It is vexing. This review may be dismissed as an “angry feminist rant” about the recently published ode to hegemonic masculinity, Males and Tertiary Education in Jamaica. The book continues a rather curious peregrination into the so-called “crisis” of Jamaican masculinity. The authors, Herbert Gayle (a social anthropologist) and Peisha Bryan (a social sector specialist) examine the “plight of males” as it relates to their level of “investment” in education.

“Internationalization of Tertiary Education in the Caribbean'' refers, at least in part, to the extent to which the Anglophone Caribbean provides access to higher education at international standards of quality, scope, cost, and relevance. Anglophone Caribbean nations have responded to this internationalization challenge and significantly increased enrolment ratios, often driven by public investment, in an effort to align more closely their ratios with international rates of tertiary education coverage.

This study examines the performance of a sample of 900 students who graduated in 2004 from the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies. This analysis of student performance is conducted against the background of considerable changes in tertiary education systems. These changes are requiring universities to place much greater emphasis on self-study, and on ensuring that they are performing efficiently in all areas, including the area of student transformation, which is an area of performance linked, at least in part, to academic results.

The countries of the Anglophone Caribbean wish to have their tertiary education systems play a more significant role in nation building, consistent with a developing consensus on the critical role of tertiary education in processes of national development. However, they are confronted with two problems: the first is their comparatively low levels of tertiary-level enrolment; the second is their comparatively high levels of national debt. The challenges of financing tertiary education are therefore particularly acute in the region.

In this policy analysis paper, the goal is to identify a suitable policy from some alternatives to address the shortage of human capital development in Jamaica. According to the Taskforce on Higher Education and Society (2000), higher education is the vehicle that developing countries must use to drive economic advancement and build their competitive edge. It is because of this kind of admonition that this paper specifically explores opportunities within the Jamaican higher education system for a possible course of action for government and other stakeholders.

This paper discusses the technical, humanistic, and critical paradigms presented by Plumb and Welton (2001) in making the case that all three dimensions are essential to the education of individuals who will function effectively in a context of rapid social and technological change and numerous social problems.