Introduction: global regionalisms and higher education

Abstract

Global regionalisms and higher education Looking back at this period, it is clear a great deal has changed. APEC, for instance, heavily backed by the United States, Australia and Singapore, is now less significant as a regional organization, whilst the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has become increasingly important. As 2015 came to a close, the ASEAN Economic Community was launched. It was also clear some forms of regionalizing are not (national) state-led but rather involve a range of other actors, with or without the state. It is also clear that, over this period of time, higher education has begun to play an increasingly more central role in different kinds of regional projects, for example through student and staff mobility programmes, the development of quality assurance mechanisms, regional qualifications frameworks, sharing best practice, and in some cases, introducing systems of credit transfer for students. But one thing is also clear: our interest in region-building and novel forms of inter-regionalism, and the role that higher education is playing in this, has continued to grow. We were hooked. Regional projects and the spaces that they were creating beyond the national state-from Africa to Latin America, Europe, Central Asia, the Arab world, South East Asia and Oceana-are not just fascinating political developments. They also pose interesting intellectual challenges regarding how best to understand quite what they are, and how to research them. Were they spaces or 'areas', as in the European Higher Education Area or the African Higher Education and Research Space? But what kind of area, or space? Why have they emerged, and at this point in time? What is the source of their authority and legitimacy? How do the agendas of these higher education regional projects get set, and by whom? What is the relationship between different higher education regional projects and spaces, how are these brokered, and by whom? Answers to some of these questions came as a result of a closer engagement with the EU's higher education and economic projects through workshops and conferences (including in Madison, Wisconsin), funded research projects, and contributing as experts to the European Commission and the European University Association. At close range, we could see and meet other key players who were instrumental in the rapid expansion of Europe's 'education space' through instruments like the Bologna Process launched in 1999 (Bologna, 1999). To change the degree architectures of its 29 signatory countries (expanding now to some 48 countries) through this Bologna Process was nothing short of astonishing, especially given the difficulties institutions inevitably present for any grand-scale reform initiative. And in this case, higher education was being enrolled in a regional integration project which had emanated from national governments: a proposal from Claude Allègre, then France's Minister of Education, Higher Education

Testing the “holy grail” of industrial psychology as a non-recursive bow pattern model in higher education using the PLSe2 method

“…Moreover, this finding was consistent with Podsakoff and Williams (1986), who suggested that the causal direction between job satisfaction and job performance cannot be inferred, even when correlations are found. Relatedly, in lieu of the implementation of the higher education harmonization policies in the Southeast Asian countries (Morshidi et al ., 2016; Yavaprabhas, 2014), exploring the possibility of this direct link would be advisable in other countries in this region.…”

Lecturers' personality traits and affective states amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: estimating a theory-driven longitudinal model using the novel PLSe2 methodology

“…that could account for the variability in affective states. It is worth noting that the findings from Malaysia can be transferred to, for example, the ASEAN countries due to the implementation of the higher education harmonization policies in Southeast Asia (Morshidi et al. , 2016).…”

Higher education cooperation at the regional level

“…A review of academic articles and gray literature, such as policy documents, working papers and conference reports, reveals a vibrant debate on the topic of regions and their importance, formation and function (Hettne, 2005; Terada, 2003; Robertson, 2016; Knight, 2013). Of interest are the different interpretations and permutations of the concept of region.…”