The thesis by publication is expanding across countries, institutions and disciplines, and so a more in-depth understanding of the format across contexts is warranted, to ensure that all stakeholders understand the implications of this format and implement it in a fair and transparent manner. This paper provides a cross-sectional analysis of…

India, with the third largest higher education system globally, has the lowest gross enrolment ratio compared to G20 nations. The National Education Policy 2020 has made a strong recommendation to enhance the gross enrolment ratio for higher education to 50% by 2035. This figure stood at 19.4% in 2010 and 28.4% in 2021-22. The study, therefore,…

Mainland China's domestic academic literature on foreign issues can be regarded as a reference for its policymaking since the early stages of the "Reform and Opening Up". This investigation constructs a multi-theoretical framework for examining and interpreting mainland China's domestic academic narrative surrounding higher education…

This paper evaluates economies of scale and scope, and the merger effect among national universities in Japan. We apply SUR for the total translog cost function in FY2014 and FY2018. The main results are: (i) there exist economies of scale as a whole university; (ii) but there exist no clear economies of scope except for in research; (iii) there…

This study deploys Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to understand how educational standards take shape. To exemplify the inherently collective nature of standards and contingency in the process of standardisation, this study will present a case of the CEFR-J project launched by a group of Japanese university academics to modify the "Common European…

In response to the economic pressures of globalisation, the Japanese government has sought to internationalise its universities while at the same time attempting to protect Japan's culture. To achieve its goals, namely the increase in the number of international students and the development of human resources, it has initiated a number of…

With the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese higher education (HE) began the process of full digitalization in the academic year 2020. Considering that Japanese HE was previously dominated by face-to-face learning, the efforts of the stakeholders to implement digitalization deserve praise. However, digitalization has shown varying degrees…

This study examines the roles and challenges of external quality assurance in reviewing learning outcome assessments of Japanese universities. Following criticism that Japan has overly relied on the difficulty of entrance examination as a quality metric for a given institution, rather than graduates' competencies, there is more pressure for…

Taking the UK and Japan as contrasting national case studies, this article supplements existing research into student migration by consolidating a regulatory perspective with individual narrative accounts. Reported here are the results of a mixed-methods two-phase study. Phase 1 is a concerted trajectory analysis of student migration policy in the…

Due to the economic sluggishness seen in Japan over the past few decades and the shrinking inward investment market, the Japanese government has introduced educational reforms in order to foster "global human resources" able to compete with overseas talent. One key area of emphasis has been communication education with a special focus on…

This paper offers a comparative analysis of internationalization policy between two distinct nations entrenched in unique sociopolitical and economic cultures, namely Japan and the United States of America (U.S.A.). How do different policymaking processes impact internationalization policy in practice? While Japan's internationalization policy is…

Objective: The purpose of the study was to elucidate the current challenges to inclusive education (IE) at the university level in Japan, thereby addressing the gap between policy and the provision of inclusion. Method: This qualitative case study of a private university supporting inclusive policies in Japan included content analysis of data…

As global neoliberalism continues to take root, States aim to produce linguistically-skilled human capital to gain an advantage within highly-competitive market conditions. With this relationship in view, English language proficiency constitutes a 'rational' educational pathway for national and personal-level success within an outwardly…

This article examines the impact of contemporary higher education policy at a rural university in Japan. Hirosaki University, although a national university with an attached medical school, is far from the centre of academia in Japan, with a comparatively low ranking among national universities in Japan, and severe budget constraints. The policies…

Purpose: The internationalization of higher education institutions (HEIs) is the top stage of international relations among universities, and it is no longer regarded as a goal but as a means to improve the education of sustainability. As institutional commitments to internationalize higher education continue to grow, so does the need to…