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International Benchmarking with the Best Universities: Policy and Practice in Mainland China and Taiwan

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Abstract

With a strong conviction to enhance their global competitiveness, governments across different parts of the world have tried various means to promote the ranking of their universities in the global university leagues. With a strong determination to do better in such global ranking exercises, universities in mainland China and Taiwan have attempted to restructure their university systems and have searched for new governance strategies in order to make their universities more competitive in the global world. This article critically examines major policies introduced and strategies employed by governments in mainland China and Taiwan in benchmarking their universities internationally with world-class universities.

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Notes

  1. The authors of this article want to express their gratitude to the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for offering research grant in support of the research project entitled ‘A Comparative Study of Changing University Governance in China and Taiwan’. Materials reported and discussed in this article primarily base upon the intensive policy analysis, documentary analysis, literature research and field research conducted in China mainland and Taiwan from 2006 to 2008.

  2. In 2003, there were 2,110 regular and adult HEIs in China, among which 175 are ‘people-run’. But apart from them, 1,104 of non-state run institutions are categorized as ‘other people-run higher education institution (qita minban gaodeng jiaoyu jiguo)’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

    Ka Ho Mok

  2. Graduate Institute of Higher Education, Tamkang University, Taiwan

    Ying Chan

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  1. Ka Ho Mok
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  2. Ying Chan
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Mok, K., Chan, Y. International Benchmarking with the Best Universities: Policy and Practice in Mainland China and Taiwan. High Educ Policy 21, 469–486 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2008.21

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