Introduction

Social enterprise has become an increasingly important factor in societal issues in a local, national and global context (Sinclair et al., 2018; Park et al., 2017; Moizer and Tracey, 2010). In respect of higher education, in many subject areas social enterprise has been perceived as a linchpin, bringing different stakeholders together (Oberoi et al., 2018a; Sutton, 2018; Hoefer and Sliva, 2016; Rae, 2010). Therefore, the aim of Chapter 1 of this book is to set the scene of the key debates around social enterprise in a globalised world. The authors of this chapter begin with a theoretical discussion of the key processes of globalisation and the ways in which the theoretical approach has been forced to adjust in the age of austerity. Then, in the second part of the chapter the authors provide an overview of higher education in a historical context, the changes and where we might be headed. Moving on from this, the chapter will examine the emergence of social enterprise in a societal setting and how the concept is viewed in the higher education sector. Finally, the chapter concludes with an overview of each forthcoming chapter to provide the reader with some insight into the specific topics they discuss.