISA also collects data on student background, interests, and aspirations. Students are also asked about their expected highest level of education. In social media and in reports, OECD distributes country averages of educational expectations, a data summary that is critically evaluated in this chapter.

This chapter continues the historical investigation in subsequent decades, covering the Cold War, new interdisciplinary initiatives and hidden connections between key thinkers. We look particularly at the experimental interdisciplinarity of James March especially in light of Herbert Marcuse’s work and influences.

The three chapters in this part move beyond current concepts of higher education admissions. They present alternatives as to how the admissions process might be conceived and maintained. Taking into account threats related to fairness, diversity, and access, the chapters propose new frameworks for conceptualizing what the role of higher education should be and methods for rethinking the assessments used as part of admissions.