Convergence or Divergence? Strategies for Internationalisation of the Taiwanese Higher Education System

Abstract

The internationalisation of higher education has been increasingly prevalent in government policy and higher education institutions in Taiwan in recent decades. Internationalisation activities, such as international student recruitment and research collaboration, have been strategically promoted under government policies and institutional strategies. However, there are limited studies concerning how government policies inform institutional internationalisation and how institutional strategies may related to university status.

To fill this research gap, the current study adopts a critical realist multiple case study design to understand the conceptualisations of higher education internationalisation and strategies that have been prioritised within different Taiwanese universities. More specifically, a top-ranked public university and a private university of technology were selected as cases. Data on the current government policies and the internationalisation strategies of the case universities were collected through interviews and
documentation. An approach combining reflexive thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis was adopted to analyse the data.

According to the informants’ experiences and institutional documents, the findings suggest that internationalisation seems to be conceptualised and implemented in considerably different ways within the case universities. Using the concept of organisational status, this study identifies the key elements of university status that may shape the diverse conceptualisations and focused strategies within the case universities. It further employs an institutional logics approach to explain how institutional strategies manifest the dominant logics of the universities and how government policies may inform institutional strategies through
“cultural embeddedness”.

Based on a cross-case synthesis, this study extends the discussion to concerns on the structural (in)equalities of Taiwan’s higher education system. More specifically, it discusses how the current internationalisation policies may exacerbate the gaps between Taiwanese universities with empirical evidence from the two cases. Suggestions for future studies and policies are made based on the findings.

Date of Award	4 Feb 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Lisa Lucas (Supervisor), Cathryn Knight (Supervisor) & Robin Shields (Supervisor)