University league tables at national, regional, international levels are increasingly complex, influential and controversial. In spite of criticisms on robustness of methodology and bias of indicators, higher education institutions continue to have an appetite for them and use or misuse them in their planning, policymaking and promotion activities. This publication will contribute to the much needed analysis of the implications, benefits and unintended consequences related to rankings and the broader issues of quality assurance in the Asia Pacific region.

This edited volume examines the importance of quality issues in contemporary higher education systems in the Asia Pacific. Part One foregrounds relevant discussions of ‘quality’ within today’s globalized, interconnected, and complex higher education systems while Part Two focuses on selected universities in the Asia Pacific region. Chapter contributors discuss how quality issues and quality assurance mechanisms are implemented in their situation-specific systems. Part Three extends the research of higher education quality assurance in Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) and the diverse international student body in the Australian higher education system. The conclusion chapter discusses a typology of methods used by higher education systems in establishing effective quality assurance mechanisms.

This book provides an overview on the major findings of a questionnaire survey of academic profession in international perspective. More than 25,000 professors and junior staff at universities and other institutions of higher education at almost 20 countries from all over the world provide information on their working situation, their views and activities. The study “The Changing Academic Profession” is the second major study of its kind, and changes of views and activities are presented through a comparison of the findings with those of the earlier study undertaken in the early 1990s. Major themes are the academics’ perception of their societal and institutional environments, the views on the major tasks of teaching, research and services, their professional preferences and actual activities, their career, their perceived influence and their overall job satisfaction. Emphasis is placed on the influence of recent changes in higher education: the internationalisation and globalisation, the increasing expectation to provide evidence of the relevance of academic work, and finally the growing power of management at higher education institutions. Overall, the academics surveyed show that worldwide discourses and trends in higher education put their mark on the academic profession, but differences by country continue to be noteworthy. Academics consider themselves to be more strongly exposed to mechanism of regulations, incentives and sanctions as well as various assessments than in the past; yet their own freedom, and responsibilities and influence shape their identity more strongly and are reflected in widespread professional satisfaction.

Since 1980, higher education access and endorsement have grown more dramatically in Asia than in any other area of the world. Both developed and developing nations are witnessing rapid expansion in the higher education sector. Nor is this progress entirely quantitative: a number of Asian universities are on a par with the finest institutions of higher education in the U.S. and Europe. Until now, however, there has been little historical analysis and virtually no comparative analysis of Asian higher education. This volume offers a detailed comparative study of the emergence of the modern university in Asia, linking the historical development of universities in the region with contemporary realities and future challenges. The contributors describe higher education systems in eleven countries—Korea, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Phillippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, India, and Japan—and explore similarities and differences through two comparative essays. Each case study includes a discussion of the nature and influence of both indigenous and European educational traditions; a detailed analysis of development patterns; and a close examination of such contemporary issues as population growth and access, cost, the role of private higher education, the research system, autonomy, and accountability.