The 5th Higher Education Research Association Conference Held at PGSE

On the morning of April 21，the 5th Higher Education Research Association Conference, focusing on the theme of “The Rising of Asian Higher Education: Globalization and Localization”, was held at Graduate School of Education, Peking University. Scholars and researchers from Germany, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei and China conducted heated discussions on the globalization and localization of Higher Education. Ma Wanhua, professor of PGSE served as the chair in the opening ceremony. Prof. Ma introduced this conference and welcomed the distinguished participants at the beginning, and expressed her appreciations to Prof. Min Weifang, President of Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy (CSEDS) and Honorary Dean of PGSE, Prof. Chen Xiaoyu, Dean of PGSE, and Prof. Shi Jinghuan from Institute of Education, Tsinghua University, for their support to the conference. Prof. Chen delivered welcome speech, addressed the history of Graduate School of Education, and hoped the conference would become an opportunity and contribution of a heated discussion on internationalization of higher education.

Based on the practice of Peking University, Prof. Min Weifang, made a speech about the strategic thinking and practice of the construction of world-class university. On the context of globalization, construction of world-class universities contributing to the development of cutting-edge science and technologies, cultivation of the talents with leadership and the diffusion of culture and influence, had become a national strategy. With support of the state, Peking University achieved a lot in building world-class university. Apart from the sufficient financial resources, the institutional reform and emphasizing on the value of academic autonomy and academic freedom were important as well.

Over the two days of conference, scholars widely exchanged views. Akira Arimoto, professor of Hyogo University, Japan, presented his study on declining academic autonomy in the recent academic governance reforms in Japan. Ulrich Teichler, professor of Kassel University, Germany, shared his discovery on Higher Education across European countries. He expressed European countries operated similar reformation while facing similar challenges and themes of debates, and there were a few areas of collaboration and they were striking persistence of variety. Liu Baocun, professor of Beijing Normal University, presented that social participation in higher education governance was the policy trend of higher education reform in China and Step by step (man man lai) was the Chinese way in the reforms concerning power redistribution. Prof. Huang Futao, from Hiroshima University, Japan, did a research to analyze the career paths and profiles of university presidents in national and private sectors in Japan. 

After two days of heated discussion, the conference was closed on April 22. Participants expressed sincere gratitude to the host and Prof. Ulrich Teichler summarized the conference discussion, shared his thoughts and reflections and spoke highly of this conference.

This conference was composed of the 5th Higher Education Research Association Conference and the 3rd HERA Conference Doctoral Forum which was held in Tsinghua University.