UK votes to exit EU

The decision is in - the UK will leave the EU. By a narrow margin of votes, the citizens have determined that leaving the EU serves their interests more than staying. Higher education officials offered several statements accepting the exit vote and promising to seek ways to preserve the opportunities for student mobility and research partnerships, even though the UK will no longer be an official EU member. Julia Goodfellow, President of Universities UK, announced, "Although this is not an outcomes that we wished or campaigned for, we respect the decision of the U.K. electorate. We should remember that leaving the E.U. will not happen overnight - there will be a gradual exit process with significant opportunities to seek assurances and influence future policy."

Leading up to the Brexit vote, higher education officials in the U.K. actively campaigned to stay affiliated with the E.U. Their rational was that colleges and universities around the world are interdependent - changes in one country impact the flow of students, faculty, research, and knowledge creation in many others. Projections were that the proposal to exit the EU could profoundly impact the higher education sector in the UK, resulting in shifting opportunities and alliances in other countries.

Now that the UK has voted to exit the EU, one of the first things that will happen is that financial assistance to UK universities will decline. Fees to non-UK students will probably increase, which could result in international students choosing other countries. Dropping student numbers will result in a loss of revenue but more importantly, it could undermine the inflow of talent that higher education brings through hosting students on international study. The U.S.A. may benefit from an exodus of scholars and students who leave the UK but the world economy may destabilize as the European economy triggers economic decline in places farther afield?

A perspective by Elizabeth Redden predicted that the implications of the UK vote were anything but clear. A quote from Menon of the "UK in a changing world initiative" suggested less impact than many predict - "Some of the best scientists in the E.U. are based in Britain; why would they not want to work with us?" Menon stressed that the ultimate outcome is dependent on negotiations and now those negotiations will begin.

Students overwhelming opposed the Brexit proposal: Megan Dunn, President of the UK student union said, "We have urgent questions about how the vote to leave will affect students, particularly E.U. students in the U.K. and U.K. students studying in the E.U., and call on the government to offer clear assurances to them about their situation." UK higher education officials have attempted to reassure international students studying in the country, including statements that E.U. students from outside the U.K. will retain their financial packages through to the completion of their degrees. Indeed, Eric Stoller's article brought into full relief that those with higher levels of education in the U.K. strongly opposed the Brexit proposal. The pattern of fear of globalization and shrinking to nationalistic isolation is clearly evident in the U.K. as it is presently in the U.S.A.

One of the other complicating factors in the Brexit debate and vote was the growing sense that "experts" spun a perspective that maintained the status quo. An increasing number of Brits don't trust academics' take on issues like the economic and political welfare of the country. Inequality and imbalances in influence may be at the core of the mistrust - "rising inequality provides a background to collapsing trust in many sources of authority, not just academic expertise... If many people think that the system is not delivering for them, they are unlikely to think very much of the people in charge" opined Paul Whitely, a professor at Essex University.