International Higher Education

Envisioning the Asian New Flagship University: Its Past and Vital Future by John Aubrey Douglass and John N. Hawkins (August 2017)

John Aubrey Douglass
John N. Hawkins
2017

This book explores the history of leading national universities in Asia and contemplates their capacity for innovation by focusing on the New Flagship University model. This model, presented more fully in The Flagship University Model – Changing the Paradigm from Global Ranking to National Relevancy (2016), envisions the university as an institution that not only meets the standards of excellence focused on research productivity and rankings, but...

Neo-Nationalism and Universities: Populists, Autocrats and the Future of Higher Education

John Aubrey Douglass
2021

The rise of neo-nationalism is having a profound and troubling impact on leading national universities and the societies they serve. This is the first comparative study of how today’s right-wing populist movements and authoritarian governments are threatening higher education.

Universities have long been at the forefront of both national development and global integration. But the political and policy world in which they operate is undergoing a transition, one that is reflective of a significant change in domestic politics and international relations: a populist turn inward among a...

Two City-States in the Long Shadow of China: The Future of Universities in Hong Kong and Singapore by Bryan Penprase and John Aubrey Douglass CSHE 10.21 (September 2021)

Bryan Penprase
John Aubrey Douglass
2021

Hong Kong and Singapore are island city-states that exude the complicated tensions of postcolonial nationalism. Both are influenced directly or indirectly by the long shadow of China’s rising nationalism and geopolitical power and, in the case of Hong Kong, subject to Beijing’s edicts under the terms of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. Both have productive economies dependent on global trade, and each has similar rates of population density--Hong Kong’s population is 7.4 million and Singapore is home to 5.8 million people. It remains to be seen whether Hong Kong’s peripheral...

SCIENCE AND SECURITY: Strengthening US-China Research Networks Through University Leadership by Brad Farnsworth CSHE 11.21 (September 2021)

Brad Farnsworh
2021

This paper describes the current criticisms of academic research collaboration between the US and China and proposes a university-led initiative to address those concerns. The article begins with the assertion that bilateral research collaboration has historically benefitted both countries, citing cooperation in virology as an example. The paper continues with a discussion of the criticisms leveled by several US government agencies against the Chinese government, especially with regard to the Thousand Talents Program (TTP). A close examination of publicly available appointment letters...

Role of University International Partnerships for Research & Education: Leaders’ Critical Insights & Recommendations by William Lacy et al. CSHE 4.22 (June 2022)

William B. Lacy
Jean-Yves Merilus
Xiaoguang Liu
Laura R. Lacy
2022

International partnerships have become increasingly important for the mission and goals of universities and colleges globally. Understanding the nature of these partnerships and the perspectives of their senior leaders is critical. Senior international officers (SIOs) at 59 US public and private universities and colleges and 4 non-US universities completed surveys regarding: goals and criteria for developing the partnerships; number and country of their partners; types of existing partnerships; ways the university/college promotes/rewards international partnerships; challenges faced and...

International Education in a World of New Geopolitics: A Comparative Study of US and Canada by Roopa Desai Trilokekar, CSHE 5.22 (July 2022)

Roopa Desai Trilokekar
2022

This paper examines how international education (IE) as a tool of government foreign policy is challenged in an era of new geopolitics, where China’s growing ambitions have increased rivalry with the West. It compares U.S. and Canada as cases first, by examining rationales and approaches to IE in both countries, second, IE relations with China before conflict and third, current controversies and government policy responses to IE relations with China. The paper concludes identifying contextual factors that shape each country’s engagement with IE, but suggests that moving forward, the future...

A Case for For-Profit Private Higher Education in India by Asha Gupta, CSHE 8.22 (October 2022)

Asha Gupta
2022

India has the credit of running the second largest higher education system in terms of institutions worldwide, despite having only 26.3% Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER), including vocational education. It aspires to achieve a target of 50% GER by 2035. It means it would require a larger number of higher education institutions (HEIs), public and private, in addition to huge fiscal resources. At present about 75% of the HEIs are privately managed with about 66% of student enrolment. Though there is no provision of for-profit higher education institutions in India, many non-profit private HEIs...

Strengthening the Liberal Arts Along the Pacific Rim: The Pacific Alliance of Liberal Arts Colleges (PALAC) by Bryan E. Penprase and Thomas Schneider, CSHE 2.23 (April 2023)

Bryan Edward Penprase, Thomas Schneider
2023

While international alliances among research universities are relatively well established, the challenges for the small liberal arts college to execute a meaningful global collaboration can be much more difficult, due both to the much smaller size of the institution, its more limited resources, and its smaller and more intimate culture centered on undergraduate teaching and learning. A new alliance of liberal arts colleges known as the Pacific Alliance of Liberal Arts Colleges (PALAC) was established in 2021 with the purpose to better articulate the global components of liberal arts...

The Attractiveness of European Higher Education Systems: A Comparative Analysis of Faculty Remuneration and Career Paths by Alice Civera, Erik E. Lehmann, Michele Meoli & Stefano Paleari, CSHE.1.23 (March 2023)

Alice Civera; Erik E. Lehmann; Michele Meoli; Stefano Paleari
2023

The academic professoriate is a determinant of successful higher education systems. Yet, recently, worsening conditions of employment, deteriorating salaries, and threats to job security have made the academic profession less attractive, especially to young scholars, in several countries. This paper investigates the salaries as well as the recruitment and retention procedures in public higher education institutions from a cross country perspective. The UK, Germany, France, and Italy are adopted as case studies to determine the attractiveness of European higher education systems. The...

Here and Abroad, Universities Face an Autocratic Playbook. Academe (AAUP Publication), November 2023

John Aubrey Douglass
2023