First among the former was financialization, or the trend wherein our economy has become increasingly oriented toward managing financial wealth as opposed to the production of commodities.

FORBES: The Great Recession: How We Got Here (and How to Get Out)

The rise of the new, more vocationally oriented degree, often at the expense of older, academic degrees, follows a trend set in America.

ECONOMIST: Education: Degrees of choice | The

One unfortunate trend with the growth of higher education has been an increasing emphasis on exam and grades oriented learning, fueled by the proliferation of competitive entrance exams for science, engineering, medicine, law, etc. and tutorial centres who compete to prepare the students for these exams.

FORBES: From Vedas To Cloud: The Transformation Of Education In India

Zuckerberg, 27, and Brin, 39, contributed to a trend noted by the chronicle -- and likely spurred by the emergence of the youth-oriented tech field.

CNN: Facebook's Zuckerberg is nation's No. 2 charitable donor