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Discourses of Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms pp 133–147Cite as

Neoliberal Trends of Higher Education Reforms in China, Japan, and Korea: Catch-Up and Self-Reorientation

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Part of the Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research book series (GCEP,volume 27)

Abstract

This chapter reviews paradigm shifts of neoliberal higher education reforms in East Asia and maps out an emerging Self-Reorientation Model of Higher Education Reform in this region. To illustrate these paradigmatic shifts, this chapter, first, visualizes policy flows and practices of a Catch-up Model of Higher Education Reform in China, Japan, and South Korea in the past decades through a comprehensive literature review of policy documents and second-hand statistic data of higher education and social development in East Asian societies. It explores market-driven massification policies, competition-oriented internationalization of higher education, the World-Class University Movement, and their impacts on higher education institutions and societies in these three countries. Then, the chapter investigates emerging self-reorientation initiatives of East Asian higher education institutions aiming at reconstruction It concludes by discussing implications and challenges of the ongoing Self-Reorientation Model of Higher Education Reforms in East Asian countries.

Keywords

  • Competition-oriented internationalization
  • East Asia
  • Global competition
  • Higher education
  • Higher education reforms
  • Neoliberalism
  • Neoliberal higher education reforms
  • South Korea
  • Self-reorientation model
  • World-class university movement

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

    Jing Liu

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  1. Jing Liu
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Correspondence to Jing Liu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education & Arts, School of Education, Australian Catholic University, East Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Joseph Zajda

  2. American Fork, UT, USA

    W. James Jacob

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Liu, J. (2022). Neoliberal Trends of Higher Education Reforms in China, Japan, and Korea: Catch-Up and Self-Reorientation. In: Zajda, J., Jacob, W.J. (eds) Discourses of Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms. Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, vol 27. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83136-3_9

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