Employability is a construct that includes soft and hard skills to prepare a person to gain employment, progress in it and sustain a career. The employability discourse, in the context of linking education with skills development, has gained increased attention globally. However, engagement with this agenda differs across countries, as it depends…

Purpose: The Australian Government has long used its international scholarship programs as an instrument of soft power in international diplomacy. The paper examines an international scholarship program and its role in Australia's soft power efforts during a period in recent history. Design/methodology/approach: The Australia in the Asian Century…

Universities are centres of innovation and technology transfer, and they play a particularly strong role in the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with developing technology programs. However, there are only a few assessment tools for evaluating a university's innovation ecosystem, and these tools are frequently…

During the last two decades, Asian countries have attempted to establish several aligned academic credit systems as part of the harmonization process of their higher education systems. However, these systems have not been widely used among universities in the Asian region. This article analyzes the current trends in credit-related governmental…

International relations is often confusing for students. IR theories are introduced as parsimonious and elegant and then systematically challenged as students learn more about detailed events. There are rules, there are norms, and states follow them until they don't. East Asia increases these challenges because it often undermines IR theory.…

Like all organisations, good governance is a fundamental requirement for the responsible and accountable management of universities in general and open universities in particular. This is to ensure that these (open) universities remain relevant to their mission of facilitating unfettered access to higher education for citizens and at the same time…

This book aims at discussing the development of MOOCs in China in relation to MOOCs in other countries or areas. Based on the history of MOOCs, we summarize and compare the development of MOOCs in China and other countries with empirical evidence from a comprehensive investigation about MOOCs in Asian, United States, and Europe. Then we discuss…

This qualitative analysis describes the socialist legacy in the governance of higher education within the former Soviet-led member countries that entered the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) between 2001 and 2010. In joining the EHEA these countries signed on for the Bologna Process (BP), but are not members of the European Union. The…

There have been various higher education policy reforms at regional level to overcome the challenges and impacts of globalization in the current knowledge based global economy. Universities have already been involved in various internationalization processes establishing both bilateral and multilateral cooperations across borders. Through various…

Countries that have sustained rapid growth over decades have typically had a strong public commitment to expanding education as well as to improving learning outcomes. South Asian countries have made considerable progress in expanding access to primary and secondary schooling, with countries having achieved near-universal enrollment of the…

The relationship between the state and higher education institutions has always been a complex one. The "state" itself in this context is a heterogeneous mix of elite people--bureaucrats, politicians, committees of co-opted academics and business leader--and it increasingly faces pressures from diverse stakeholders, including students…

This volume contains selected papers submitted to the 17th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) held in June 2019 in Pomorie, Bulgaria. The 17th BCES Conference theme is "Glocal Education in Practice: Teaching, Researching, and Citizenship." Some selected papers submitted to the…

A growing number of national and local governments view child development accounts (CDAs) as an innovative policy tool for social and economic development. This article reviews the global landscape of CDAs, presents three CDA policy cases from Asia, analyzes main themes and discusses potential implications for China. (Contains 1 table.)

In the United States, developing "human capital" for both economic and social benefit is an idea as old as the nation itself and led to the emergence of world's first mass higher education system. Now most other nations are racing to expand access to universities and colleges and to expand their role in society. Higher education is…

The condition of higher education is an important indicator of a nation's competitiveness in the modern knowledge-based world economy. Higher education builds up a nation's human resources by equipping students with advanced knowledge, professional skills, and critical and creative thinking ability. Higher education institutions are significant,…