Researching the transnational higher education policy landscape: Exploring network power and dissensus in a globalizing system

Thisarticlereviewsresearchontransnationalhighereducation(TNHE)publishedinacademic journalsbetween2006and2014throughthelensesofnetworkpoweranddissensus. Conclusionssuggesttheneedformoreresearchonthe‘entrapping’aspectsofglobalsocial relationstoprovideacounterweighttotheinfluenceofdominantparadigms.Itisargued thatresearchatlocal-institutionallevel,harnessingthedissensusoftheacademiccommunity withtheneedsandaspirationsofstudents,providesthemeanstodevelopglobalimaginaries andinitiatenewpolicydirectionsthatbreakfreeofentrapmentandaddresstheperverseoutcomesofglobalizedknowledge-basedeconomymodelsinhighereducation(HE).


Thisarticledrawsonapriorsystematicreviewofliteraturethatfocusedondevelopinganin
The articles emerging from this selection process (in excess of fifty) were subjected to detailed analysis and synthesis based on the principles of narrative review that embrace self-knowledge and acknowledge shared educational phenomena (Jones, 2004), applying the theoreticallensesofnetworkpoweranddissensus.Theanalysisassumedtwodistinctbutrelated perspectives.Firstly, the focus was on the extent to which these concepts may explain the substanceofwhatacademicresearchhastosayabouttheshapeanddirectionofpolicy.Secondly, thereviewconsideredtheacademiccommunityasadiscoursecommunityitselfshapingpolicy perspectivesandprovidingapotentiallydissentingvoice.
Theexclusionofofficialpolicydocumentspublishedbyorganizationsprominentinsetting the international agenda, for example the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD),isdeliberatesincethepurposeoftheanalysisistodeterminetheextent of network power attached to the global standards that emerge from such policy discourse communitiesandthedegreeofdissensusencounteredasthestandardspermeatethenation stateandlocal/institutionallevelsofembeddedness.
The predominant influence of trade structures over education in TNHE policymaking reflectsnetworkpower.Clearlythereisdissensuswithintheacademiccommunityconcerning UNESCO'sroleindeterminingpolicyprioritiesanddirectionsanditsrelativeimpotencewhen confrontedwiththepowerofthetradeimperative.Stella(2006)articulatesthedilemmavery succinctly in noting that quality assurance has little impact onWTO negotiations and that educationisnotadriverfortradeineducationservicesnegotiations.Healsocitesthedialogical gapbetweeneducationgroupsandtradegroupsinotherglobalpolicymakingarenassuchasthe OECD.

The growth of transnational higher education and policy perspectives on the Asian continent -A case of selective adoption?
AsiahasundergonesignificantexpansionofTNHE,particularlysincethe1990s,asaresultof globalization and the influence of theAsia financial crisis of 1997.Key players include China, Singapore,Malaysia,andHongKong,althoughIndonesiahasalsoundergonealesserdegreeof expansion.Much of the literature exploresTNHE policymaking in this geographical context.Theoreticallythenationstateisamedialinstitution,simultaneouslytheactorandthetargetof transnationalpronouncementsandseekingtofindequilibriuminthefaceofpotentiallycompeting global and domestic pressures.The literature shows, however, that in practice education policy dominated by the pursuit of economic growth and development and enhanced global competitivenesshasledtocommonmeasuresdesignedtoincreaseparticipationinnationalHE systems.TheworldwideincreaseindemandforHEreflectsacommondrivetobuildcapacity andexpandenrolmentstoaddressskillsshortagesinlabourmarkets.Attractingstudentswith talent, expertise, and prestige while improving the global competence of university graduates toacceleratetheprocessofbuildinghumancapitalemergesasakeypriority.Thepredominant perceptionisthatstatefinancecannotsatisfythisburgeoningdemand,thereforeattemptsto increasesupplyfollowaprocessoftradeliberalization,deregulationandpro-competitionpolicy instruments.Concurrently nation states are developing export strategies to capitalize on the opportunities afforded by rising demand and trade liberalization, thus constitutingTNHE not onlyasacontributortowardscapacitybuilding,butalsoasanimportantsourceofrevenuefor governments (Giftet al.,2006;Huang,2007;Mok,2008;Saarinen,2008;WatersandLeung,2014;WilkinsandHuisman,2012;Yang,2008).
It appears that as nation states assume the dual role of importer/exporter, the needs of tradeagaintakeprecedenceoverothernationalprioritiesindictatingpolicy.Inotherwords, the power of the global standard has directly transferred without variation or adaptation to the national setting.It may be the case that in this regional context, the network power of globalstandardsisreinforcedbyculturalsimilaritythatinfluencespatternsofinterpretationand perception,therebyenhancingtheeffectivenessofconvergencemechanisms.Incountrieswith elementaryculturallinkagessuchascommonlanguage,sharedhistoryorreligion,similarpolitical institutions,andsimilarsocio-economiccontexts,suggestionsmaybedecodedinsimilarways, leading to similar reforms.Common structural factors such as human resources, educational background,anduncompetitiveHEsystems,coupledwiththelevelofpublicdebtsandthestate's capacitytosolveproblemsareequallysignificantinreinforcingthenetworkpoweroftheglobal standard,promptingcountriestomoveinasimilardirectionandgrowtogether (Heinzeand Knill,2008;King,2010).
The human-capital approach to HE clearly exudes network power that permeates from the global down to the institutional level of policy formation, where the notion of graduate employability has virtually eliminated alternative perspectives, extinguishing any notion of universitieswideningaccesstoenhancegraduates'socialmobility.Thatsaid,however,perverse outcomeshavealsoaccruedfromtheapplicationoftheglobalizinghuman-capitalstandardin thelocal-institutionalsetting.Forexample,Chinaboastsaverylargepoolofgraduates,butless than10percentofChinesecandidatesforgraduatejobsareseenassuitedtoworkinaforeign company.Theyareoftenperceivedaslackingconfidence,capability,andcriticalthinkingskillsto supportglobalmanagerialcompetenciesanddecision-makingindifferentcontextsandcultures.Evidencealsosuggeststhateventhosestudentswhogravitatetowardshighlyreputablejoint venturessuchastheUniversityofNottinghamNingboCampus-whichisnotabranchcampus ofNottinghambutanindependententityownedbyZhejiangWanliUniversity-areworried about the legal status of their institutions and public recognition of their study programmes (BoltonandNie,2010;MokandXu,2008).

Notes on the contributor
Viv Caruana is Reader in the Internationalization of Higher Education at Leeds Beckett University, UK.Herworkisinfluencedbypriorexperienceasamoderneconomicandsocialhistorianandsubsequent experience in academic development.Her research, informed by critical theory, challenges popular perceptionsoftheglobalHElandscapeinexploringinternationalizationofpolicy,practice,andprocessesin thecontextoftheglobalknowledge-basedeconomyandlearningsociety.