Higher education regionalism in Asia: what implications for Europe?

Abstract

Studies of regionalism-intra and comparative regionalism-have often used the European experience to explain the emergence and evolution of regionalisms in other parts of the world. This tendency in approaching the European experience as explanatory has permeated sector-specific developments. In this article, we consider the developments in higher education to examine the purported influence that Europe's Bologna Process has had on other regional initiatives.Taking the case of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA), we delineate the narratives from the actors involved in this initiative to show how they initially perceived and conceptualised higher education cooperation in the Asia region.Applying Chou and Ravinet's (2015) higher education regionalism framework, we show how AUA actors designed higher education regionalism in Asia independent from Europe's influence. We conclude with the potential implications that AUA's emergence has for Europe, taking into consideration the growing influence of China in developing higher education regionalisms in Asia.

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“…Regionalism and strategic alliance were underlined as key elements under the international and inter-regional cooperation that influence Malaysian higher education internationalisation. The significance of regionalism on Malaysian higher education internationalisation efforts through the support of the AEP is in line with the findings of Cabanda, Tan, & Chou (2019). The findings showed that higher education development in the Asian region was influenced by the development in the West or in particular Europe through effective reflection by Asian countries.…”

Understanding Education on China’s Belt and Road Initiative: A Cultural Political Economy Approach

“…Other education-related projects include the formation of several university alliance such as the University Alliance of the Silk Road, the New Silk Road Law Schools Alliance and the Asian Universities Alliance (Cabanda et al, 2019). These might be interpreted as extensions of China's bri in the higher education sector, and it is worth noting that China initiated and driving the directions of these different kinds of higher education regional associations whilst manage to transforming its identity from what is often perceived as a "rule-taker" to a "rule-maker".…”

20 Years of the Bologna Process in a Global Setting: the external dimension of the Bologna Process revisited

“…This special issue applies the international relations theories to advance the conceptualization of higher education as a foreign policy tool and of the Bologna Processthe European Higher Education Area (EHEA) as a distinct international higher education regime. Furthermore, the issue addresses responses to the Bologna Process in Asia (Cabanda, Tan, and Chou 2019), Africa (Alemu 2018), Canada (King 2018), New Zealand (Shannon, Doidge, and Holland 2018) and Israel (Zahavi 2018). Many of the findings in this issue are in conversation with the most comprehensive analysis of the external dimension of the Bologna Process 'Looking out: The Bologna Process in a Global Setting.…”

“…The influence of the Bologna process on the development of common higher education areas elsewhere has already been challenged in literature (see also Chou and Ravinet 2017). Chou and Ravinet (2017) argue that regional cooperation in higher education is part of responses to globalization, and increased competition for talent in global higher education markets as well as other political and economic processes in these regions (see also Cabanda, Tan, and Chou 2019). The example of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) discussed in the article by Cabanda, Tan, and Chou (2019) is a case in point.…”