Remaking higher education for the post‐COVID‐19 era: Critical reflections on marketization, internationalization and graduate employment

This study aims to explore the new directions towards internationalization of higher education in China during post-COVID 19. The systematic literature review is applied as an evidence-based policy analysis approach. The findings indicate that the challenges and difficulties of internationalization of higher education in the post-COVID 19 were considered as a high-frequency discussion topic. In order to address the crises of internationalization of higher education during the post-COVID 19, the idea of internationalization at home (IaH) is regarded as a beneficial approach to deal with the process of internationalization of higher education, systematically. This study also highlighted that the internationalization at home within Chinese higher education institutions not only brings opportunities for the development of China’s higher education system, but also poses challenges to the reform of the current higher education system. In addition, the conclusion and implication were provided to analyze the rationales of promoting internationalization of higher education system in contemporary China.

Introduction - Janette Ryan Part I: Internationalisation and reform of China's higher education: Structures and policies 1. Enter the Dragon: The internationalisation of China's higher education system - Anthony Welch and Hongxing Cai 2. Chinese ways of thinking in the transformation of China's higher education system - Rui Yang 3. Reform and development of teaching assessment in China's higher education institutions - Fang Hongqin Part II: Reform and internationalisation: Programmes and pedagogies 4. Preparing for the 21st Century: Liberal Education and undergraduate educational reform at Sun Yat-sen University - Leslie Stone 5. Cross cultural team teaching in China: A retrospective view - Gordon Slethaug 6. Transition in Chinese -- British Higher Education articulation programmes: Closing the gap between East and West? - Jinxia Hou, Catherine Montgomery and Liz McDowell Part III: International education: Experiences and expectations 7. Understanding Chinese international students at a Canadian university: Perspectives, expectations, and experiences - Zuochen Zhang and George Zhou 8. Studying in a foreign context: Chinese students' experiences in British higher education - Qing Gu 9. Chinese international students in Australia: Creating new knowledge and identities - Janette Ryan and Rosemary Viete Part IV: Intercultural education: Values and motivations 10. Overcoming the cultural challenges in supervising Chinese research students in Australia - Mona Chung and Richard Ingleby 11. The hidden curriculum: A critical analysis of tertiary English teaching in China - Phiona Stanley 12. Costs and benefits of international education: Chinese Masters students at the University of Oxford - Zhou Tinghua 13. Chinese students studying abroad: The role of parents' investment in their children's education - Wang Shaohua Notes on Contributors Index

The United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA)United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA) is a non-profit higher education organization serving the Asian region. From its establishment in New YorkNew York in 1922, it had long been committed to promoting the development of Christian higher educationChristian higher education in China until 1952, when it moved its focus to other Asian countries and regions. After China's reform and opening up, the UBCHEA restored its connection to mainland China. Adhering to the principle of a separation between religion and education, the United Board (UB) has played an important role in library construction, faculty development, support for visiting professors, cultural and artistic exchanges, and support for scientific research programs. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the UB gradually turned more attention to other Asian countries that needed more help, also put greater emphasis on their Christian identity, while continuing to support higher education in mainland China. Since 2000, the United Board has deliberately strengthened its Asian characteristics, and made a greater effort to establish an integrated Asian higher education collaborative network, incorporating China into this system for smooth functioning. After 2012, the United Board took up whole-person education as the core concept in all its projects and launched new plans while continuing to promote traditional projects. The UB case is another example of the dramatic interplay between globalization and localization for over one hundred years in the Asian context. Although the UB’s policies and strategies are constantly changing, China remains one of its most important partners and continues to play a role in shaping UB’s policies on co-operation with the Asian Christian higher education system.

This article reports on implementing an efficient quality assurance system in higher education in Côte d'Ivoire: Lessons learned from the quality assurance system in higher education in China. The quality assurance system in higher education is an important element in ensuring the quality of education. In this era of globalization, Cote d'Ivoire is part of a process of improving the quality of education with the aim of making it much more competitive. The introduction of quality assurance has emerged very recently in the education system, and much effort remains to be made to make it functional and efficient. The analysis of the results indicated that the quality assurance system in higher education in China is effective, and many implementation procedures are applied there. This is possible thanks to the presence of a strong policy, careful monitoring and other equally important factors. China's experience in quality assurance is an example of Cote d'Ivoire, which is still trying to implement a functional quality assurance system to provide quality education. Therefore, this study recommends that the Ivorian government establish an efficient quality assurance system and ensure the implementation of the decisions taken.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the processes of internationalization of higher education in Poland and compare them with other countries of the European Union, which will allow us to assess the state's place in the European educational space and form further development prospects. It was noted that the most important impetus for the development of internationalization in Europe was the Bologna process. The joining of the higher education system of Poland to it initiated the implementation of the pan-European development policy at the state level. The main prerequisites for the internationalization of the educational process in institutions of higher education have been determined. The international student mobility level in the countries of the European Union is analyzed. It was established that Poland is an active participant in internationalization, which allows increasing the competitiveness of universities against the background of preserving the best traditions and specifics of the national higher education system. Based on the study of the processes of internationalization of higher education in Poland against the background of the countries of the European Union, it was noted that they correspond to European trends and follow the best world trends in this field. It was established that this country's share of foreign students in higher education institutions is 3.86% of the number of enrolled students, which is significantly lower than the average value for the countries of the European Union (10.86%). According to the results of the analysis of the total number of foreign students in the host countries, it was determined that Poland belongs to the largest classification group (from 20 to 100 thousand people) and receives the main contingent of students from Ukraine, Belarus, India, the Czech Republic, Norway, and other countries. Certain developments and practices that are characteristic of the Polish higher education system in comparison with the countries of the European Union are summarized. Attention is drawn to the problems and challenges faced by internationalization participants. A set of measures aimed at the effective development of the internationalization of higher education in Poland has been formed, which should be implemented at different levels of management (national and university), which will increase the country's competitiveness in the market of educational services. Key words: higher education, internationalization of higher education, competitiveness, foreign students, student mobility.

Massification, diversification and internationalisation of higher education in China: Critical reflections of developments in the last two decades

Higher education in East Asia has undergone a miraculous transformation in just over two decades since the turn of the century. Its quantitative expansion, qualitative improvement, and the rapid advances in academic productivity in this century are impressive achievements. Philip Altbach, a leading authority on comparative education research, once described Asian higher education from the perspective of dependency and neocolonialism, placing it on the “periphery” of the international knowledge and higher education system (Altbach, 2004). However, the argument that a structurally hierarchical “center-periphery” relationship exists between the Western and non-Western higher education systems has lost its relevance in the contemporary context. Although Horta (2023) argues the dynamic development of the East Asian higher education system from the perspective of massification and globalization, he mainly discusses its problems and challenges from a comprehensive and diverse range of perspectives. Having fully recognized the persuasive arguments presented, I humbly make the following three comments, particularly from the perspective of globalization and the internationalization of higher education. When considering the breakthrough of higher education in East Asia, the focal point is Chinese higher education. Horta (2023) suggests that China's and other East Asian academic production systems need to be more internationalized, noting the relatively small proportion of international co-authored publications of East Asia compared with those of Western Europe. Horta also explains its background as “the governance, organisation, understanding, and application of academic freedom among other characteristics of Chinese institutions are essentially national, shaped and associated with the Chinese political regime. Moreover, these factors may not be particularly appealing to other higher education systems in the region”. Although I completely agree with Horta's observations and arguments, a more in-depth discussion of higher education in China would allow for further consideration of the development of higher education in East Asia as a whole. For example, how was China able to achieve such rapid growth in academic research productivity without “academic freedom,” which has been deemed essential for research promotion in the history of Western academia? How can China's remarkable progress of scientific and technological research be used to solve various global issues such as preventing global warming and tackling infectious diseases collaborating with the international society in the current political and diplomatic context? East Asian intra-regional student and faculty mobility and university partnership-based cross-border activities are increasing rapidly and represent the de facto integration of higher education in the region (Kuroda & Passarelli, 2009). Policy discussions on Asian regional cooperation in higher education are progressing and becoming increasingly vigorous. Referring to Fedorova and Skobleva (2020), Horta (2023) also suggests “HEIs and accreditation agencies in East Asia may also play crucial roles in adopting new technologies, such as the ones related to blockchain, that can improve the governance of HEIs by simplifying bureaucracies and administrative processes, can produce digital academic certifications”. This is a very insightful discussion in the contemporary context, but it requires more discussion of the actual prospects and possible regional arrangements needed to achieve these innovative visions. Horta (2023) clearly indicates that “the human development model in the East Asian setting (for example, the J-Model; see Cummings & Altbach, 1997) continues to rely on strong human capital formation, STEM fields, and governments coordinating manpower and job planning as well as coordinating science and technology”. Indeed, Cummings explained the core of a human resource development strategy common throughout Asia which he named the J-model, or Japanese Model. Although recognizing that this model has no great difference from the arguments of “The East Asian Miracle” (World Bank, 1993)—which sees the cause of East Asian economic success as due to the role of strong government and human capital formation of the region and that the Japanese Model has been stagnant for last three decades, I would be most interested in how the fast development of East Asian higher education in the 21st century can be newly modeled and if there is any different understanding from the “J-model”.

This paper investigates the dynamic relationship between higher education, economic growth, and technological advancement in China. As the country has rapidly expanded its higher education system, challenges such as educational disparities, quality inconsistencies, and the limitations of an exam-oriented framework have become increasingly evident. Utilizing a grey prediction model, the study examines how economic and technological developments have both enhanced and complicated the landscape of higher education, exacerbating urban-rural divides and limiting opportunities for critical thinking and creativity. To address these challenges, the paper proposes strategic interventions, including curriculum reform, increased access to higher education, and the adoption of active learning methodologies. These strategies aim to foster a more equitable, innovative, and responsive educational system that aligns with China's long-term developmental objectives. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers seeking to navigate the complexities of modernizing China's higher education while ensuring broad-based, sustainable growth.

East Asian economies have achieved strong progress in tertiary education since the second half of the 20th century. They have established higher education systems and institutions that are now accessible to most students. Partially thanks to the higher education systems, they have accumulated strong human capital which is pointed out as one of the major contributing factors for their astonishing economic and social developments. Horta (2023) describes the rapid changes in the East Asian higher education systems and institutions driven by massification and globalization. It also identifies new challenges facing them, such as how to address decreasing enrollments and shrinking resources, how to embrace new technologies, and how to develop a long-term collaborative science base. This paper must be a useful reference for readers who want to understand the status and future challenges of higher education in the East Asia region. I have some comments. First, Horta (2023) focuses on the seven economies in East Asia, such as China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Japan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan. It would be more useful to the readers of this journal if this paper added more discussion of higher education systems in other Asian economies in the South and Southeast Asian regions and pointed out variations across Asian economies. Despite some useful discussions, the paper is limited in providing an insightful analysis when comparing the characteristics of higher education across Asia. For instance, the claim that “East Asian higher education systems are at the end of the massification era and have attained universal higher education” may not apply to many countries in other Asian regions. Second, a further discussion of the role of higher education in Asia's economic achievements, both in economic growth and income equality, would be helpful. In most Asian economies, alongside income growth, income inequality has increased in the past decades. Highly educated and skilled workers have contributed to economic growth through human capital accumulation and technological progress (Barro & Lee, 2015). In addition, the change in human capital distribution is related to income distribution. For instance, Lee and Lee (2018) show that educational expansion and educational inequality are significantly related to income distribution in Asian economies. Third, one important question regarding higher education is its returns in the labor market. It is necessary to conduct a careful evaluation on the change and determinants of the returns to college education (ie college wage premium) in individual Asian economies. Horta (2023) asserts that “the earning premiums for those with tertiary education have been declining” in most (advanced) economies. Horta conjectures that such a decline is due to the increase in the relative supply of college-educated workers. However, studies show that the college wage premium has not declined monotonically. The college wage premium is determined by changes in the relative demand for high-skilled labor due to technological development and trade expansion, in addition to changes in relative supply. Fourth, Horta (2023) rightly points out embracing new technologies as a key challenge for East Asia's higher education. Under rapidly changing technologies, education and vocational training should serve a vital role in equipping people with the adequate skills, knowledge, and attitudes they need not just for today, but also for tomorrow. Better technical skills and science knowledge can help people embrace new technologies and help economies nurture innovation-based growth. Unfortunately, current tertiary education systems in East Asian countries often fail to produce graduates with adequate skills and technical competencies relevant to the industry's needs. Education-skill mismatch is prevailing across many Asian economies. In this regard, Horta (2023) suggests that universities teach bachelor-degree students in all subjects some transversal technical knowledge (such as the basics of engineering). Horta also notes that the changes, which should be effective in higher education settings, must be initiated in the early childhood period and throughout primary and secondary education. It cannot be overemphasized that basic education must be redesigned to equip all students with basic digital knowledge as well as solid cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Good-quality pre-primary, primary, and secondary education are essential for reaping more benefits from subsequent education and training. In addition, life-long learning activities should be strengthened to provide better employment opportunities for the whole population, especially the elderly. As pointed out by the author, hybrid learning modes and international collaboration can help tertiary education institutions adapt to complex demands and tackle diverse challenges.

This article presents a case study of Malaysia’s inroad in internationalising its higher education system for the past three decades and proposes recommendations and the way forward in internationalisation. Internationalisation is one of the critical agenda in Malaysia’s higher education transformation with an end target of becoming an international hub of higher education excellence by 2020. The country is no stranger in internationalisation as efforts in student mobility, academic programmes and international collaboration have started since the 1980s and 1990s. As with other higher education systems globally, it was the private sector that initiated and sustained efforts in internationalisation of Malaysian higher education. With the growth in international student enrolment, the country has established itself as a student hub; however, greater focus and clarity in direction should be set forward in accelerating Malaysia’s progress in internationalisation, with research and development as a potential catalyst. The article also questions Malaysia’s current standing with regard to internationalisation and the need in facilitating higher education institutions to build their capacity in internationalisation, highlighting the important roles of individual institutions at both public and private sector that drive the country’s internationalisation agenda.

Internationalization of higher education viewed as an engine towards development of any country. National governments around the world adopted different strategies to internationalize their higher education. The current study aimed to understand the approaches towards internationalization of higher education in China. In this study 26 published articles were deeply reviewed and analyzed so as to unpack the approaches towards internationalization of higher education in China. The findings highlighted main five approaches towards internationalization of higher education in China (i) recruiting quality and diversity international students through providing scholarship and delivering quality services (ii) widening chances for Chinese students to study different programs abroad (iii) international universities collaborations or partnership, jointly researches and innovative international programs, (iv) strengthening recruitment process of excellent international academics to higher education and strongly encouraging domestic academics to go abroad for researches and (v) increasing of budget to finance higher education, international activities, international programs like English language program and Chinese culture program. Future studies should concentrate on understanding the approaches towards internationalization of higher education in other countries.

China's higher education system has been reshaped by economic globalisation, national development priorities and growing international competition. Guided by Knight's framework of internationalisation and policy transfer theory, this paper employs a systematic literature review to examine the historical evolution, major policies and global implications of internationalisation and transnational higher education (TNHE) in China. The findings highlight a persistent balance between openness to global practices and the safeguarding of sovereignty, security and economic development. Early reforms relied on importing foreign models, while contemporary strategies emphasise selective adaptation and hybridisation, producing a distinctive model of ‘China‐led internationalisation’. This model integrates global perspectives into domestic frameworks while extending China's academic and cultural influence internationally. The study contributes to international higher education research by showing that policy transfer in China is not passive imitation but an active process of negotiation and innovation, positioning China as both a recipient and a global influencer.

This chapter concentrates on exploring the global trend in the higher education system in the context of China. Higher education in China holds a long and distinguished history and serves as a modern higher education system with a relatively short period since the late nineteenth century. Globalization and internationalization of higher education in Chinese context involves examining China’s higher education system, digital and online learning in Chinese higher education, globalization trends in Chinese higher education system, policy perspectives on the globalization of China’s higher education, and global trends in China’s higher education.

У статті здійснено науково-теоретичний аналіз підходів та обґрунтування методологічного концепту побудови та функціонування системи якості вищої фармацевтичної освіти.

In the past two decades, the trend of internationalization of higher education has been rapidly developed in contemporary China. Moreover, the Chinese government is seeking to keep in pace with the trend of internationalization to address both national and international challenges (Ayoubi and Massoud 2007). The trend of internationalization of Chinese higher education is deeply rooted in the integrated process of transformation of higher education worldwide. The acceleration of internationalization of higher education has been on the agenda at national, regional, and international dimensions (Rui 2014). Since the 1970s, the ultimate goal of the internationalization of higher education in China is to fulfill “Four Modernizations” (of industry, agriculture, defense, science and technology) in Chinese higher education system. Based on this purpose, the internationalization of higher education has been undertaken by the means of sending Chinese students and faculty abroad for international study and research, combining an international orientation into university teaching and learning, and offering transnational projects in consistent with foreign institutional partnerships with Chinese universities (Rui 2014). From a comparative and international perspective, Chinese higher education has obtained diverse advantages by implementing a series of education politics for advocating internationalization of Chinese higher education contextually. Hence, the major purpose of this research involves in mapping the internationalization of higher education in terms of constructing soft power conversion model of higher education (HE) from an international political science perspective. In addition, framing soft power conversion model of HE is implicitly consistent with the internationalization of higher education worldwide. In other words, the process of internationalization of higher education also stimulates constructing soft power of HEs. Moreover, this research also brings a specific initial lens to examine the internationalization of higher education in Chinese higher education context from international political science perspective. Specifically, in this study, this article is divided into three major sections: in the first section, Nye’s theory of soft power has been introduced and elaborated by several steps; then, in the second section, as a main part of this article, conceptualizing soft power conversion model of HE is constituted for explicit pathway and implicit process separately. In the explicit pathway of soft power conversion model of HE, political attractiveness, educational resources, and educational outcomes of internalization of higher education have been investigated and elaborated; in the implicit process of framing soft power conversion model of HE, cultivating and advocating global competency is considered as an essential pathway to enhance soft power of HE worldwide. In the last section, educational policy recommendations and remarks have been illustrated in accordance with constructing soft power conversion model of HE in Chinese higher education context.