Introduction

In recent decades, trends, such as educational expansion and globalization, have caused structural changes in higher education worldwide. To successfully place higher education institutions in an environment characterized by global competition, various nations have launched excellence initiatives that pursue the goal of producing universities that attain the label of “excellent”, “world-class”, or “elite”. These institutions are perceived as developing future leaders who foster positive change in society.

Against this background, initiatives that foster elite higher education institutions must include various institutional factors. To holistically design initiatives an understanding of what constitutes an elite higher education institution is necessary. Against the background of the institutions’ relevance for developing leaders for society, investigating their connection to leadership education must be addressed as well.

This book adopts a future-oriented perspective, developing scenarios that consider a variety of future developments which influence higher education as a whole and elite institutions in particular.