World Class Worldwide: Transforming Research Universities in Asia and Latin America

13 Higher Education Policy and the Research University: In Asia and Latin America

13 Higher Education Policy and the Research University In Asia and Latin America Jorge Balán This chapter provides a comparative examination of government policy , building upon the preceding descriptions and analyses of research universities in Asian and Latin American countries. The focus is on the development of policy frameworks and tools aimed at strengthening research and advanced training in the university while facing the challenge of institutional diversity in complex higher education systems. The comparison between Latin America and Asia might prove useful due to contrasting histories—the influence of continental European models since independence in Latin America and of a recent colonial past, wars, occupation , and the strong American and British presence in Asia. Countries in a region also look closely at their neighbors, borrowing experiences and often competing with one another. These two sets of countries, however, are very heterogeneous. Given the increased competition in the global knowledge economy, the need for further institutional differentiation1 has been stressed by governments and intergovernmental agencies all over the world. The European Commission considers insufficient differentiation as a bottleneck for achieving “world-class” excellence and increasing access to a broader range of students (Vught et al. 2005). Initiatives to concentrate public investment in research and doctoral training have been proposed in countries previously reluctant to consider differences in the university system, such as Germany (Kehm 2006). Many Asian governments, but not in India, have wholeheartedly embraced the goal of building world-class, research-oriented universities. Governments in Latin America have been less committed to this strategy to achieve international competitiveness through selective funding and institutional concentration on research and advanced training , with the partial exception of Chile. Until recently, universities in developing countries gained public confidence and support by addressing the perceived needs of government—such as the education and licensing of lawyers and civil servants, teachers, doctors, and other skilled workers or tending public hospitals, running laboratories, and hosting museums and observatories—and meeting the expectations of elite groups and the expanding middle sectors to acquire educational credentials required for entry into the professions. Scientific research, however, did not necessarily find an easy home within the university , at least in part because of its international orientation (Schwartzman 1984). Although the quality of professional training could be examined and evaluated internationally—for example, when graduates apply for advanced study abroad—domestic requirements and regulations were paramount . Today, these traditional sources of public legitimacy have eroded; expectations have increased; and governments, often with the reluctant collaboration of universities, have created a variety of mechanisms to ascertain the value of what institutions produce and to design funding schemes to achieve expected results. Program accreditation, performance indicators , budgeting and funding, entrance examinations and indirect funding through student choice, are some of the available instruments in the toolbox . Competitive pressures are also fostered through bilateral, regional, and global trade agreements regulating degrees and qualifications and promoting methods for quality assurance (Post et al. 2004). Furthermore, governments in developing countries are now looking at higher education within the context of broader goals in education and research. Learning in primary and secondary schools is now assessed systematically through standardized testing of reading and mathematics in many nations—including all the countries discussed in this volume—with policymakers, stakeholders, and the media reading the results as indicators of national performance in the global knowledge society (Baker and LeTendre 2005). Higher education is increasingly pressed to show educational outcomes that can be measured against benchmarks. New demands upon the university originate in government strategies to increase national competitiveness in the knowledge-based global economy , in rich countries as well as in those aspiring to achieve that status.2 The international trade sector, as a portion of the gross national product Higher Education Policy and the Research University 287 (GNP), is increasing in both Asia and Latin America. The share of hightechnology exports has exploded in the Asian economies and to a lesser but still significant extent is growing in Latin America. The new export economies rely heavily on domestic services that incorporate new technologies and widespread use of a skilled labor force. National innovation systems include higher education as a key element with the capacity to produce and disseminate knowledge deemed strategically important for the nation, while assessing that capacity with international standards. I consider in the next section the contrasting institutional legacies of research universities in the two continents, while the following one is devoted...