Higher Education In Taiwan Research Articles

Decentralization of higher education and its implications for educational autonomy in Taiwan

This article primarily aims to investigate the effects of decentralization on educational autonomy in Taiwan through historical and documentary analysis. To draw an analytical framework, it begins with a brief examination of the concept of autonomy. This is followed by an examination of how decentralization has influenced the state-institution-individual relationship in Taiwan's higher education by using a three-level hierarchical model. After analyzing decentralization as empowering practices, it argues that the emergence of a performativity culture has generated an antinomy of the decentralization reforms, in which decentralization has formed a new ecology of education administration in Taiwan on the one hand, and simultaneously has brought the issue of bureaucratization in education on the other.

Quality assurance at a distance: international accreditation in Taiwan higher education

In response to the global competitiveness in higher education, the government, in recent years, has encouraged Taiwan colleges and universities to seek international accreditation, which raises several questions, such as jurisdiction over national accreditation, a single set of standards for local and global quality assurance, demand for the mutual recognition of review outcomes, etc. With the looming pressures for change that international accreditation will likely pose on a Taiwan national framework of quality assurance, multiple impacts on institutions and national accrediting agencies in Taiwan are now beginning to be increasingly felt. Hence, this paper examines current academic international accreditation programs and institutions, recognizes Taiwan’s accrediting organizations, and analyzes the challenges that institutions and national accrediting agencies are facing.

Sustainability of higher education institutions in Taiwan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide the rationale and context for recent national policy and funded initiatives to support sustainability developments within higher education in Taiwan, including practical and educational aspects. Concrete examples and specific outcomes are reviewed, to produce a profile across the higher education sector and its diverse range of institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis contained here considers the main policy developments, practical challenges, and future prospects for sustainable development in Taiwanese higher education. The government initiated and funded a national project that connects education and practice for sustainability, the Taiwan Sustainable Campus Program (TSCP), which is profiled in this paper.FindingsIn 2009, more than 507 (12 percent) of all institutions have been funded in the TSCP and more than 50 percent of the smallest administrative units in Taiwan now have at least one sustainable campus in the district. Institutions in the program have generated hundreds of teaching modules for various subjects, disseminated sustainability thinking effectively within neighboring communities, and worked extensively at “grass‐roots” level with local residents to build more sustainable societies. Themed research has been developed to meet institutional needs for technical advancement to improve the practice of sustainable development.Practical implicationsIt is hoped that the execution of TSCP will serve as a model for educators and governmental officials, to inform national efforts to promote different methods of sustainability practice and education in different national and social contexts.Originality/valueThe success of the TSCP design and implementation mechanisms is evident in the rapid growth in the number of institutions taking part over a short period of time. The level of voluntary and productive participation involved suggests that targeted funding for original approaches to connect sustainability practice and education can be an extremely effective vehicle to promote sustainability in higher education. Recognizing the vigorous competition presently affecting universities, mostly concerning academic publications or revenue for maintaining operations, closer ties with programs and incentives from other governmental agencies, to support research or renovation activities, should help TSCP to become an even more sustainable and productive endeavour.

A countrywide study on factors influencing the public relations practice in higher education in Taiwan

This countrywide study was conducted to determine what organizational and individual factors have a significant impact on the performance of public relations (PR) practice in higher educational institutions in Taiwan. In this study, a purposive sampling of 600 administrative staff whose jobs involved university PR was employed, and 301 effective questionnaires were recruited, yielding a 50% valid rate. Thirteen organizational and five individual factors were retrieved from the researcher’s prior qualitative research on the university PR practice to examine the PR performance in this study. Through a stepwise regression analysis, the findings indicated four organizational factors and one individual factor were significantly predictive of the performance of educational PR practice at the .05 and .001 levels. Further, organizational factors were found as having a greater influence than individual factors on the educational PR performance in this study.

An Initial Inquiry of Program Evaluation Framework for Tourism Higher Education in Taiwan

As the number of tourism programs in higher education dramatically increases in Taiwan, program evaluation is one of the effective tools to monitor education quality. The program evaluation framework constructed with standards, dimensions, and indicators should be established according to the profession of different programs. This study mainly presents the framework for the program evaluation of tourism education in Taiwan. Through the processes of document analysis, three focus groups, one on-site trial, and reliability and validity tests, the study results proposed the conceptual framework containing seven standards, 20 dimensions, and 74 indicators. The seven standards are program's aims and strategies of self-improvement, curricula, teaching and learning, resources, faculty, student, and administrative management. The evaluation standards represent not only a holistic view of the tourism program in the higher education system but also a continual improvement mechanism for the higher education institutions providing tourism programs.

Employability preparation: reflection and reform on accounting curriculum in Taiwan

With the deregulation of higher education in Taiwan, almost every student can attend colleges or universities. However, during the era of economic recession, educational background is no longer the only criteria for employment. Instead, professional technical knowledge and skills are getting more important. According to data released by Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics in 2008, the national unemployment rate in Taiwan was 3.91% in 2007; however, the unemployment rate for people with college or graduate degree was 26.27% in 2007. This social phenomenon of discrepancy should draw attentions of the public. According to Johnstone [16], the purpose of higher education is deemed to improve both national economic growth and individuals prosperous. Therefore, the goal and curriculum design in higher education should response to this issue accordingly. This study will explore accounting curriculum and design in colleges and universities. Practitioners' opinions will be collected and analyzed via Modified Delphi Method and Analytic Hierarchy Process. Consensus and weight of importance will be obtained through data analysis. Curriculum suggestions for accounting program will be provided as results of this study.

A standardised English Language Proficiency test as the graduation benchmark: student perspectives on its application in higher education

The adoption of standardised English Language Proficiency (ELP) tests as a tool for assessing students’ English competence for graduation is becoming more and more common in higher education in Taiwan. This paper focuses on university undergraduate students and uses data from a questionnaire survey to investigate their views of the application of standardised ELP tests as the graduation benchmark. The results of this study show that standardised ELP tests are viewed as insufficient to reflect what is learnt and taught in a foreign language classroom and likely to make English instruction become test‐driven. The researchers conclude that the adoption of standardised ELP tests as an assessment tool should be determined on the basis of students’ English competence and learning situations, and implemented in the context of overall curriculum planning and needs analysis. While finding that standardised ELP tests may place much pressure on students’ English learning, the researchers also conclude that motivation rather than pressure is the key to determining whether the new assessment policy of the graduation benchmark requirement can succeed in promoting the quality of foreign language education in the institutions of higher education in Taiwan. The researchers suggest that standardised ELP tests should become an optional assessment tool to encourage more and more students to take them voluntarily for graduation.

Reflections on internationalisation of higher education in Taiwan: perspectives and prospects

This paper aims to investigate the possible framework for encouraging the presence of local dimensions in an internationalised and globally competitive system by using Taiwan’s higher education system as a case. It begins by discussing the notion of internationalisation and its implications for higher education. It then turns to look at Taiwan’s responses to these global developments. It also reviews different opinions on the position and importance of local dimensions in the world of globalised higher education. Based on these perspectives, the paper advocates promoting the concept of state-building in Taiwan’s as well as in other higher education systems for preserving or even strengthening the local dimensions of individual academic systems operating in the international knowledge network.

English-only Instruction in Post-secondary Education in Taiwan: Voices from Students

The internationalization of higher education in Taiwan has become a trend since Taiwan entered the World Trade Organization (WTO). One of the most popular internationalizing mechanisms for Taiwan is to provide English-taught courses in postsecondary education. Despite its proliferation, we rarely have empirical studies on its effectiveness, which 15 particularly important since Vinke et al. (1998) found that the effects of using English as the only medium of teaching to facilitate one' s language abilities and international understanding were not totally positive. This paper thus aims to report student voices regarding English-Only instruction in one department in a comprehensive, private university in Taiwan. Ten student interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed by Carspecken's (1996) reconstructive analysis. The results showed delicate complexity between positive and negative learning effects. The students perceived English improvement in terms of listening, vocabulary and confidence, while they expressed worries about a loss in their acquisition of professional knowledge. In addition to teachers' clarity and expressiveness, students' language ego, intrinsic motivation, proficiency levels and time for adjustment also account for learning effectiveness. Although the results are inconclusive, the complicated factors emerging from student data, I believe, function as a preliminary step for an in-depth understanding of the effectiveness of English-only instruction and the anticipated future internationalization of higher education in Taiwan.

Managerialism and its impact on female academics in Taiwan

Higher education in Taiwan is undergoing dramatic changes. While the numbers of higher education institutions have doubled during the last decade, the low birth rates, Taiwan's entry into WTO, and limited resources mean universities in Taiwan are facing greater challenges than ever. Higher education institutions are given more autonomy, but they are also under more pressure to keep up with the international competition and standards. As a result, junior academics are particularly affected by these changes. The paper examines the impact of managerialism on female assistant professors in Taiwan. Twelve junior female academics have been interviewed to understand their experience at work, how they cope with the demand for performance, and their aspirations for the future.

Taiwan higher education at the crossroads: its implication for China

This paper examines issues resulting from the debate on the university as a public good or a private commodity by drawing case studies from Taiwan and China. Owing to similar cultural influences, Taiwan and China can serve as good examples for comparison; they are countries that have undergone a drastic university restructuring process with respect to origin of policy change, reform initiatives, outcomes, and future challenges. The author concludes that the results of transforming universities based on market economies have engendered mixed feelings because most universities have been driven from public good to private commodity standards. The current debate in both countries also holds some commonality among neighbouring countries.

Changes in Earnings Returns to Higher Education in Taiwan since the 1990s

Taiwan has experienced a rapid expansion in higher education since the 1990s. To gauge changes in earnings returns to higher education caused by this expansion, this paper estimates college effects on earnings using both the conventional Mincer-type regression model and the revised truncated-sample model that adjusts for the selection mechanisms into college. We also apply Xie and Wu's (2005) hierarchical linear model approach to test if the treatment effects of higher education vary as a function of propensity scores strata estimated. Using nationwide data collected in the early 1990s and the early 2000s, we focus on young entrants to the labor market. Our results indicate that average returns to college education remain stable over time. We also find that in both periods, there is a strong negative selection mechanism at work: when workers with a low latent propensity of receiving college education indeed did go to college, they benefit the most from the college attendance.

Taiwan's Responses to Globalisation: Internationalisation and Questing for World Class Universities

In recent years, Taiwan has demonstrated strong policy change to counteract the potential threats brought upon by globalisation such as the opening of the higher education market to a foreign trade partner and increasing competition from neighbouring countries. In light of these challenges, the Taiwanese government launched a series of unprecedented mega-sized initiatives in the hope of enhancing the quality of the country's higher education in the global sphere. These programmes outlined two major themes: internationalisation and the quest for world-class universities. This paper depicts four major government initiatives and their impact on Taiwan's higher education, as well as the controversy that surrounds them. Some policy trends are observed in these programs: strong emphasis on research, strong emphasis on science and technology, further stratification of the higher education system, attempts to advance academic excellence through internationalisation, multiple functions of the government grants, and the Ministry of Education's continuing endeavour to direct university development and be outwardly “fair” to colleges and universities.

Education Expansion, Educational Inequality, and Income Inequality: Evidence from Taiwan, 1976–2003

The expansion of higher education in Taiwan starting from the late 1980s has successfully raised the average level of education. Using the concept of the education Gini, we find that the educational inequality declined as average schooling rose during the period of 1976–2003. The impacts of a rising average schooling and a declining educational inequality are also tested empirically in this paper. The evidence supports that a higher level of average schooling will generate a lower income inequality. On the other hand, a lower educational inequality, as measured by education Gini coefficient, will also cause a lower income inequality. Skill-biased technological change that shifts the labor demand from unskilled workers toward skilled workers is the most likely cause for the rising income inequality in Taiwan. However, the trend of rising income inequality could be reversed due to possible future over-education and unemployment in the labor market.

Tourism and Hospitality Higher Education in Taiwan

SUMMARY The binary system of tourism and hospitality higher education in Taiwan divides into academic higher education and technical/vocational(institute/university of technology, five-year junior college and two-year junior college). The development of tourism and hospitality higher education in Taiwan is closely related to the growth in the domestic tourist market and the social development of the country. The earliest tourism education began in 1965. This long process of development has given Taiwanese tourism and hospitality education a multifaceted outlook and is generally divided into three periods: the origination period (1946–1968), the growth period (1969–1991), and the competition and adjustment period (1990–present). Over the past years, tourism and hospitality higher education in Taiwan has witnessed rapid growth in numbers, increasing diversification in program names, and with junior colleges and institutes of technology transforming themselves into universities of technology. Current tourism and hospitality programs are boosting global competitiveness for the future hospitality market in Taiwan, with careful positioning clear goals, curriculum planning, integrating hospitality/tourism curriculum, alliances and collaboration, and strengthening tourism and hospitality research.

E-Learning in Taiwan's Higher Education

It has been three years since Taiwan started the comprehensive e-learning initiatives in 2002. What is the current status of Taiwan’s e-learning in higher education? What has been shaping and guiding the e-learning practices there? What are the problems in its e-learning policies and implementations? What can policy makers and higher education systems elsewhere learn from Taiwan’s experiences? With critical analyses on related policies and a thorough investigation on e-learning in all of the 147 four-year universities in Taiwan, this study investigated these questions, identified fundamental problems in Taiwan’s e-learning, and generated suggestions to address these problems. With 1.3 billion Chinese speakers worldwide and estimated 30 million people learning Chinese in non-Chinese speaking countries, this paper is of particular value not only for policy makers and the higher education system in Taiwan and elsewhere, but also for e-learning venders and developers who would like to extend e-learning business to the broader Chinese-speaking market.

Asymmetries in progression in higher education in Taiwan: Parental education and income effects

A unique data set on Taiwan was employed to investigate the socioeconomic family backgrounds of students attending universities. Our empirical study found that individuals attending university are more likely to come from better-educated families than are those who do not attend university. Students attending public universities, which receive higher government subsidies, tend to come from wealthier families. Furthermore, our results show that the relationship between the size of the government subsidies and family background is not purely progressive. Students attending normal universities/teacher training colleges received the highest subsidies but tended to come from the least-educated families. Students attending the top five public universities come from the most affluent families of Taiwanese society.

The role of higher education in economic development: an empirical study of Taiwan case

This paper investigates the effects of higher education curricula on the labor force and thus on economic growth in Taiwan over the 1965–2000 period. To examine the potential differential effects of curricular structure, four academic disciplines in higher education in Taiwan were selected. In addition, outputs were divided into three industrial sectors to examine whether different academic disciplines have differential effects on economic development in each sector. Results reveal that higher education overall provided a positive and significant effect on Taiwan’s economic development and that engineering and the natural sciences majors played the most prominent role in this process.

Exploring the Relationships Between Hotel Management Courses and Industry Required Competencies

ABSTRACT Recently, higher education in Taiwan for the hospitality industry has grown dramatically. However, hospitality education is still considered a relative newborn in comparison with other programs. To develop effective programs, it would be appropriate to investigate competencies that influence career success in the hotel industry and the courses that nurture those important competencies. A researcher-developed survey instrument was used to collect data from 200 industry professionals. Instrument reliability and validity were reported. The results revealed the competencies relating to communication and adaptability most influenced career success. Moreover, Finance/Marketing/Personnel Management, Foreign Languages, and Communications & Quality Management curriculum dimensions were significantly related to competencies of “communication skills & adaptation to environmental changes.”

From Nationalization to Marketization: Changing Governance in Taiwan's Higher‐Education System

The shift from “government” to “governance” has been widely debated both in the West, where the debate originated, and in the Asia‐Pacific, where it is a strong emergent theme. In the West, early work concentrated on problems of government failure in the realms of regulation, welfare and development. This developed into a focus on the increasingly complex challenges facing modern states. By the mid‐1990s, bodies such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) were devoting considerable attention to issues affecting “governance in transition.” At this time, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) issued its first discussion paper on governance. This emphasized the importance of bringing together the realms of governance, namely civil society, the state, and the private sector. All these developments signify a fundamental administrative paradigm shift to the “sociopolitical governance” model. This paper discusses the theme “from nationalization to marketization” by examining the origins and driving forces for changing governance in Taiwan’s higher‐education system. More specifically, the paper examines the changes in the role of the state in terms of three major aspects: provision, financing, and regulation in higher education, reflecting on how a new governance model has evolved in Taiwan.