When State Centralism Meets Neo-Liberalism: Managing University Governance Change in Singapore and Malaysia

Autor/in	Mok, Ka Ho
Titel	When State Centralism Meets Neo-Liberalism: Managing University Governance Change in Singapore and Malaysia
Quelle	In: Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 60 (2010) 4, S.419-440 (22 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0018-1560
DOI	10.1007/s10734-009-9307-9
Schlagwörter	Higher Education; Universities; Political Attitudes; Life Style; College Administration; Governance; Foreign Countries; Interviews; Educational Change; Malaysia; Singapore + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; University; Universität; Political attitude; Politische Einstellung; Lebensstil; College administrators; Hochschulverwaltung; Education; Educational policy; Financing; Steuerung; Bildung; Erziehung; Bildungspolitik; Finanzierung; Ausland; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Bildungsreform; Singapur
Abstract	With strong intention to enhance the global competitiveness of their university systems, both the Singapore and Malaysia governments have introduced reforms along the lines of ideas and practices embedded in neo-liberalism. In the last decade or so, we have witnessed reforms being introduced to the higher education sectors in these Asian states, particularly when corporatization and incorporation strategies are adopted to transform national/public universities. With particular reference to how academics evaluate the impact of the reforms on their academic life, this article reports and analyses findings generated from campus visits and field interviews conducted in Singapore and Malaysia from 2007 to 2009. Although the senior management of corporatized/incorporated universities in these Asian states has been given more discretion to decide how to operate their universities, most of the front line academics that we interviewed have not experienced major differences in university governance after the reforms took place. Instead of feeling "emancipated" and "empowered", many academics feel more pressures and control from the university administration and government ministries. Despite the fact that both the Singapore and Malaysia governments have tried to embrace the ideas and practices of "neo-liberalism" to transform university governance, academics still see the state's reluctance in withdrawing from steering/controlling higher education development. Such observations clearly reflect the "clash" of two major governance philosophies, namely, "state centralism" and "neo-liberalism". In short, this article critically examines how far the proposed university governance reforms by adopting the corporatization/incorporation strategies have actually transformed university management and academic life style in Singapore and Malaysia. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10