Public Money and Private Providers: Funding Channels and National Patterns in Four Countries

A rich body of literature has emerged that seeks to shed further light on how concepts like globalization and internationalization shape higher education systems and their institutions. This paper examines how the rise of private higher education in various national contexts has engendered global patterns of public financial support for private institutions and particularly the various ways in which public funding is channeled to such providers. A cross-national typology of public/private higher education sectors and a system-level map of how public funding is directed to institutions are both used to explain why different patterns may emerge. This framework is then used to examine the policies and practices in four representative systems: England, Germany, New Zealand, and the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. The available evidence suggests that in systems with weak or newly emerging private sectors, unclear regulations and concerns about quality implies that public funding tends to be channeled into private institutions indirectly (e.g. through tax-abatements and student financial aid). In systems where private institutions play a more substantial role, public funding is channeled to privates using a mix of indirect and direct mechanisms.     

Converge or not converge: the European Union and higher education policies in the Netherlands,Belgium/Flanders and Germany

This article examines the impact of European integration on higher education policies of the Netherlands, Belgium/Flanders and Germany. The analysis of higher education policies in the three countries is part of a broader project, which focuses on a majority of E.U. member states. The selection of the three countries for this paper is not based on any methodological considerations. The question addressed is if higher education policies of member states are converging, diverging or not changing at all, and whether such developments are a consequence of the policies of the European Union (E.U.) or of other factors (e.g., the globalization of the market or of institutions imitating each other). A preliminary assessment leads to the conclusion that a number of important indications of convergence are present in national policy arrangements in the field of higher education (in particular student mobility and quality assurance, but less in the structure of higher education systems My attention will be focused on the structure of higher education systems, on quality assurance and on student and teacher mobility. These domains appear to cover most relevant issues pertaining to higher education policies in the European Union member states (funding of higher education is sometimes considered as a separate domain, but it can also be regarded as an element of the structure of higher education systems, while it is also related to the issue of quality assurance).). The European Union, however, does not have much legal authority in the policy sector in question. Thus, an explanation for converging national policies may lie elsewhere, in part in the concept of “institutional isomorphism”.     

From Protest to Challenge: Leadership and Higher Education Change in South Africa

The paper explores theemerging, and different, approaches toleadership in higher education, especially howthese approaches have shaped organisationalchange strategies at South African highereducation institutions. These issues areexamined within the context of the changes thatfollowed the promulgation of the new highereducation policy framework, as well as theemerging challenges of globalisation. Thefocus of the analysis is on the changing roleof leadership in higher education, with aspecific emphasis on the role ofVice-Chancellors in institutionaltransformation.     

Confronting the Global and the Local – A Case Study of Chinese Higher Education

While most national systems ofhigher education are confronting seeminglyconvergent global pressures, specific nationalor local issues still mark the distinctfeatures of each system. Hence, highereducation, in places, has been enmeshed in thetensions between national issues and globalpressures. In China, both the global influencesand internal issues have become the majordriving forces for current higher educationreforms. This paper explores the specifictensions between global pressures and nationalissues with respect to Chinese higher educationin which political, economic and traditionaldimensions are focused.     

Global influences and local responses: The restructuring of the University of Botswana, 1990–2000

The University of Botswana has not escaped the reform fever currently gripping higher education institutions the world-over. In the late 1980s the University initiated an administrative/management restructuring exercise whose resultant structure was implemented between 1998 and 2000. The exercise, in many respects, was a response to globalization. The emergence, in the past two decades, of a global economy, the massification of higher education, and the globalization of neo-liberal economic thinking have compelled universities to recast their social and economic missions. Consequently, universities have had to restructure within the framework of a global ideology characterized by an emphasis on effectiveness, quality and efficiency. This paper explicates the restructuring exercise at the University of Botswana by locating the exercise within its global and local contexts. It argues that while the resultant structure reflected global influences and trends, it was as much a product of local concerns.     

Globalizing instructional materials:

Conclusion As global markets expand and distance education becomes more prevalent, higher education institutions will be competing for students from all over the world. Those institutions that implement globalization, internationalization, and localization into curriculum and the design of instructional materials will be successful in this changing market.     

Pedagogical perspectives on the relationships between higher education and working life

The relationship between higher educationinstitutions and their environment has changedmarkedly during the last two decades.Massification and diversification of the highereducation system, economic globalisation, novelmodes of knowledge production, new professionalrequirements and the establishment of newvocational higher education systems in manycountries have challenged higher educationinstitutions to develop new forms ofcollaboration with working life. The newsituation also challenges higher education todevelop pedagogical and educational thinkingand practices. The purpose of this article isto examine the pedagogical aspects of theincreasing interaction and collaboration thatis taking place between higher education andworking life and to outline what kind ofchallenges it poses for research on highereducation. It is emphasised that from thepedagogical viewpoint integration betweentheory and practice in work-based learning isessential. Our general conclusion is that therelationship between higher education andworking life should be examined at least fromfour different perspectives: (1) from theviewpoint of student learning and thedevelopment of expertise, (2) from the viewpointof educational institutions and staff, (3) fromthe viewpoint of working life organisations andemployers, and (4) from the viewpoint of societyand the system of education.     

I,Teacher: re‐territorialization of teachers’ multi‐faceted agency in globalized education

Analysis of teachers’ agency as multifarious change, embedded in educational reform in the global era, stands largely unexamined in educational policy. Although the concept of teachers as agents has political implications, beyond this, examining teachers’ agency offers ways of describing and reviewing changes to teachers’ work and relations within evolving education systems. Local systems draw from globally orientated education policies, which continue to influence to the way that local systems redesign education. In the global context, education systems are complex interactions between structure and agency, evidenced as ‘multiplicity undergoing change’. In other words, there is dynamic and dialectic interplay between structure and agency. Teachers’ agency, germane to dynamic interplay, means that teachers are not only engaging in the reproduction of structural change aligning globalization‐driven reforms to their work and practice, but also, in adapting and reacting to new structural conditions, they are transformed through their actions. In this paper, the focus becomes teachers’ agency as a framework for understanding how teachers are redesigned and reassembled to do things differently within restructured education systems. Finally, the discussion considers the possible consequences of teachers work and practice, given teachers’ agency relative to the macro policy of superfigures and the transitional national/global structures.     

National/Global Synergy in the Development of Higher Education and Science in China since 1978

The paper reviews the rapid development of higher education and science in China in the last forty years. It discusses the conditions and strategies of that development, including the ways that it embodies a distinctive Chinese approach to higher education. In particular, the paper reflects on the policies whereby China coordinated with globalization in higher education and science after 1978, in building national capacity and global influence. Scale, nation-state policy goals and accelerated investment on their own are necessary but not sufficient (otherwise Saudi Arabia’s research universities would be stronger than they are). The effective national/global synergy developed by China, made possible by the international openness and part-devolution to science communities that was implemented in the Deng Xiaoping era, has been crucial in the rapid rise of China’s universities and science. This national/global synergy—and its potentials, tensions and limits—in turn has determined the nature of the achievement and will shape its future evolution.     

Globalization and its challenges for developing countries: the case of Turkish higher education

This paper examines the challenges faced by the Turkish higher education system and exposes the inequities and realities educators in a developing nation must struggle with as they try to find a prestigious spot in the knowledge-production industry. After a brief overview of the literature that illustrates how globalization penetrated into each stage of development of Turkey’s modern institutions of higher education, the paper presents a discussion, based on national and international statistics, of the challenges these institutions face as a result of globalization, namely increasing demands for higher education; faculty shortages; the internationalization of higher education; research and knowledge production; and the process of financing higher education.     

Citizenship,citizenship education,and the state in China in a global age

Citizenship and citizenship education change during periods of social transition, such as globalization. As globalists have argued, while globalization undermines the state, local institutions, values, cultures, and identities, it also facilitates liberal democracy and a common consumer culture. Citizenship education is urged to respond to globalization and its impact on both global and local communities. In reality, virtually no nation state adopts merely global citizenship; rather, they adopt frameworks of multileveled/multidimensional citizenship. With particular reference to citizenship education in the People's Republic of China (PRC), this paper challenges globalists' views for over‐exaggerating the domination of global forces over domestic ones. In particular, the paper examines the complicated struggles associated with the reconfiguration of the PRC's socialist citizenship and citizenship education that have occurred in response to social changes, including globalization. The paper explains the role of the PRC's state in such reconfiguration and offers a new framework that regards citizenship education as being based on different players' sociopolitical selections from a multileveled polity.     

Globalization or Glocalization? Higher Education Reforms in Singapore

Globalization and the evolution of the knowledge‐based economy have caused dramatic changes to the character and functions of higher education in most countries around the world. However, the impacts of globalization on universities are not uniform though business‐like practices have been adopted to cope with competition in the global marketplace. The pressure for restructuring and reforming higher education is mainly derived from growing expectations and demands of different stakeholders in society. In recent years, widespread concerns over widened access, funding, accountability, quality, and managerial efficiency are perceived as the prominent global trends related to university education. Because of the divergent political, social, economic, cultural and historical backgrounds, national/local governments may adopt similar strategies in response to pressures generated from globalization. Nonetheless, through a close scrutiny of the ways that national policies are made, we may find that governments around the globe, particularly in East Asia, have tried to make use of the globalization discourse to address/justify the local policy/political agendas. This paper aims to examine the latest higher education reform initiatives proposed by the Singapore Government, with particular reference to reflect upon how the Singapore Government reforms its university systems in the context of globalization. It is argued that the latest comprehensive review of public university governance and funding brings about a changing role of the government in the regulation, finance and provision of higher education in Singapore and eventually alters the state‐university relationship.     

Does the Institutional Type Matter?: Slovak Higher Education on Its Way to Diversity

The paper focuses on the issue ofthe development of new institutional types inSlovak higher education. It is based on theempirical research conducted in 2001 among thesample of university graduates in Slovakia. Themain focus of the paper is the comparison ofpublic, non-state and private higher educationwith respect to their background, academicexperience and first labour market experienceafter graduation. The discussion of theseissues has shown that the road of Slovakia toan institutionally diversified higher educationsystem is still at its early stages. However,graduates from existing private highereducation institutions are competitive on thelabour market, and the same is true forgraduates from non-state (church) highereducation. The results of the study can be usedas an argument in favour of furtherdiversification of institutional types in thecontext of Slovak higher education.     

Applying the Varieties of Capitalism Approach to Higher Education: comparing the internationalisation of German and British universities

In recent years, the global market for higher education has expanded rapidly, while internationalisation strategies have been developed at university, national and European levels to increase the competitiveness of higher education institutions. This article asks how institutional settings prevailing in national models of capitalism motivate distinct national approaches with regard to the internationalisation, globalisation, and Europeanisation of higher education systems. While the university is defined as an organisational actor embedded in the higher education system, the higher education system itself represents an institutional subsystem within the national model of capitalism. An analytical framework is then developed on the basis of the Varieties of Capitalism approach to compare the internationalisation of German and British universities. Findings indicate that the relations between the various actors involved in the internationalisation of universities are based largely on market coordination in the British case. In contrast, this process in Germany relies more on strategic interactions between the various organisational actors in higher education. The development paths in the internationalisation of universities are found to be influenced by and reflect the specific mode of coordination in the respective higher education system and the national model of capitalism more generally. This comparative case study shows that recent conceptions of path dependence as well as conceptual tools developed in the Varieties of Capitalism literature, such as institutional complementarity and comparative institutional advantage, may be fruitfully applied to research on institutional change in higher education systems.     

The higher education system in Malaysia: Metropolitan,cross-national,peripheral or national?

This article initially outlines Clark's overall theoretical formulation of viewing higher education institutions in terms of academic organization governed by elements which are unique to the system and a disciplinary logic. These unique attributes have, according to Clark, a cross-national convergence. The article then goes on to demonstrate through an analysis of the origin, growth and development of a study of the Malaysian higher education system that the overall theoretical formulation of Clark has an inherent weakness, as it under-plays the role national policies and environmental imperatives play in determining national higher educational systems. However, Clark's theoretical framework, barring these limitations, does provide a useful tool to systematically study how higher education systems are organized and governed in different cultural milieux. In spite of their wider environmental constraints, specific higher education systems have evolved and retained certain basic features and elements which are cross-national in character.An earlier version of this article was presented at the Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society, in Houston, Texas in March, 1984.I wish to thank Michael Olivas, Philip Altbach, Gail Kelly, S. Gopinathan, Peter Williams, Vimala Nambiar and Alec Ross for their comments on an earlier version of this article.     

Seeking excellence in the move to a mass system: Institutional responses of key Chinese comprehensive universities

Since the late 1990s the Chinese government has implemented two key policies for the development of higher education. The first was launching Project 985, with the purpose of seeking excellence through creating internationally competitive universities. The second was a radical move to a mass system of higher education. In this context, China’s top universities have faced dual missions, each with their challenges: playing key roles in the revolutionary expansion process on the one hand and closing the gap between them and top universities around the world through the implementation of Project 985, on the other. It is thus important to know about how these institutions have transformed themselves for excellence through the implementation of these policies. With the three cases of Peking, Nanjing and Xiamen Universities, this paper aims to examine each institutional response and the broad changes that have come about in these top Chinese comprehensive universities. It looks especially at the divergent trajectories these institutions have followed in balancing their elite and mass education functions, their global, national and local missions, the pursuit of excellence alongside of a commitment to equity, efforts at curricular comprehensivization while preserving unique historical strengths, and finally globalization and localization. From two higher education frameworks, one based on epistemological considerations and the other on political philosophy, that are equally important in light of China’s traditions, the paper concludes that Chinese universities will continuously but selectively respond to the national expansion policy with various institutional models of seeking excellence that enable them to contribute to Chinese society and the global community in the future.     

University reform in the post-massification era in Japan: analysis of government education policy for the 21st century

Japanese higher education institutions have experienced major reforms in the 1990s. These reforms were voluntarily promoted by the universities, and were aimed at transforming research-oriented faculties, or research centered organizations, to teaching and student centered universities. However, at the turn of the millennium, a new reform movement emerged, more economic centered, more market conscious and more influenced by the policy shift toward deregulation. In the 21st century, Japanese higher education institutions will face retrenchment, post-massification, and globalization.This paper examines government higher education policy and Japanese higher education reform movements in the globalization and post-massification eras. First, issues surrounding Japanese higher education in an era of post-massification will be set out. Secondly, the direction of higher education policy will be examined and compared with the higher education policies of some Western countries. Finally, the impact of the policy shift toward higher education institutions and the existing structural problems around Japanese higher education will be analyzed.     

Education reform and the global regulation of teachers’ education,development and work: A cross-cultural analysis

Current trends toward international accountability and standards adoption is strongly influenced by economic globalization forces as nations attempt to become competitive in the global market and try to shape their education systems to provide those skills needed in the growing global economy. As more rigorous research helps to uncover the important role of effective teachers on student learning, global and national policy increasingly points to teachers as a major factor on increasing learning and quality. Throughout the issue we examine the forces internal and global influencing policies directed at teachers in policy contexts lacking systematic and rigorous empirical evidence on the effectiveness of regulatory mechanisms introduced to control the teaching profession such as standard setting, teacher testing, evaluation and accreditation of teacher preparation.