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

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.KeywordsCompetition-oriented internationalizationEast AsiaGlobal competitionHigher educationHigher education reformsNeoliberalismNeoliberal higher education reformsSouth KoreaSelf-reorientation modelWorld-class university movement