Dancing with global trends: higher education policy and university governance in Hong Kong, 1997–2012

The research agenda setting of higher education researchers

“…Higher education is described as a field (rather than a discipline) that has gained visibility in recent decades due mostly to two major worldwide trends: 1) the massification of tertiary education worldwide, as several countries have engaged in a rapid transition from elite higher education systems to mass higher education systems, while other countries have attained nearly universal higher education, which has brought new challenges including those related to internationalization, inequality, skill mismatches, and diversification (Mok, 2016); 2) the relevance of formal and organized learning, i.e. teaching and research, in sustaining competitiveness in the context of globalized, competitive and uncertain knowledge economies where intangibles overcome tangibles, and processes of innovation are transforming the role of higher education institutions in society, requiring analysis to better understand knowledge processes and institutions (e.g., Lo and Tang, 2017). In gaining more visibility, higher education research has continued to be closely linked to policymaking and institutional practice (Kehm, 2015), and generations of higher education researchers remain keenly aware of higher education related policy issues (Ashwin et al, 2016).…”

The perspective of new managerialism on changes in Hong Kong's self-financing post-secondary education institutions: progress, challenges and outlook

“…Following the handover of sovereignty to China in 1997, Hong Kong has also undergone significant changes in post-secondary and higher education. The policy from the educational reforms starting in 2000 recommended an increase in the post-secondary education participation rate (Yuen, 2015), to address the challenges faced by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government due to the changes in the economic structure to a knowledge-based one initiated by globalisation (Lo and Tang, 2017). Motivated by the recommendation from the Sutherland Report (Sutherland, 2002) for diversifying higher education opportunities, with “the creation of a vigorous community college sector [and] market-led growth in [the] private sector provision of higher education” (Yuen and Ho, 2007, p. 550), Hong Kong saw an increase in publicly or self-financing associate degree programmes either run by government-funded universities or private-funded post-secondary institutions.…”

The role of university leaders in a political crisis: Students' perspectives from Hong Kong

“…Like many other systems, this massification of higher education was accompanied by neoliberal reforms, which promoted marketisation and managerialism in the system. The neoliberal reforms not only brought about a public–private mix in higher education but also endorsed an entrepreneurial and managerial ethos of governance in the system (Lo & Tang, 2017). In this context, international standing and global ranking have been increasingly important in the sector, as international competition, which was associated with inter‐institutional competition for resources within the system, was used to make universities publicly accountable (Mok & Cheung, 2011).…”