Meng-Hsuan Chou

Higher education governance and policy: an introduction to multi-issue, multi-level and multi-actor dynamics

Abstract This thematic issue introduces the multifaceted nature of contemporary public policy – its multi-level, multi-actor and multi-issue features – using the case of higher education policies from around the world. To do so, this introduction first describes how higher education as a policy sector should be garnering far more attention from scholars interested in political, economic and social transformation. A framework for identifying and accounting for how the ‘multi-s’ characteristics configure and re-configure public policy is then introduced. Next, this thematic issue’s contributions are summarized with highlights of how they bring to life the different ‘multi-s’ features. This introduction concludes with a discussion of what the proposed framework of the ‘multi-s’ offers to studies of higher education policy coordination. In so doing, the objectives of this thematic issue are to highlight what the case of higher education policy coordination offers to studies of public policy and to initiate a dialogue between all social scientists and practitioners interested in the increased complexity of governing, producing and using knowledge today.

The Rise of ‘Higher Education Regionalism’: An Agenda for Higher Education Research

Nation states have traditionally played central roles in the governance of higher education policies, but in recent decades the world’s regions and organizations are seen to be increasingly involved in this process. The rise of this phenomenon that we depict as ‘higher education regionalism’ is related to two different dynamics: (1) the renewal of regional cooperation — in all fields — following the emergence of a multipolar world since the end of Cold War and (2) the international competition to transition towards ‘knowledge-based’ economies and the role that research and higher education sectors play in this process.

Building a European knowledge area: an introduction to the dynamics of policy domains on the rise

A careful look at the history of European integration reveals that the knowledge domain has always been present: the founding fathers had visions of common European knowledge institutions (Corbett 2005), ideas about creating a common scientific area have been simmering for decades, and elements of science and technology cooperation were visible already at the very start (De Elera 2006). However, policies and programmes concerning education, students, teaching, learning, schools, colleges and universities, as well as research, research institutes and centres, academics and scientists have in general been at the political margins of the European integration process. Developments since the turn of the century have changed this situation dramatically and demonstrate how institutions and organizational capacity being created in this domain are ratcheting up European cooperation and intensifying the interaction between governance levels. A European ‘knowledge policy area’ is emerging that is radically different in key aspects from the traditional ways in which (higher) education and science policy issues were handled. How can this new ‘knowledge policy area’ be interpreted and how can we account for the changes underlying its emergence? In this volume, we show how European integration in these areas did not happen as a steady consensual process of

Higher education regionalism in Europe and Southeast Asia: Comparing policy ideas

Abstract Regional cooperation in the higher education policy sector has been on the rise throughout the last decades. In this article, we compare and analyse two instances of higher education regionalisms (i.e. political projects of higher education region creation) in Europe and South-East Asia from an ideational perspective. In so doing, we engage with and challenge the diffusion argument common in both European higher education studies (‘Bologna Process export thesis’) and new comparative regionalism. Using publicly accessible documents from regional bodies active in higher education policy coordination, and 53 semi-structured interviews with key policy actors involved in these developments, we identify the policy ideas of European and South-East Asian higher education regionalisms, and consider whether the extant models of regional cooperation and the knowledge discourse affected their evolution. Our findings indicate that the ‘Bologna Process export thesis’ and the diffusion assumptions of comparative regionalism are too simplistic and misleading. We conclude with suggestions for scholars interested in new comparative regionalism.

Multi-level, Multi-actor and Multi-issue Dimensions of Governance of the European Higher Education Area, and Beyond

In: Curaj A., Deca L., Pricopie R. (eds). (2018). European Higher Education Area: The Impact of Past and Future Policies. Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77407-7_20

Mapping the terrains of the Europe of Knowledge: an analytical framework of ideas, institutions, instruments, and interests

ABSTRACT This editorial introduces how we may begin to analytically study the shifting terrains of the Europe of Knowledge. Knowledge policies – higher education, research, and innovation – are integral to many sectors, and changes in the ways in which knowledge is governed will inevitably alter the shape and contents of other policy domains. The contributions of this special issue reveal some of these shifting patterns by analysing the relationship between central features of multi-level, multi-actor, and multi-issue policy-making in the knowledge domain: the ideas that inspire reform, the institutions tasked to implement the changes, the instruments adopted for translating ideas into practice, and the diverse interests of actors with a stake in how knowledge is governed. By invoking the image of terrains, this special issue is interested in describing and explaining what happens to the Europe of Knowledge landscapes when the ‘old’ meets and interacts with the ‘new’.

The emergent terrains of ‘higher education regionalism’: how and why higher education is an interesting case for comparative regionalism

ABSTRACT The introduction of regional political initiatives in the higher education sector symbolizes one of the many aspects of the changing global higher education landscape. Remarkably, these processes have generally escaped comparative scrutiny by scholars researching higher education policy cooperation or regional integration. In this article, we demonstrate how and why higher education policy cooperation is an interesting case to study through the lens of comparative regionalism. To do so, we describe the emerging debate on comparative regionalism in EU studies. We explain what has led to this call to broaden analytical perspectives in examining regional integration and how it may be useful for scholars working in the higher education field to engage with this new research direction. In setting out this research agenda, we also spotlight the difficulties in operationalizing comparative regionalism for higher education studies and suggest ways forward.