New wave in the globalisation of education

Christopher Findlay and William Tierney

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) education ministers meet this week at a time of unprecedented change in the way education is delivered around the world.

The first wave of the globalisation of tertiary education was built on the movements of students across borders.

A new wave is here, with the movement of teachers and whole institutions into overseas markets, joint degree programs offered by institutions in different economies, and distance learning programs.

It offers access to skills in delivery, experience in curriculum design, teaching resources, quality assurance systems, and research capacity and an international perspective all of which offers to add value for local partners. But it also brings competition and pressure for adjustment.

Governments and institutions must act quickly to adapt to the new wave and to capture its advantages. Regional cooperation can play a vital role in ensuring that the region’s peoples can participate in today’s increasingly competitive global economy.

Student mobility remains important. Some forecasts predict that Asia will account for 70 per cent of the volume by 2025.

Providers and programs are increasingly mobile. The Asia Pacific accounts for the bulk of the world’s program and institutional mobility.

Traditional providers face competition from new and innovative providers, including those operating from a foreign base.

Vocational and specialised services challenge traditional modes of delivery and funding. The link between tertiary teaching and research is threatened.

Tertiary education used to be the domain of public provision, but it is currently undergoing dramatic privatisation. The entry of new and private providers pushes government’s role towards quality assurance.

At the same time, new forms of research cooperation are being designed and offer help to solve the region’s challenges.

There is a rich agenda for action.

Barriers to movement and investment in this sector remain significant.

Research compiled in a joint research project by PECC and APRU found that student-sending economies would send 60 per cent fewer students on average if the barriers to foreign campus establishment were liberalized completely. The research also found impediments to international student flows. Renewed and effective commitments to openness are important. They are however challenging for institutions which previously worked behind them.

Higher levels of teaching and research capacity of the academic staff will be a common goal in the region. More staff mobility for training might be one mechanism. Another is to promote PhD and research student movement.

The evolution of new modes of research cooperation and of innovation systems operating across borders will be high on the agenda of regional governments and corporations.

International delivery raises quality assurance issues. There are examples of codes of conduct being developed for international delivery and some voluntary codes are based on global networks. The relevance of these for the Asia Pacific can be examined.

Developing economies have always been concerned about the loss of talent and their concerns are heightened by aggressive immigration policies linked to recruiting from graduate cohorts in the ageing developed economies.

Moving to more open systems for education around the region will depend on building confidence in all countries in the value of an international education.

Christopher Findlay (University of Adelaide) and William Tierney (University of Southern California) are joint coordinators of a research project now in progress on developments in tertiary education in the Asia Pacific supported by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU)