Concepts, Contributions, and Challenges of the Contemporary University Community in Taiwan

Abstract

The East Asia region—Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea, and Singapore—is recognized for its cultural distinctive-ness from the Euro-American sphere. Yet East Asia is linked to all world regions through its leading universities as producers, protectors, and inculcators of ideas and knowledge across both national and international boundaries (Mohrman 2003). Historically universities worldwide have been influenced by global trends while operating within broader international communities of academic institutions, scholars, and research. The impact of global events, however, on the structure and day-to-day functions of contemporary university communities is unique. In the contemporary era the growing impact of globalization is blended with the complexity of managing and governing universities. In East Asia, as well as other world regions, institutions of higher education are responding via a shift toward the image of the world-class university (Marginson 2000; Anderseck 2004). Philip G. Altbach argues that the paradox of the world-class university is that“everyone wants one, no one knows what it is, and no one knows how to get one” (2004, 1). As a concept,“world-class” calls attention to standards and improvement, the role of universities on the world stage, and the status of tertiary level institutions within international systems of higher education (Burbules and Torres 2000; Astiz et al. 2002; Breton and Lambert 2004).