A farewell to internationalisation? Striking a balance between global ambition and local needs in higher education in Taiwan

The literature suggests that recent years have witnessed a fundamental shift in higher education internationalisation. This paper argues that a reorientation of policy, which is upheld through an initiative known as the Higher Education Sprout Project, indicates the fundamental shift in higher educa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Higher education 2020-09, Vol.80 (3), p.497-510
Main Authors: Lo, William Yat Wai, Hou, Angela Yung-Chi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambition
Aspiration
China
Competition
Developing countries
East Asia
Education
Education policy
Educational Change
Educational Policy
Egalitarianism
Elitism
Equal Education
Foreign Countries
Global Approach
Globalization
Higher Education
Hong Kong
Institutional Characteristics
Intention
International Education
Local Issues
ORIGINAL PAPERS
Performance indicators
Policy Analysis
Policy making
Political Influences
Politics
Problems
Reforms
Reputation
Selective Admission
Taiwan
Teaching
United Kingdom
Universities
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The literature suggests that recent years have witnessed a fundamental shift in higher education internationalisation. This paper argues that a reorientation of policy, which is upheld through an initiative known as the Higher Education Sprout Project, indicates the fundamental shift in higher education internationalisation in Taiwan. The paper begins with an explanation of how the notion of world-class university induced elitism in East Asian higher education. Next, it reviews the last two decades of Taiwan’s efforts on developing world-class universities. In particular, the paper explains how perceived domestic problems in higher education, such as an overemphasis on certain performance indicators and the resulting effects of homogenisation, and the phenomenon of emphasising research but neglecting teaching, are considered the consequences of emphasising global competition and the associated quest for building world-class universities. The paper argues that the recent policy change reveals an intention to uphold egalitarianism, thereby reaching a balance between fulfilling global ambition and addressing local needs in higher education. This intention highlights the political essence of internationalisation policy for higher education. It also reaffirms the significance of the global–local dynamics in higher education policy.
ISSN:0018-1560
1573-174X
DOI:10.1007/s10734-019-00495-0