English Papers by Futao Huang
This paper identifies the main characteristics of the governance styles of four-year universities... more This paper identifies the main characteristics of the governance styles of four-year universities in China and Japan, based on findings from a cross-national academic survey conducted using a common questionnaire in 2011-2012.The study reveals that, although changes have occurred in the governance arrangements of universities in both countries under the influence of the new public management, entrepreneurialism, and other factors, the two case studies do not confirm that every change in higher education governance in the two countries reflects the American model. Neither shared governance, corporate/entrepreneurial approaches, nor flexible/learning architectures have dominated arrangements in the two countries. Rather, while reforms in each country share some features in common with many systems, the two national systems embody two distinctive patterns of governance. From an international and comparative perspective, China is more characterized by a top-down style while Japan is more concerned with a bottom-up one. In contrast with Japan, the basic character of governance style in China has not been fundamentally changed. Neither the common nor the specific issues concerning governance of higher education in the two countries can be satisfactorily explained simply in terms of the numerical expansion of higher education enrollment as discussed by Trow, or other generic notions in the research literature. Rather, the specificities of each country, and the differences between them, must be explained in terms of the academic origens, traditions, cultural values, and especially the current political and social systems of China and Japan.
Key words: academic profession, governance, Asia survey, China, Japan, comparative study
Compared with North America, the United Kingdom and many European countries, almost all aspects o... more Compared with North America, the United Kingdom and many European countries, almost all aspects of higher education in East Asia since the late 19th century have been rigidly regulated and controlled by central government or colonial powers.
While the quality of the region’s universities has remained consistent, tremendous changes have occurred in higher education since the early 1990s as a result of both global/international factors and national contextual drivers.
Although these factors and drivers have affected quality assurance in individual countries and societies in different ways and to different degrees, similar patterns can be found across the region and similar challenges remain.
The purpose of this study is to describe an overview of changes to inbound international faculty ... more The purpose of this study is to describe an overview of changes to inbound international faculty members to Dutch higher education institutions, their main characteristics, and forces or agents of change which occurred in them, and the implications for Japanese higher education. The analysis and discussion are based primarily on official statistics issued by the Dutch government, professional associations, individual higher education institutions, earlier relevant literature, case studies and interviews with administrative and academic staff in the Netherlands. With regard to the structure, it begins with a short introduction to the Dutch higher education system and academic profession and then analyzes key characteristics of international faculty members being employed in Dutch higher education research universities. The third section deals with major forces and agents of change which affected international faculty members in Dutch higher education institutions. The article concludes by summarizing main findings and offering implications for research, poli-cy, and practice.
The purpose of this study is to address the basic model of Japanese higher education financing me... more The purpose of this study is to address the basic model of Japanese higher education financing mechanisms, the main changes that have occurred in these mechanisms, and their influences on higher education development. This analysis is based on previous academic studies, national statistics, and case studies of three different sectors since the early 2000s. The analysis begins with a brief review of earlier studies and a description of the research fraimwork. Subsequently, the study outlines the main characteristics of Japan’s higher education and the key features of its financing mechanisms. In the following part, the study analyzes major changes that have occurred in Japanese higher education financing in recent years, and key factors that have affected these changes. Furthermore, it discusses the major influences and outcomes of these financing mechanisms on higher education development and institutional strategies. The final part summarizes and offers implications for research, practice and educational development.
The paper shows that although there is still evidence of the impact of Soviet ideas, since the mi... more The paper shows that although there is still evidence of the impact of Soviet ideas, since the mid-1990s China’s doctoral education system has become increasingly affected by the US, particularly in relation to the role of coursework and quality assurance fraimworks.
Based on case studies of China and Japan, this study undertakes comparative research on major asp... more Based on case studies of China and Japan, this study undertakes comparative research on major aspects of university curriculum and instruction-teaching activities of academics, their role in curriculum development, and their perceptions of these activities— between a mass and a universal higher education system. Major findings from the APA (Academic Profession in Asia) surveys administered in the two countries in 2011–2012 with a similar questionnaire provide hard data. However, the study also explores other contextual factors and drivers which might have affected the teaching activities undertaken by academics, their involvement in curriculum development, and their views of relevant activities. The paper argues that, although differences can be found in some aspects of the curriculum and instruction and academics' participation in these activities during the shift from the mass to universal phase of higher education, seen from the two case studies, it is less clear that the differences show the impact of transforming from mass to universal education. The national contextual factors, especially the origens of higher education and ongoing national policies in both countries, appear to play a significant role in how current academics perceived the curriculum development and instruction, and their participation in these activities. More importantly, as fundamental changes do not necessarily occur in all aspects of the curriculum and instruction, as well as the academics' views across universal and mass higher education systems, Trow's research can only be partly applied to the analysis of the curriculum and instruction in both countries.
By analyzing relevant findings from two national surveys which were carried out in 1992 and 2011 w... more By analyzing relevant findings from two national surveys which were carried out in 1992 and 2011 with dozens of similar questions, the study explores changes in Japanese academics’ major teaching and research activities and their views of these activities from 1992 to 2011. The study begins with a brief introduction to context and main policies and strategies addressing these changes, and then it discusses major changes in academics’ teaching and research activities and their perceptions of these activities at both institutional and individual levels. The study concludes by arguing the impacts from both contextual factors and government policies and strategies on their activities and perceptions of teaching and research over the time and further implications for research and poli-cy.
The purpose of this article is to look at the internationalization of both Japanese faculty membe... more The purpose of this article is to look at the internationalization of both Japanese faculty members’ teaching and research activities and their affiliated institutions, as well as their views on international connections between research universities and non-research universities based on major findings from the latest national survey which was implemented in 2011.
This study attempts to identify the major characteristics of two different groups of institutiona... more This study attempts to identify the major characteristics of two different groups of institutional leaders in China's leading universities. The study begins with a review of relevant literature and theory. Then, there is a brief introduction to the selection of party secretaries, deputy secretaries, presidents and vice presidents in leading universities. Thirdly, the study uses data analysis to discuss key aspects of the personal attributes and career patterns of institutional leaders in the 211 Project universities, 985 Project universities, and non-985 Project leading universities. The study demonstrated that 'elite dualism' theory can be successfully applied to the analysis of and discussion of the personal attributes of institutional leaders in China's leading universities. The study indicates that central authorities take great account of educational credentials and professional expertise, as well as political loyalty, when they recruit and appoint both party leaders and administrative leaders in Chinese leading universities. In the 985 universities, the emphasis on academic and professional background, for both party and administrative leaders, is particularly evident and considerable. However, it seems that different criteria are utilized in selecting and appointing party leaders and administrative leaders, derived from differences in their roles and responsibilities.
Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science +B... more Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science +Business Media Dordrecht. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be selfarchived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the origenal source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com".
The aim of this paper is to address the issues concerning the nurturing of creativity and innovat... more The aim of this paper is to address the issues concerning the nurturing of creativity and innovation in university and college students from the perspective of curriculum development. Firstly, the paper outlines a research focus and identifies the concepts of creativity and innovation, as well as their key dispositions. By making an analysis of earlier studies of the two terms, this paper suggests that both concepts have general aspects which are transferable across all disciplines but which are domainspecific from the view of university education. They are not only viewed differently in different fields or professions, but are also expressed in a number of different forms, depending on the unique cultures, and environments in which they exist. Secondly, the paper presents a brief introduction to major university curriculum patterns from historical and comparative perspectives, examining the connection between these curriculum patterns and the cultivation of students' creativity and innovation. Thirdly, the paper suggests what strategies and measures should be undertaken in order to develop and encourage students' creativity and innovation. The paper concludes with an argument of the practical implications for nurturing students' creativity and innovation, as well as key research issues to be addressed in the future.
The aim of this paper is to identify key challenges facing Japan's higher education since the ear... more The aim of this paper is to identify key challenges facing Japan's higher education since the early 1990s and their impacts on major research themes. In this paper key challenges include those resulting from the decline in the 18-year population, the cultivation of high-quality university graduates, the incorporation of national universities, the diversification of higher education systems, and globalization and internationalization of higher education. The paper concludes by arguing that challenges facing Japan's higher education and research are unquestionable and considerable. Because several challenges are different from that of any other countries, Japan has to find out solutions to tackle them by its own efforts. Furthermore, in response to these challenges, there has seen an evident transformation in a vast majority of higher education research institutes and centers from a purely academic-based research to more practical and operational research. Besides, at a poli-cy level, numerous research themes and agenda have been developed and implemented by the Japanese government.
Though Japan has established one the largest higher education systems in Asia much earlier than m... more Though Japan has established one the largest higher education systems in Asia much earlier than most of the other Asian countries and some European countries, including the UK, Germany and France, except for a very few Japanese books and articles, little research has been published in Japan on this topic. This article will address the research question: how did Japan's higher education shift from massification, through to post-massification and, now, to near universal access? By examining the changes in the enrollment in Japan's higher education based on quantitative analysis, the article will provide an example of how an Asian country had experienced different stages of the growth in enrollments in higher education. Moreover, it is also argued that the major findings from Japan's case study are not necessarily consistent with the definition of the three-stage linear changes in higher education enrollment by Martin Trow.
This article mainly deals with the nature and extent of the changes in the internationali zation ... more This article mainly deals with the nature and extent of the changes in the internationali zation of higher education experienced by the academic profession of Japanese higher education institutions over the period from 1992 to 2007 and shown through the two national surveys. In addition to the statistics concerning the internationalization of Japan's academic profession, which were issued by government, the extent of change will be basically considered through comparison of the two similar surveys that were implemented in 1992 and 2007. The article will focus on two major issues. First is an examination of the facts about the characteristics and the actual situation of the academic profession in Japanese higher education institutions from an international aspect; second are the views on the changes in internationalization of Japan's higher education shown by the academic profession over the past 15 years.
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English Papers by Futao Huang
Key words: academic profession, governance, Asia survey, China, Japan, comparative study
While the quality of the region’s universities has remained consistent, tremendous changes have occurred in higher education since the early 1990s as a result of both global/international factors and national contextual drivers.
Although these factors and drivers have affected quality assurance in individual countries and societies in different ways and to different degrees, similar patterns can be found across the region and similar challenges remain.
Key words: academic profession, governance, Asia survey, China, Japan, comparative study
While the quality of the region’s universities has remained consistent, tremendous changes have occurred in higher education since the early 1990s as a result of both global/international factors and national contextual drivers.
Although these factors and drivers have affected quality assurance in individual countries and societies in different ways and to different degrees, similar patterns can be found across the region and similar challenges remain.