Simon Marginson, University of Oxford
Lili Yang, University of Oxford
Ruth Hayhoe, University of Toronto
Xin Xu, University of Oxford
Rui Yang, The University of Hong Kong
CHAIR: Susan Robertson, University of Cambridge

What are the outcomes of higher education and how are these understood? These are ongoing questions for governments, scholar-researchers and those who work in the sector or use it. But the answers can vary across contexts. In this webinar Simon Marginson and Lili Yang approach the question by comparing the ‘public good’ outcomes of higher education through both Anglo-American and Chinese lenses. They review the scholarly discourses of society, state and higher education in both traditions, including individualism and collectivism, university autonomy, the critical function, higher education in civil society, and global tianxia and global common good. The two traditions are very different, but there is potential for agreement in most – though not all – areas. The webinar follows a symposium on these issues in a Special Issue of Globalisation, Societies and Education, edited by Susan Robertson, which consisted of one keynote paper by Marginson and Yang and six commentaries. Three of the commentators, Ruth Hayhoe, Xin Xu, and Rui Yang, join the webinar.