Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Higher Education Transformations for Global Competitiveness: Policy Responses, Social Consequences and Impact on the Academic Profession in Asia

  • Article
  • Published:
Higher Education Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, the pressure of globalization and the pressing demands of a knowledge economy led to a series of educational reforms. The focus of these was the promotion of quality education and massification of higher education. After the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the governments in different parts of Asia have implemented comprehensive reforms to their higher education systems in order to enhance their global competiveness. Confronted with increasing pressure for global university ranking, governments and universities in Asia have tried to adopt different strategies in terms of special funding schemes, and different forms of measures in shaping teaching, learning and research activities to enhance their global ranking. This article sets out against the context briefly outlined above to highlight major higher education transformations for global competitiveness, with particular reference to discuss policy responses, social consequences, and impact on the academic profession in Asia especially when major attention is geared towards the quest for global university ranking among universities in Asia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Starting salary index is defined as a measure of yearly starting salaries of graduates for the average monthly salary of urban employees.

References

  • Bettinger, E.P. and Bridget, T.L. (2009) ‘Addressing the needs of under-prepared students in higher education: does college remediation work?’ Journal of Human Resources 44 (3): 736–771.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, P., Lauder, H. and Ashton, D. (2011) The Global Auction: The Broken Promises of Education, Jobs, and Incomes, New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calderon, A. (2012) ‘Massification continues to transform higher education’, University World News, 2 September, http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120831155341147, accessed 7 June 2014.

  • Carnoy, M., Loyalka, P., Dobryakova, M., Dossani, R., Froumin, I., Kuhns, K., Tilak, J.B.G. and Wang, R. (2013) University Expansion in a Changing Global Economy: Triumph of the BRICs? Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, S.J. and Mok, K.H. (2014) ‘The Quest for the Entrepreneurial University in Taiwan: Policies, Practices and Academic Reflections on University—Enterprise Cooperation’, in J. Hawkins and K.H. Mok (eds.) Research, Development and Innovation in Asia Pacific Higher Education, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, D.W. (2009) Higher Education in East Asia, Washington DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chou, K.L. (2013) ‘Education inequality in higher education in Hong Kong’, Press Conference of the Study on Education Opportunity and Social Classes in Hong Kong, March, Hong Kong Institute of Education.

  • Clark, B. (1998) Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organizational Pathways of Transformation, Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, B. (2004) Sustaining Change in Universities: Continuities in Case Studies and Concepts, Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J.S., Campbell, E.Q., Hobson, C.J., McPartland, J., Mood, A.M., Weinfeld, F.D. and York, R.C. (1966) Equality of Educational Opportunity, 3rd edn, New Hampshire: Salem.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, A. and Mok, K.H. (2013) ‘Expansion of higher education, changing labor market needs and social mobility: A dialogue between Europe and East Asia’. Paper presented at the 2013 Annual Conference of The Hong Kong Educational Research Association Managing International Connectivity and Diversity: Experiences of Asian World Cities, 22 February, Hong Kong.

  • Haveman, R.H. and Smeeding, T.M. (2006) ‘The role of higher education in social mobility’, The Future of children 16 (2): 125–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, R. (2012) ‘Aligning Universities and Higher Education Systems with the Challenges of Emergent Knowledge Economies’, in D. Neubauer (ed.) The Emergent Knowledge Society and the Future of Higher Education, London: Routledge, pp. 41–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, J. and Lee, J. (2014) ‘An Analytical Framework for Education Hubs’, in J. Knight (ed.) International Education Hubs: Student, Talent, Knowledge-Innovation Models, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 29–42.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ku, Y.W. (2014) ‘Democracy without governance: Policy failure in Taiwan’. Paper presented at the Inaugural Conference of NYU-ECNU Institute for Social Development at New York University Shanghai Campus, 28–29 June, Shanghai, China.

  • Marginson, S. (2014) ‘Academic freedom: a global comparative approach’, Frontiers of Education in China 9 (1): 24–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mok, K.H. (2012) ‘The quest for innovation and entrepreneurship: the changing role of university in East Asia’, Globalization, Education and Society 10 (3): 317–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mok, K.H. (2013a) The Quest for Entrepreneurial Universities in East Asia, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mok, K.H. (2013b) ‘The quest for an entrepreneurial university in East Asia: impact on academics and administrators in higher education’, Asia Pacific Education Review 14 (1): 11–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mok, K.H. and Bodycott, P. (2014) ‘Hong Kong: The Quest for Regional Education Hub Status’, in J. Knight (ed.) International Education Hubs — Student, Talent, Knowledge-Innovations Models, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 81–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mok, K.H. and Nelson, A. (2013) ‘The changing roles of academics and administrators in times of uncertainty’, Asia Pacific Education Review 14 (1): 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mok, K.H., Yu, K.M. and Ku, Y.W. (2013) ‘After massification of higher education: the quest for entrepreneurial university and technological advancement in Taiwan’, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 35 (3): 264–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neubauer, D. and Hawkins, J. (2014) ‘The many faces of Asia Pacific higher education in the era of massification’. Paper presented at the Senior Seminar on The Many Faces of Asia Pacific Higher Education in the Era of Massification, 17–19 October, Hong Kong.

  • Shaw, M.A., Chapman, D.W. and Rumyantseva, N.L. (2011) ‘Caught in a double bind: The impacts of the Bologna process on academic staff in Ukraine’, Higher Education Management and Policy 23 (3): 71–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sporn, B. (1999) Adaptive University Structures: An analysis of Adaptation of Socioeconomic Environments of US and European Universities, London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, A. and Yolcu, H. (eds.) (2014) Neo-liberal Educational Reforms: A Critical Analysis, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, L. and Mok, K.H. (2014) ‘The Impacts of Neo-Liberalism on Higher Education in China’, in A. Turner and H. Yolcu (eds.) Neo-liberal Educational Reforms: A Critical Analysis, London: Routledge, pp. 139–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wen, D. (2005) ‘‘jiating beijing dui wo guo daodeng jiaoyu jihui ji biye sheng jiuye de yingxiang’ (The impacts of SES on higher education opportunity and graduate employment in China)’, beijing daxue jiaoyu pinglun (Peking University Education Review) 3 (3): 58–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolverton, M. (2014) ‘Creating Creative Creators: China and the United State’s Common Quest’, in Q. Li and C. Gerstl-Pepin (eds.) Survival of the Fittest: The Shifting Contours of Higher Education in China and the United States, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 3–12.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P.K. (ed.) (2011) Academic Entrepreneurship in Asia: The Role and Impact of Universities in National Innovation Systems, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Yue, C.J. (2012) ‘‘gao xiao bi ye sheng jiu ye zhuang kuang fen xi: 2003–2011’ (A comparative study on graduates employment survey: 2003–2011)’, Peking University Education Review 10 (1): 32–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zha, Q. and Lin, J. (2014) ‘China’s Move to Mass Higher Education: Analyzing the Policy Execution with a ‘NATO-Scheme’’, in Q. Li and C. Gerstl-Pepin (eds.) Survival of the Fittest: The Shifting Contours of Higher Education in China and the United States, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 29–40.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author wants to thank the Research Grant Council of the HKSAR government for providing funding support to conduct the fieldwork and survey in different East Asian countries. Part of the findings reported in the present paper (particularly the discussion on university–enterprise cooperation and academic reflections) is generated from the funded project HKIEd GRF 750210 ‘Fostering Entrepreneurship and Innovation: A Comparative Study of Changing Roles of Universities in East Asia’.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Asian and Policy Studies, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10 Lo Ping Road Tai Po, N.T., Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

    Ka Ho Mok

Authors
  1. Ka Ho Mok
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mok, K. Higher Education Transformations for Global Competitiveness: Policy Responses, Social Consequences and Impact on the Academic Profession in Asia. High Educ Policy 28, 1–15 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2014.27

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2014.27

Keywords

Search

Navigation