January 12th, 2009
Welcome to the EU-Asia Higher Education Platform web blog, an occasion for you to follow-up discussions that may have taken place at the EAHEP Roundtables, Workshops, and Symposia. This is an open space and the project team welcomes all stakeholders that would be interested in participating.
You will find under ‘Categories’ the different EAHEP events, under which questions, topics and relevant article links will be posted as threads. You can post comments and responses on any of the threads, even if you didn’t attend the event. You will also find Categories that are aimed at drawing links between the different EAHEP event themes and general current events and topics in higher education and research. We encourage you to contribute here as well.
To insert a comment, just click on the link below the article (the link is called “No comment” when there is no comment yet, or “1 comment”, “2 comments”… when the article is commented).
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
August 10th, 2009
The recent EAHEP Round table ‘Regional higher education cooperation in the next decade: The Bologna Process and Europe-Asia dialogue’ (1-3 July Brussels) examined the Bologna process through a wider lense, comparing regional cooperation in European higher education to both initiatives and ambitions in Asia. It was concluded that Asian and European education institutions face many common problems and can certainly learn from each other but this does not mean that Asia should create a photocopy of Bologna – it must create its own solutions and ways forward informed by appropriate best practice. The Brussels Round table provided a large number of fruitful points for future constructive dialogues.
It became clear from the discussions that such a Round table was an excellent occasion to share practice, look at policy developments in both regions and make institutional connections. However one question that remains open is what can Europe and Asia actually do together with regards higher education? The ASEM education process, launched last year, will hopefully be a means to explore this further.
Please share your thoughts and experiences with joint European-Asian initiatives- practical examples of working with one another to develop common tools, practices and initatives for cooperation and development in higher education.
Posted in The Bologna Process and Asia | 1 Comment »
April 2nd, 2009
Many other world regions, such Africa, Asia and Latin America have recently looked to Europe’s Bologna Process for lessons and inspiration as they cope with increasing interdependency in the higher education landscape. But the Bologna process in Europe is still a process, and many European countries identify themselves differently to it. Take for example the case of the UK, a country with a historic one foot in-one foot out relationship to European integration. Many in the UK have questioned the relevance of the Bologna process to British higher education. Though the argument becomes stronger that the UK ‘should implement all Bologna Process reforms and brand them selves internationally as ‘Bologna-compatible’ and at the forefront of the development of the European Higher Education Area’ (see the Europe Unit’s latest report on UK Universities and Europe: Competition and Internationalisation’ http://www.europeunit.ac.uk/sites/europe_unit2/news_and_information/latest_news.cfm?view=print ), this is a fairly new argument after almost 10 years of Bologna.
Question: What are the anticipated challenges in taking a regional approach to higher education cooperation in Asia? Can you clarify your country/institutions relationship to the region in terms of higher education cooperation and exchange?
Posted in The Bologna Process and Asia | 5 Comments »
February 18th, 2009
The financial crisis is clearly effecting higher education across the globe, though to what depth has yet to be seen in many countries. The media in various countries have covered a range of concerns from universities and governments regarding finances, ressoures, impacts on global student mobility and infrastructure projects. The European University Association has recently made a call to European universities to report their national and institutional reactions to the economic crisis and strategies to aid economic recovery. We would also invite colleague from Europe and Asia to use the EAHEP blog as a means to share such information. Please post your contributions on this thread. The following articles contact more information on European reactions to the financial crisis:
http://www.eua.be/eua-news/view-item/article/757/
http://www.eua.be/eua-news/view-item/article/758/
Posted in Transversal issues | 10 Comments »
January 21st, 2009
A key task for university leadership is to strike the balance between centralisation and decentralisation: To what extent shall the decision making power within the university be delegated to sub-divisions and their leadership? Especially, the role of the deans has changed and many universities have decided to expand their competences by allowing them to decide on budget and human ressources in their faculties.
According to your experiences, do you think that deans should be equipped with more decision making power, or do you think that this might lead to overlapping competences within the university?
Do you think that deans are prepared to fulfill these new managerial tasks? Should they be elected out of the members of the faculty or be appointed from outside the university?
Posted in Autonomy, governance and management | 1 Comment »
January 21st, 2009
The concept of “entrepreneurial university” has influenced the international debate on university governance in higher education in the last decade. Many believe that universities are expected to transform into “entrepreneurial” organisations if they want to be competetive in a globalized higher education market. The governance model of an entrepreneurial university characterized by centralised leadership and professional management structures should allow for a better adaption to the needs of the environment and is often seen in contrast to the traditional model of academic autonomy and academic self-governance.
Is the university still in the position to fulfill its responsibility towards society when its scientific output is directed to the short term needs of stakeholders?
Do you think that the increase of competition and market orientation promotes the process of knowledge creation, or do you rather think that scientific innovations are better derived from a culture of academic freedom?
Posted in Autonomy, governance and management | No Comments »
January 12th, 2009
What is your impression of the following debate in China? Can PhDs be too few or too many and what is their role in active society?
‘The Chinese Ministry of Education announced in April that it wishes to see a slow down in the number of new doctoral programs being created at universities across the country. According to an article published by the Xinhua news agency, China is now producing more PhDs annually than the United States.
Yang Yuliang, who heads the office of the State Council Academic Degrees Committee, told Xinhua that China produced about 50,000 doctors in 2006, a similar figure to the United States. The national expenditure on research and development, however, was roughly one ninth of the U.S. federal R&D spending in the same year, according to government statistics.
The number of people who earned doctoral degrees in 2007 is not currently available; however, an estimate of 60,000 was quoted by Xinhua based on a 26.7 percent average annual growth rate of PhD admissions from 1999 to 2003. At 60,000 newly minted doctorates, China is currently the number one producer of PhDs in the world.
A majority of China’s Ph.D holders take government jobs after graduation, as opposed to positions at academic institutions. Because tuition and living expenses for doctoral candidates are covered by tax revenues, Yang told Xinhua that it is a waste to produce so many doctors for non-academic organizations, and thus the ministry is setting a policy aimed at keeping the rate of doctoral admissions growth at under two percent each year while setting aside more resources for professional graduate training, such as masters of business administration, law and education.’
- Xinhua
May 1, 2008
Posted in Doctoral/Graduate Education in Asia and Europe | 4 Comments »
December 19th, 2008
Transferable skills in doctoral education is a hot topic: The interesting question may not be whether they are taught in courses, but whether the institution has a policy to raise awareness about transferable skills. We have the suspicion that there is an exaggerated focus on taught skills as opposed to the ‘learning by doing’ skills (creativity, understanding of complex questions, etc.), which are harder to implement and check. But are those skills most asked for by industry?
Posted in Doctoral/Graduate Education in Asia and Europe | 3 Comments »