Globalisation, social policy and international standard-setting: the case of higher education credentials

Social policies are, to an increasing extent, shaped by international stand ards and regulations. This international standard-setting can be seen as an attempt to grapple with the challenges of globalisation. However, what is unclear is how far the pressures of globalisation and the processes of inte rnational standard-setting leave any scope for policy choice, whether at in ternational, national or sub-national level. This paper focuses on the spec ific case of higher education. It argues that the development of internatio nal standards and the convergence of national standards must be understood by reference to the interests and strategies of various stakeholders, inclu ding national governments, social elites and higher education institutions themselves. International markets and international standards are political ly constructed and neither globalisation nor international standard-setting can be seen as inexorable and apolitical processes.