Alexander W. Wiseman is Associate Professor in the College of Education at Lehigh University and Coordinator of the Comparative and International Education Program.

Professional Activities

Dr. Wiseman is interested in both comparing American education with schooling that occurs in other nations as well as investigating and understanding global trends in education. He publishes, teaches, and speaks regularly on a wide range of topics including:

1. •internationally comparative analyses of national educational systems
   

2. •school organization, leadership and management
   

3. •global and national educational policy
   

4. •the transition from school to work
   

5. •gender issues in education
   

Dr. Wiseman’s publications include numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and several books. Some of his recent books are The Employability Imperative: Schooling for Work as a National Project (Nova Science, 2007), Education for All: Global Promises, National Challenges (Elsevier/JAI, 2007), and Principals under Pressure: The Growing Crisis (Scarecrow Education, 2005).

His current projects include the implementation and analysis of national educational testing and training systems, a study of the professionalization of comparative and international education, a cross-national study of youth political socialization in schools and an internationally comparative study of gender-segregated national school systems.

Comparative & International Education Program

Based on a clear and distinctive conception of globalization and contextualization, the CIE program goes hand in hand with the university-wide vision of “Global Lehigh.” While the CIE program is based in the COE, it contributes significantly to the larger goals of Lehigh University and provides momentum to take Lehigh towards the university-wide goal of internationalization.

This academic program has the strength of building on the worldwide network in the College of Education, which was developed by the COE’s Office of International Programs (OIP). Our continued collaboration with the OIP creates global opportunities for Lehigh through the development of new academic degree programs focusing on comparative and international education. This gives Lehigh a preexisting global position to rapidly internationalize the university’s student community and build international partnerships with other universities and educational organizations.

The Comparative and International Education program also expands and sustains the international initiatives currently underway at Lehigh University (such as the UN/Lehigh connection, “Globalization and Social Change” initiative, study abroad programs) as well as creating new ones (such as engaging students in international field-research, international education development consultancies, and assisting in journal/book editing in comparative and international education). As such, the program makes a significant contribution to the internationalization of the COE and university-wide transformation into a more globalized institution.  

If you are interested in learning more about the existing degree programs in Comparative and International Education at Lehigh or just have questions about global educational issues, please visit our website or contact us.