Changing governance in higher education

: a comparative study of Hong Kong and Taiwan

Abstract

In recent years, there have been widespread concerns about the changing role of state and higher education, particularly in the context of the emerging global trend of decentralization and marketization in education. Higher education in different parts of the globe has experienced ‘changing governance’. This dissertation is set against the wider context discussed above to examine whether and how higher education in Hong Kong and Taiwan has been affected by global trends of marketization and decentralization, with particular reference to changing governance in higher education. The principal goal of this research is to examine whether there are, and the theoretical implications behind, the fundamental shift of governance model, in which governments “steer rather than row the boat”—facilitate non-state sectors to provide, finance and regulate rather than centralize higher education by themselves. More specially, this study focuses on three major governance activities in higher education, namely, provision, financing and regulation, examining how these aspects have changed in Hong Kong and Taiwan in the recent years. This study discovers higher education in Hong Kong and Taiwan has experienced significant changes in the last decade, resulting into governance change as reflected in three major educational governance activities, provision, financing and regulation. The study also suggests globalization impacts are part of the forces accelerating changes in higher education in these Asian economies, while local socio-economic, political and administrative factors are also determining changes and reform in higher education.

Date of Award	4 Oct 2004
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Ka Ho Joshua MOK (Supervisor)