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Education Hubs as a Development Approach. A Phenomenon with Geopolitical Implications in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates

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Geopolitical Transformations in Higher Education

Part of the book series: Educational Governance Research ((EGTU,volume 17))

Abstract

This chapter explores some of the geopolitical transformations that Singapore and the UAE pursue by implementing so-called education hub projects. Education hubs have become known as a model for policy making, particularly to reform local higher education sectors to generate economic and social progress. As such, it currently gains prominence in policy circles, particularly in Asia. However, the politico-economic and cultural-diplomatic aspects of education hubs remain understudied, including their implications for higher education policy. This chapter adds to existing research by drawing from a Critical Discourse Analysis of 98 policy documents and 18 semi-structured interviews. Thereby, it explores how Singapore’s and the UAE’s education hub projects emerged over time and discusses some of the socio-political conditions that lead to their implementation. It discusses that governments primarily adopted the approach to play a more important role in competition. Further, the pursued geopolitical transformations create a politicized environment for the mainly American, Australian, and British universities operating in education hubs in which they are both central subjects and objects of diplomacy and commerce. This, in particular, is a crucial yet understudied aspect of higher education’s recent global expansion. In education hubs, universities need to act highly strategically concerning their contribution to their social and political environments. Arguably, this leads to compromises with ramifications for students, faculties, and universities as such, but also the societies in which they operate in terms of development and beyond.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany

    Marvin Erfurth

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  1. Marvin Erfurth
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Marcelo Parreira do Amaral

  2. Department of Education, Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Christiane Thompson

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Erfurth, M. (2022). Education Hubs as a Development Approach. A Phenomenon with Geopolitical Implications in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. In: Parreira do Amaral, M., Thompson, C. (eds) Geopolitical Transformations in Higher Education. Educational Governance Research, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94415-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94415-5_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-94414-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-94415-5

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