No.22, February 2015

RIHE International

Seminar Reports
THE CHANGING ACADEMIC PROFESSION IN
ASIA: THE FORMATION, WORK, ACADEMIC
PRODUCTIVITY, AND INTERNATIONALIZATION
OF THE ACADEMY
Report of the International Conference on
the Changing Academic Profession Project, 2014
Organized by: Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University andResearch Institute for Higher Education, Kurashiki Sakuyo University

Research Institute for Higher Education
HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITYRIHE International Seminar Reports
No.22, February 2015

Report of the International Conference on
the Changing Academic Profession Project, 2014

The Changing Academic Profession in Asia:
The Formation, Work, Academic Productivity, andInternationalization of the Academy

Research Institute for Higher Education
HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITYThe Changing Academic Profession in Asia:
The Formation, Work, Academic Productivity, and Internationalization of the
AcademyEdited and Published by
Research Institute for Higher Education
Hiroshima University
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i

FOREWORD

The international conference on the changing academic profession project
convened in Hiroshima City, Japan, January 24-25, 2014. It was jointly hosted
by the Research Institutes for Higher Education at Hiroshima and Kurashiki
Sakuyo Universities.
The theme of the conference was “The Changing Academic Profession in
Asia: The Formation, Work, Academic Productivity, and Internationalization of
the Academy.” Two keynote addresses and eight presentations were made byuniversity professors from seven countries and regions. The present volume isa collection of the addresses and papers presented at the conference.
Professor Akira Arimoto, Kurashiki Sakuyo University and Professor
Emeritus Hiroshima University, was one of the main organizers of this event.
His keynote address focused upon internationalization of theresearch-teaching-student learning nexus in the academic profession from aninternational, comparative perspective. The second keynote was given by
Professor William K. Cummings, George Washington University in the UnitedStates. His address was titled “Strong States, Strong Systems.”
In the first session, Professor Yuto Kitamura, The University of Tokyo,
reported on the quality of teaching and research at higher education institutions
in Cambodia. And Professor Futao Huang, Hiroshima University, summarizedmajor findings from the international survey on the internationalization of theacademy in Asia.
Professor Fengqiao Yan and doctoral student Lu Li, Peking University,
reported on the formation of the academy in China in the second session. Then
Professor Aida Suraya MD. Yunus, University Putra Malaysia, presented careerprospects of Malaysian academics. Professor Pham Thanh Nghi, Vietnam
Academy of Social Sciences, reported on academic career development in
Vietnam.
Professor Akiyoshi Yonezawa, Nagoya University, discussed
academic profession in developed countries.
In the final session, Professor Robin Jung-Cheng Chen, National Chengchi
University, and Director Ching-Shan Wu, Education Administration in Taiwan,
discussed research productivity of higher education in Taiwan. Finally
Professor Tsukasa Daizen, Hiroshima University, utilizing research data,
commented on the career and productivity of the academic profession in six

iiAsian countries. Professor Yumiko Hada, Hiroshima University, briefly
summarized those reports and made concluding remarks.
There was much discussion and questions among participants during thetwo days. It is unfortunate those exchanges could not be captured in thisvolume. Finally I want to express my gratitude to all of those who contributed
to the conference.
February 2015
Fumihiro Maruyama
Director and Professor,
Research Institute for Higher Education,
Hiroshima University

CONTENTS

Foreword

Fumihiro Maruyama ····················································· i

Keynote Speeches
Keynote Speech 1

Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession from anInternational, Comparative Perspective
Akira Arimoto ·························································· 1

Keynote Speech 2

Strong States, Strong Systems
William K. Cummings ··············································· 27

Presentations – Rewards & Internationalization of the Academy –Cambodia

Quality of Education and Research at Higher Education Institutions in
Cambodia: Results of the survey on university faculty members
Yuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya and Aki Osawa ··················· 37

Japan

The Internationalization of the Academy in Asia: Major findings from theinternational survey
Futao Huang ····························································· 55

Presentations – Formation of the Academy –China

Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
Perception on Academic Research Productivity in China
Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan ················································ 69

Malaysia

Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession
Aida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang ··························· 97

VietnamAcademic Career Development in Vietnam
Pham Thanh Nghi ····················································· 119

Japan

The Self-contained Academic Profession in Japan, a Matured Country
Akiyoshi Yonezawa ··················································· 133

Presentations – Work & Academic Productivity of the Academy –TaiwanThe Impact of Research Productivity on Academics in Taiwan
Chen, Robin J. and Wu, Ching-Shan ································ 145

Japan

University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research Productivity: Similarities
and differences in six Asian nations
Tsukasa Daizen ························································ 163

Conclusion
What is a Mature University in this Competitive World?
Yumiko Hada ·························································· 179

Appendices

1. Conference Program ······························································ 187
2. List of Participants ································································ 191

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of Professor
Charles R. Barton, University of South Carolina Beaufort, USA, who edited all
the manuscripts in this report.

Fumihiro Maruyama
Director & Professor,
Research Institute for Higher Education,
Hiroshima University
Akira Arimoto
Director & Professor,
Research Institute for Higher Education,
Kurashiki Sakuyo University

Keynote Speeches

RIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015

1

Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the
Academic Profession from an International,
Comparative Perspective

Akira Arimoto

Introduction
Higher education contains both the university sector, incorporating
undergraduate and graduate education, and the non-university sector, comprising
tertiary, post-secondary, and lifelong education. In this sense, the university
functions as only one sector among these components of higher education. But
even so, for about 800 years since its appearance in the 12th century as the
medieval university, the university is thought to be responsible for higher
education to a great extent by pursuing academic work including research,teaching and service, especially teaching. This fact suggests that the university
is an important sector in the context of pursuing higher education throughteaching. Academics, who are sorely responsible for the university’s activities
including academic work, have also been expected to be the main actors in
conducting teaching for many years since the institutionalization of the medieval
or pre-modern university.
The pre-modern university focused on its function of teaching activities,
whereas the modern university has prioritized ‘research’ activities that wereintroduced in addition to teaching. Therefore the identity of academics was
obliged to expand from a teaching role to a research one in which they are
responsible for their own specialized disciplines. Research was included in theacademic career through a series of processes of training academics in graduatePresident’s Adviser, Director & Professor of Research Institute for Higher Education,
Kurashiki Sakuyo University/ Professor Emeritus of Hiroshima University, Japan, e-mail:arimotoakira@gmail.com

2

Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective

courses, recruitment, promotion, and in-service training.
Accordingly,
academics in the modern university are apt to be involved in increasing conflict
between teaching and research. Academics were forced to transform from a
position of mere academics to integrate into the academic profession at the time
when the institutionalization of research into the academic career was begun
through graduate education.
With the intense development of the research function, academics
possessing the traditional identity of teachers formed at the pre-modern
university were forced to shift themselves to conform to the new identity of theacademic profession possessing the dual role of researchers and teachers at thesame time. However, in addition to this trend, the academic profession is now
expected to transform to another phase, where the academic profession is
expected to pay more attention to students as learners.
Universalization of higher education demands that diversified students bemore involved in study rather than learning. The ideal of scholarship is
expected to transform toward both teaching and study orientations, with a focus
on the teaching and study process in the classrooms, and as a result to transformtowards the research, teaching and study nexus (R-T-S Nexus). In reality,
however, it is true that scholarship on research orientation persists throughout theworld according to some international surveys on the academic profession.
Based on these considerations, this paper attempts to shed light on the given
theme by analyzing the results gained from three international surveys of theacademic profession: the Carnegie survey conducted in 1992, the Changing
Academic Profession (CAP) survey in 2007, and the Academic Profession in
Asia (APA) survey in 2012.1

1. Framework
The main role of the profession is to conduct academic work which isthought to be the most important activity in academia (Figure 1). Academic
work consists of research, teaching, and service responding to knowledge’s
discovery, delivery, and application, respectively. Among these, research andteaching are two vehicles pursuing the most indispensable functions.
1

The author of this paper has published some articles from a viewpoint that development ofideal is important in 21st century higher education reforms (Altbach, 1996; Arimoto & Ehara,
1996; Arimoto, 1981, 1987, 1996, 2008, 2011; Locke, Cummings & Fisher, 2011; Shin,Toutkoushian & Teichler, 2011; Teichler, Arimoto & Cummings, 2013; Shin, Arimoto,
Cummings & Teichler, 2013).

Akira Arimoto3

Figure 1. Relation between academic work and the R-T-S Nexus

The main function of faculties is instruction, that is direct teaching ofstudents. Instruction involves formal teaching of groups of students inclassrooms, laboratories, studio, gymnasia, and field settings. (Bowen &Schuster, 1986, p.15)
Faculties contribute to the quality and productivity of society not only
through their influence on students but also directly through the ramified
endeavors we call [research]. This term is used as shorthand for all theactivities of faculties that advance knowledge and the arts. These
include humanistic scholarship, scientific research in the natural andsocial sciences, philosophical and religious inquiry, social criticism,public-policy analysis, and cultivation of literature and the fine arts. (Ibid.,
p.16)
Academics’ two functions of research and teaching, especially teaching, andstudents’ function of study are core parts of the R-T-S Nexus coinciding to the
Humboldtian ideal (Von Humboldt, 1910; Clark, 1997).
During the 800-year history of the university, one can distinguish threestages: the first mostly consisting of the medieval university; the second mostly
the modern university; and the third mostly the present and future university.
Teaching prevailed in the first, while research did so in the second. Learning
prevailed in the first and second stages, while it is expected to shift to study. In
the third stage, which is different from the former two with respect to the factthat student’s super diversification is proceeding in relation to the universal stageof higher education development. As a result, it is partly necessary to enhance

4Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective

faculty development (FD) at the side of the academic staff, and it is partly
necessary to enhance students’ active study at the side of their classmates(Arimoto, 2005). Accordingly, the academic profession is proclaimed toincrease not only compatibility between research and teaching but alsoenhancement of the R-T-S Nexus.
In the context of this framework, an hypothesis is that the academic
profession in the world including Asia and Japan is moving toward an ideal
future direction based on a trend of the past twenty years. However, thecontrary to this hypothesis, one is compelled to remark a tentative conclusionthat it is moving toward a different, opposite direction. This paper discusses
this discovery in more detail in the following sections.

2. Is the R-T-S Nexus institutionalized in higher education?
The concept of the R-T-S Nexus has developed well at the ideal level sincethe Humboldtian ideal was first described in 1910 (Von Humboldt, 1910).
Burton R. Clark interpreted and developed it to the R-T-S Nexus concept (Clark,
1997). However, its real institutionalization into higher education has neither
developed internationally nor in Japan based on the results of surveys conductedthus far.
(1) The current situation internationally
The current situation internationally is based on three international surveys
on the academic profession: Carnegie, CAP, and APA.
Carnegie survey (1992)
In this survey, research and teaching were categorized into threeorientations: research; research and teaching; and teaching (Arimoto & Ehara,
1996). The research orientation is also called the German type in somecountries including the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Germany, and Norway. The
research and teaching (half and half) orientation is referred to as theAnglo-Saxon type in some countries including the United States, the United
Kingdom, Australia, and Hong Kong. The teaching orientation is known as theLatin American type and includes Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil.
CAP survey (2007)
In the CAP survey, it is noteworthy that the research orientation increased,Akira Arimoto

5

whereas the teaching orientation decreased (Arimoto, 2011). The researchorientation recognized in the past survey maintains this inclination at this time,
while the other two types are moving toward the research orientation type.
Concretely, one can recognize there are different movements among countries,
because Mexico is still strong in the teaching orientation and on the other hand
many Latin American countries such as Chile, Argentina, and Brazil are movingfrom the teaching orientation to the research orientation.
It is surprising to point out that the United States as a member of
Anglo-Saxon countries is moving toward the teaching orientation instead of theresearch orientation together with other member countries such as the United
Kingdom, Australia, and Hong Kong.
Summing up these trends, one can recognize the international academic
profession has strengthened the research orientation, especially in the advanced
countries.
Developing countries are also moving toward the researchorientation, although they are still fairly strong in the teaching orientation.
APA survey (2012)
In the APA survey conducted in Asian countries, all except Japan andTaiwan belong to the teaching orientation just as the Latin American type
(Arimoto, Daizen & Kimoto, 2013). Based on this fact, it can be said that the
Asian academic profession belonged to the Latin American type at the time of
the Carnegie survey, and it will move to the research orientation of the German
type in future as observable in the concrete trend of the Latin American type
shifting from the Carnegie to the CAP survey.
(2) Current situation in Asia and Japan
Summarizing the previous three surveys from an international, comparative
perspective, one can recognize the traits of the academic profession in Asia.
① Japan and Korea belonged to the German type at the stage of the Carnegie
survey and still belonged to the German type at the stage of the CAP
survey.
② Many Asian countries, except Japan and Korea, belonged to the Latin
American type at the stage of Carnegie survey, still belonged to the Latin
American type at the stage of CAP survey.
③ Japan was a German type at the stage of the Carnegie survey, and it is stilla German type at the stages of the CAP and APA surveys.

6

Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective(3) International commonness and heterogeneity
At the time of the Carnegie survey fifteen years ago, the academic
profession worldwide showed three types in which the Anglo-Saxon typedisplayed an even orientation between research and teaching. In this regard, it
is closest to the R-T-S Nexus as ideal type, although it still belongs to the stageof R-T, not to the R-T-S Nexus. Additionally, it can be said that it isquestionable whether or not it has reached the point where the ideal type isdemonstrated, since these surveys have no questionnaires which concretely ask
about the problem of the R-T-S Nexus. At the time of the CAP survey, both theresearch and teaching, half and half orientation, and the teaching orientation
types, exhibited a trend of convergence to the research orientation.
As far as the surveys on the academic profession in the world is concerned,
it is probably true to say that it has not moved thus far to the R-T-S Nexus typeas an ideal type of the 21st century. In light of the R-T-S Nexus type,convergence to research orientation (R) is strong while convergence to teaching(T) and much more to study (S) is weak. Of course, this result must be causedby the characteristics of questionnaires with a focus on the R-T level in thesesurveys.
It is a fact that the research orientation has been strengthened in the past
fifteen years. However, one must pay attention to Mexico and the United States,
because these two countries have showed their own particular movements
toward directions that differ from other countries. According to the results of
the Carnegie survey, Mexico was expected to move to the research orientation in
the future just like other Latin American countries. However, it has not moved
in that direction. It is also difficult to understand why the United States moved
to the teaching orientation from the research and teaching, half and half,orientation despite the fact that it moved to the research orientation. Perhaps,
the United States is one of the advanced countries with regard to initiating afuture trend in the academic profession worldwide. Its trend in past years isimportant to forecast where many countries are going in the future.
(4) Where are we going in future?
As shown in Figure 2, a combination of a strong (+) and weak (–) researchorientation and a strong (+) and weak (–) teaching orientation results in fourtypes: A (+ +), B (+ –), C (– +), and D (– –), though D exists only theoretically.
Every type has the following profile.

Akira Arimoto

7

Type A:

Modern University 2 (R-T orientation) equivalent to Anglo-Saxon
type,
Type B: Modern University 1 (R orientation) equivalent to German type,Type C: Medieval University (T orientation) equivalent to Latin American type,Type Super A: An ideal university type (R-T-S Nexus) tentatively equivalent to
the United States
Historically, the university is gradually shifting from Type C to Type SuperA through Type B. However, it is interesting to recognize today, Type B is
increasing instead of shifting to Type A and Type Super A.

Figure 2. University’s shift in relation to research and teaching orientation

3. Why has the R-T-S Nexus not been institutionalized thus far?
As mentioned previously this question has not been included in a series ofinternational surveys on the academic profession so it is difficult to knowwhether the institutionalization has been realized or not. However, as far as theinternational surveys of the academic profession in the world with regard to theresearch and teaching orientations are concerned, one can say that the results

8Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective

point out the trend of increasing research orientation and, at the same time,decreasing teaching orientation. Based on this fact, it is possible for one to saythat a positive trend of increasing teaching and study orientation has not beenrecognized and as a result the R-T-S Nexus has not institutionalized thus far.
(1) Some reasons from an international perspective
One can hypothesize that there are some reasons why almost all countries
have strengthened the research orientation.
Rising intense competition among countries
The research orientation is advantageous to many countries intending toraise their international competitiveness by way of enhancing research
productivity. Enhancement of academics’ research results in raising researchorientation, research productivity, and research competitiveness within auniversity and also among universities in a given country so that it is able toraise its own international competitiveness. Evidence of this fact is that many
countries thus far have tried a series of scientific and academic policies of
selection and concentration to universities and colleges in order to enhance theirresearch abilities (Altbach & Umakoshi, 2004; Marginson, Kaur & Sawir, 2011).
Impact of world university rankings
The research orientation is advantageous to ambitious universities
increasing efforts to raise their institutional reputation by enhancing visibility inthe field of research activities. Almost all universities in the world arecompeting to gain an eminent research position in terms of research productivity
since 2003 when a series of university rankings were introduced on aninternational scale by the London Times, the World News & Reports, andShanghai Jiao Tong University.
In general, research universities constitute as few as five percent of theuniversities in many countries situated at the top ranking of a university pyramid.
Almost all universities ranked at the upper positions in the world rankings, forexample in the case of London Times, belong to the category of research
university, because the weight of research (60%) including research (30%) andcitation (30%) is high (Times Higher Education, 2013).
According to the London Times’ World University Rankings 2013-14, of
the top ten universities seven were from the United States and three from theUnited Kingdom (Table 1). The former are California Institute of Technology,

Akira Arimoto

9

Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, University of California, Berkeley, andChicago, and from the latter they are Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial College
London. Of the top twenty universities as many as fifteen (75%) were from theformer. From Japan, Tokyo and Kyoto at 23rd and 52nd respectively wereranked within the top one hundred (Times Higher Education, 2013).
Table 1. World university rankings 2013-14

Effects of increasing visibility of academics
The research orientation is advantageous to academics in universities andcolleges because they increase their reputation as researchers with high visibility
and become not only recipients of various awards inside and outside theircountries but also targets of head hunting for eminent researchers. Especially,

10

Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective

Japanese universities and colleges used to give high priority in the recruitment
and retention processes to researchers with many publications. In this kind ofclimate, the research orientation is likely to be strengthened manifestly andlatently.
Lack of balance between academic productivity
The research orientation is not necessarily welcomed by students who are
the main actors in the universal stage of higher education, even though it iswelcomed by countries, universities, and academics. In the universal stage ofhigher education, transformation from a decrease of the teaching orientation to
an increase in the research orientation inevitably brings about a cause ofteaching’s decline because of a shortage of academics’ commitment to theteaching and learning (study) process. As a result, it is clear that students’formation of scholastic achievement is unavoidably impeded by losing
substantially a quality assurance of teaching as an original aim of undergraduate
course education.
(2) Some reasons from an Asian perspective
It is accurate to say that the Asian trend is almost the same as aninternational trend with respect to the fact that the research orientation is now
increasing as shown in the trends of various surveys. However, it is also
undeniable that in Asia there are still many countries involved in the teachingorientation except the region comprised of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and HongKong. The main reason for this is the fact that they are now developing
countries.
Many countries in Asia are now shifting in line with the trend of the Latin
American type. As was observed in the CAP survey, developing countries suchas in Latin America have a strong tradition of the teaching orientation, and in
spite of this tradition they are now shifting to the research orientation. As wasobserved previously from an historical perspective, academics worldwide shiftedfrom the teaching orientation in the middle age university to the researchorientation in the modern university. In this overview context, the Latin
American academic profession is now in the midst of shifting from the middle
age type to the modern age type. It is probably correct to say that many
countries in Asia are also now shifting from the middle age type to the modern
age type.

Akira Arimoto

11(3) Some reasons from a Japanese perspective
Historical background
Japanese universities have attempted to import models from advanced
Western countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and theUnited States since the Meiji Restoration (1868) in order to establish an
equivalent modern university system. As Shigeru Nakayama pointed out inBirth of Imperial University, some researchers at that time paid attention toacademic disciplines at the outstanding chairs and departments in the United
Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States and imported them into thechairs in the Imperial University as much as possible (Nakayama, 1978). In
this intensive selection process of academic disciplines, they attempted to import
the research orientation in accordance with the German university model which
formed a Center of Excellence (COE) in the world at that time.
As a result, a series of higher education policies have created an academic
climate appropriate for Japan, in which not only the research orientation
proceeded rather than the teaching one in the Imperial University, but also
almost all universities in the national, local, and private sectors emulated theImperial University in terms of the research orientation. This prototype of anational climate of the research orientation was established in the prewar periodon the basis of the German model, and it is not an oversimplification to say thatit has been maintained successively even in the postwar period until today byalmost all institutions.
Higher education policy
Higher education policy in Japan has had for a long time a great effect upon
Japanese academics’ research orientation. The national government’s higher
education policy has promoted research orientation type universities ceaselessly
throughout the prewar and postwar time since a series of policies were focusedon encouraging the former imperial universities toward the research orientation
and also focused as well on more or less encouraging the other institutions.
However, this policy trend changed suddenly in 1991 when the University
Council (UC) issued a report on the framework for the control of university
foundation (UC, 1991). Ordinance of the MEXT which realized concretely the
proposals of the report tried to abandon a research orientation policy abruptly inorder to promote a teaching innovation policy and in addition to it a teachingorientation policy for academics.
However, in spite of introducing this kind of policy transformation, the12Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective

research orientation which had lasted for as many as 130 years since the prewar
time lasted stubbornly without any visible change for either universities oracademics. As previously mentioned this fact was attested to by a strong
research orientation as shown by the Carnegie survey in 1992 and the CAP
survey in 2007 (Altbach, 1996; Arimoto & Ehara, 1996; Arimoto, Ed., 2008,2011).
Meanwhile, the author of this paper has asserted constantly the necessity ofcompatibility between research and teaching, proclaiming that policyemphasizing the teaching orientation while guaranteeing research orientation,
instead of without it would finally bring about promotion of only a teachingorientation (Arimoto, 2008, 2010). He asserted the same kind of opinion wheninvited to a hearing session of the Central Council for Education (CCE) which
was held immediately after its intermediate report of 2008 was issued. In 2008
CCE adopted some modifications related to his opinion about the nexus of thetwo orientations, although it did not guarantee an importance of the researchorientation until then (CCE, 2008). In these circumstances, CCE in a 2012
report attempted to transform its opinion of placing weight on the researchorientation or on the research and teaching nexus (CCE, 2012).
Prevailing pinnacle model
The pinnacle model prevailed as the most leading university model in Japanfor more than one century since the Meiji Restoration. It consisted of Tokyo
University (todai) and Kyoto University (kyodai) according to Burton Clark(Clark, 1983). Japan’s pinnacle is thought to be related to the researchorientation. This means Japanese universities conformed to the researchorientation instead of the teaching orientation model just like German
universities which were involved in the research orientation, even though it wasa deviation from the Humboldtian model to which German universities wereoriginally expected to conform as the ideal model for the first time in the world.
Almost all universities were seized by an illusion that commitment to research
was important to imitate even slightly with Todai which had been offered thehighest prestige as a pinnacle of the university pyramid so they followed thesame popular line.
In the postwar time, almost all universities in the national, local, and private
sectors followed the pinnacle model until 1991 when UC issued a report in an
attempt to propose a gentle framework policy on the university foundation (UC,1991). It was issued in the midst of almost all academics being involved in the
research orientation instead of the teaching orientation even at the universal

Akira Arimoto

13

stagestageof higherof higher
education
education
development,
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in which
in whichthe R-T
the R-TNexus
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was wasnecessarynecessaryto copeto copewithwith
increasing
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student’s
student’s
supersuperdiversification.
diversification.

4. What
4. Whatis problem
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to institutionalizationof theof the
R-T-S
R-T-S
Nexus?
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TableTable
2 shows
2 shows
threethreestagesstagesof higherof higher
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development.
Accordingly,
Accordingly,
we arewenow
are now
passing
passing
to a third
to a third
stagestage
which
which
possess
possess
the following
the following
characteristics:
characteristics:① Pattern① Patternof HE:of HE:ShiftShift
fromfrom
massmass
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to universal② Social② Socialchanges:changes:
ShiftShift
fromfrom
information
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to knowledge-basedsocietysociety③ University③ University
type:type:
ShiftShift
fromfrom
modernmodernuniversity
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to future
to future
university
university④ Enrollment④ Enrollment
rate:rate:
ShiftShift
from,from,
＜50%
＜50%
to ≧50%to ≧50%⑤ Knowledge⑤ Knowledge
type:type:
ShiftShift
fromfrom
differentiateddifferentiatedto muchto muchdifferentiateddifferentiatedand andscrapscrap
and buildand build⑥ Academic⑥ Academic
staff:staff:
ShiftShift
fromfrom
teacher＜researcher
teacher＜researcher
to profession
to profession⑦ Non-academic⑦ Non-academic
staff:staff:
ShiftShift
fromfrom
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developed
gradually
gradually
to profession
to profession⑧ Student:⑧ Student:
ShiftShift
fromfrom
learning
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to study
to study
orientedoriented⑨ Scholarship:⑨ Scholarship: ShiftShift
fromfrom
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to university& tertiary& tertiary
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TableTable
2. Three
2. Threestagesstagesof higherof higher
education
education
development
development

14

Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective(1) Institutionalization of the academic profession: Its success and failure
If one focuses on various characteristics of academics, it is understandable
that emerging modern universities brought about transformation from mere
academics involved in teaching to the academic profession involved in teaching
and research. Academics have become a profession since 1876 when graduate
school was institutionalized in the United States for the first time in the world.
Research was substantially included in the academic career for the first time inhigher education history. The weight of researchers and scientists in academia
has increased from this time. Transformation from mere academics to theacademic profession was epoch-making not only in the United States where thegraduate school system was invented but also in other countries worldwide thatare confronted with many problems to resolve in relation to the researchrevolution.
Establishment of graduate school
University policy shifted from the teaching orientation, which had beendeveloped for approximately six centuries since the middle age university, to theresearch orientation. This shift is attested to by the fact that at least leading
American universities recruited in the later 19th century professors upon whom
was conferred the Ph.D. degree by German universities. Institutions like Johns
Hopkins University (1876), for example, established Ph.D. programs in theirown graduate schools in addition to recruiting the graduates of German
universities.
Shift from academics to academic profession
Academics shifted from those who taught almost all subjects as in the
middle age university to those who taught their own specific discipline like
contemporary university academics. In other words, the former is as it were ata non-profession level just like elementary school teachers, while the latter is at aprofession level just like university teachers.
The aim of research achieved recognition around the later 19th century in
the United States. Lawrence Veysey said “Looking back, it is clear enough thatin the 1870’s research played no important role in American higher education.
Indeed, at that time the idea of a formal academic career was still in its infancy.
It was in 1880 that Williard Gibs first was paid a salary by Yale. Ten years later
research had become one of the dominant concerns of American Higher
Education.” (Veysey, 1965, pp.174-175). Academic researchers participated inAkira Arimoto

15

various kinds of academic associations established on the basis of specificdisciplines so that specialization in specific disciplines increased at universities
and colleges.
University presses
The University Press attached to an individual university publishedacademic research outcomes as well as Ph.D. dissertations. This was animportant development that was necessary for individual universities to achieve
the status of research university and, at the same time, to take advantage of its
own graduates’ recruitment in the academic marketplace by raising theirvisibility.
In 1878, two years after its founding, Hopkins president Daniel Coit
Gilman reminded his faculty and trustees that [it is one of noblest duties
of a university to advance knowledge, and diffuse it not merely among
those who can attend daily lectures – but far and wide.] Whereupon heestablished a Publication Agency to produce scholarly journals to publish
the results of faculty research; three years later it became the Johns
Hopkins Press and moved into book publication in a serious way.”(Axtell,
2006, p.531).
Accordingly, the first university press was established in the United States by
Johns Hopkins (1881), followed by Chicago (1891), California (1893), Columbia(1893), Princeton (1905), Yale (1908), and Harvard (1913) (Ibid., p.531).
Sabbatical leaves“The sabbatical leave is sometimes used by institutions to reward faculty
members for past accomplishments. It is not necessarily given to all who apply.”(Clark & Neave, 1992, Vol.3, p.1645) This system was introduced into
universities and colleges once every seven years in order to enhance academics’
research outcomes. Academics were expected to publish books and articles on
the basis of research achievements made freely in universities other than theirown and research organizations. In 1880, Harvard first granted sabbaticals on
half-pay to its faculty members (Veysey, 1965, p.175). This expensive
innovation had few early imitators, although by 1900 eleven colleges anduniversities granted sabbaticals (Oleson & Voss, 1979, p.292). This system wasintroduced in the United States in the later 19th century while in Japanesecounterparts it has not been introduced well to reward faculty members until
today, and so it has not been successfully institutionalized in the universities andcolleges in Japan.

16Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective

Publish or perish“American universities in the last quarter of the 19th century began toemphasize their research function and to demand that their faculties [publish or
perish] (or at least not flourish).” (Axtell, 2006, p.531) As a result of theprevailing research paradigm, an ethos, or norm of behavior, has functioned tobring about a compulsion: publish or perish. In other words, the academic
climate has brought about the age of the research paradigm which makes
academics be obsessed with the idea of research.
Academic department and chair system
Department and chair systems were established as professional groups
consisting of academics specialized in individual academic disciplines. The
department is one of two key innovations of graduate school and department in
the United States. Parsons and Platt stressed that the department replaced theascendancy of the Chair consisting of one professor in a field, which was
popular in the European university. “The rise of departments tended toemphasize universalistic standards of performance and competence as
distinguished from standards congenial to a single patron.” (Parsons & Platt,1973, p.111) Contrary to the United States, in Japan, the chair position (koza)
was established for the first time at Tokyo Imperial University in 1893 (Meiji 26)
and then spread throughout the country (Amano, 1997). Amano pointed out “Itlacked clear aim to train the future academics and researchers of universities andhigher education agencies. This brought into existence a scholar’s training
system with apprenticeship inside university and a segmentation like octopus pot
among universities so that became causes of prevailing gakubatsu. As a result,academic world has been formed with weak vertical solidarity among academics.”(Amano, 2009, pp.197-210).
Introduction of outbreeding
Leading American universities started controlling inbreeding in the later
19th century. For example, Harvard and Yale adopted a policy of recruiting
graduates from other institutions at the proportion of one third percentage inaccordance with the transformation from teaching to a research orientation,although in the 17th and 18th centuries, these traditional colleges adopted policies
of recruiting one hundred percent of their academic staff from their own
graduates (Pierson, 1952; Arimoto, 1981). It is remarkable that these
institutions introduced outbreeding policies by themselves without any control
from the national or local government. It was possible due to introduction of

Akira Arimoto

17

the department system instead of the chair system which was mostly establishedlater in the 19th century.
While the history of departments stretches back to the eighteenth
century, it was in the late nineteenth century, in particular, that mostdepartments were created, coinciding with the explosion of knowledge
which was being organized into more and more disciplines. (Clark &Neave, 1992, Vol. 2, p.1391)
On the other hand, leading universities in Japan introduced the chair system,
and Tokyo Imperial University, for example, introduced it in 1894 for the firsttime (Amano, 1997, 2009). They tried to retain 100% inbreeding, and to theextent possible they still maintain a high inbreeding ratio even now, although
they are gradually decreasing the percentage (Yamanoi, 2007; Asahi-Shinbunsha,2013).
Table 3. Inbreeding of faculty by university

Source: Asahi-Shinbunsha, 2013, p.191

Table 3 displays the inbreeding rate by Faculty (gakubu) in 2013, according
to Asahi-Shinbunsha. Todai, together with Kyodai, have been thought to be
most qualified Faculty of Law while possessing a high inbreeding rate. For
example, as of 1977, 37-years ago, they had 100% inbreeding without recruiting
any graduates of rival institutions (Konaka, 1978, pp.17-18; Arimoto, 1981,
p.201). In 2013, Todai’s rate was 83.2%, followed by Kyodai with 81.2%,

18

Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective

Waseda 61.5%, Keio 55.8%, Soka 52.2%, and Hitotsubashi 51.8%. These six
institutions exceed a 50% inbreeding rate. More than a 50% rate is also seen inother Faculties such as Economics, Literature, Science, and Engineering (AsahiShinbunsha, 2013; Arimoto, 2013).
If one hypothesizes that research orientation tends to result in the pursuit ofoutbreeding as much as possible, universities and colleges in the United States
introduced it actively in the early stage of the modern university’s emergence,
while their counterparts in Japan successively reject it even until today.
World university rankings
University ranking has become popular today in the international context.
University ranking was partially introduced in 1925 in the United States andgenerally introduced in the 1960’s, and it has become popular today (Arimoto,1981). The same kinds of trends appeared broadly in many countries other thanthe United States in the 21st century. For example, some agencies including theLondon Times, World & News, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, areencouraging universities, research universities in particular, to become worldclass. The trends have had strong effects upon universities worldwide so thatthey have to respond to the pressure. Jung Shin pointed out universities’
differentiation toward three types: world class, national level, and local
university (Shin, 2013).
Reward system and research paradigm
A system including various kinds of awards has promoted and protected theresearch orientation. Many award systems are functioning inside and outside
Japan. Awards became a symbol of the research orientation because theprestige of academics as well as institutions is raised by various awards
including the Nobel Prize which is considered the ultimate. Provost Stephen
Goldfield of Princeton described the effects of winning the Novel Prize this way.
“It helps in recruiting undergraduates, it helps in recruiting graduate students, it
helps in recruiting professors and keeping them, it helps in fundraising, it helps
politically.” (Axtell, 2006, p.100)
The research orientation was strengthened throughout the world due to thereasons previously mentioned and has become much stronger than expected.
This phenomenon is called the research paradigm.
Therefore, it isunderstandable that universities have plunged into the age of the researchparadigm in the 21st century in accordance with increasing globalization as wellas the knowledge-based society.

Akira Arimoto

19(2) Unsuccessful shift from academics to the academic profession
The description thus far means the fact that the academic profession has
shifted from the status of mere academics to that of a profession. Compared tothe medieval university, the modern university has shifted from faculty members
teaching many subjects as teachers to faculty members teaching a few subjectsof a specific discipline as researchers based on their research activities. This
shift is evaluated greatly since modern academics are responsible for research,teaching, and services.
However, the challenge in the future university will be construction of anew profession to meet with the R-T-S Nexus perspective. If problems to beresolved from the 19th century to today were constructing an old profession tomeet the R-T Nexus perspective, today’s problem is shifting from making theprofession of the 19th and 20th centuries into a profession new age apropos forthe 21st century. If we view the academic profession in the 20th century fromthis perspective, it moved toward a research orientation without compatible
research and teaching, even if professionalization was partially realized
successfully. As far as this fact is concerned, it is undeniable that the
professionalization of academics in the 20th century was not successfully
realized.
(3) An impediment of the 21st century university’s construction
The 21st century university will be vastly different from the 20th century
type. Academics teaching to students will become more important due to thefact that access to the university shifts from a massification stage to auniversalization one. The 21st century is the age of knowledge-based society inwhich change occurs constantly affected by knowledge’s own characteristics offlexibility.
It is a society of uncertainty in which past, present, and future are
discontinuous and so advanced sciences today cannot accurately predict the
future. Even the most advanced discipline in the field of social sciences likeeconomics cannot predict a discontinuous trend of the near future. Students are
expected to have academic abilities sufficient for their lifelong careers eventhough they may live through such discontinuous society to the age of 90. How
to cultivate such academic abilities in teaching and the study process is aproblem for individual academics, as well as academia in general, who areresponsible for this most important process in their academic work.

20

Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective

It is necessary for individual academic staff to conduct adequate teaching inorder to ensure quality assurance of academic ability. It is also necessary forstudents to conduct learning which covers various kinds of activities in their
daily life and study which are connected to their class room activities as core
parts of the teaching and study process.
In this context, academics are required to guarantee research in bothteaching and the study process. Without this guarantee, academics’ discovery
and invention gained in the most advanced research are not connected to theirown classes so that it is difficult to construct teaching and the study process to
the level that will bring about development of the student’s active study leading
to academic abilities such as creativity, problem solving, problem discovering,critical thinking, etc (Arimoto, 2013). How to meet the challenges created by
the research paradigm, which is sorely involved in the R concentration level, andhow to create the R-T Nexus level and finally the R-T-S Nexus level is thequestion to be answered.
Therefore, in the 21st century, various concepts and equipment for active
study formation will not develop without a perspective of teaching and the study
process, because it is related to academics’ professionalization. For example,
following are some of concepts and equipment related to students’ active study:
Syllabi, CPA, CAP, credit, strict evaluation, office hour, monitoring system,
tutorial system, numbering of subjects, rubrics, debate, discussion, Socratic
method, teaching portfolio, learning portfolio, evaluation of class by students,
etc.
(4) An impediment of students’ active study
A concept of active study is now developing meaning transformation fromlearning (gakushu 学習) to study (gakushu 学修) (CCE, 2012). It is notdifficult to conceive that students’ initiative to learn was realized to aconsiderable degree in the medieval University where teaching was important.
However, teaching style was weighted mainly on a recitation of the contentstaught by the classroom teacher and, of course, this style was quite different
from that of the modern university in which research is institutionalized. Past
teaching is different from present teaching which stresses study in an attempt toenhance the abilities of discovery, invention, creativity, and problem finding andsolving.
The medieval university developed in an agrarian society based oncontinuous past, present, and future, and the aim of teaching was cultivation of

Akira Arimoto

21

ability adaptable to such static society. The university system was very limited
in terms of the teaching function because of its reflection of a simple
reproduction proper to the agrarian society even though the university system
was certainly working as a form of the teaching function.
On the other hand, in today’s knowledge-based society it is absolutely
difficult to adopt the teaching style of the agrarian society type, because it isincreasingly confronted with the problem of how to cultivate students’ creativity;
problem finding and solving; and active study in the emerging process ofstudents’ super diversification at the universal stage of higher education. They
are very diverse in socioeconomic backgrounds, gender, ethnicity, age, academic
abilities, and field of study interests (Clark & Neave, 1992, p.1526). In
addition, they are confronted with a rising uncertainty in society. In theknowledge-based society today, continuity between past, present, and future isincreasingly weak so that students are expected to possess abilities to cope withan uncertain future. Perhaps this cannot be realized well unless academics’
professionalization is pursued successfully.
In this context it is clear
st
construction of the 21 century type academic profession is necessary along witha construction of a university system to support it sufficiently. Without thisinnovation the teaching function conducted by the university and academics
today will be absorbed into the sector of tertiary education.

Concluding remarks
A number of problems have been discussed in this paper. First, its
framework hypothetically noted that the modern university’s direction is from anascription and particularism orientation to an achievement and universalism
orientation and so generally it is now in the process of going from a closed
structure to opened one. In reference to the framework, the academic
profession as well as universities in the world are expected to construct their own
characteristics oriented to openness rather than closeness in their developmentfrom medieval university through modern to future universities.
Second, from the perspective of “Is the R-T-S Nexus institutionalized inhigher education?” international comparative studies of the academic profession
conducted by Carnegie, CAP, and APA were analyzed. As a result, among threemodels: research orientation, research and teaching, half and half, orientation,and teaching orientation, which were gained from the Carnegie survey, theresearch and teaching, half and half, orientation model is considered to be closest
to the R-T-S Nexus model. However, recent surveys such as CAP and APA

22

Institutionalization of the R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession
from an International, Comparative Perspective

made clear that the academic profession worldwide concentrates on the researchorientation which is apparently contrary to compatibility between research andteaching.
Third, the causes of strengthening research orientation worldwide were
examined. There are some similarities among countries as follows: risingintense competition among countries; impact of university rankings; and theeffects of the increasing visibility of academics. There are some reasonsparticular to individual countries due to their different systems and climates,
although many reasons apply to Japan as well as Asian countries. From Japan
there are some reasons such as historical background, higher education policy,
and the prevailing Todai model. The fact that research orientation isstrengthening according to these reasons throughout the world has caused a lackof balance between academic productivity to the extent that declining teachingorientation is increasingly appearing.
Fourth, there are some problems in the process of formation of theacademic profession as follows: discovery of the graduate education system;
institutionalization of various academic associations with various disciplines;
establishment of sabbatical years and university presses; the publish or perish
doctrine; constraint and acceleration of inbreeding; world university rankings;
the reward system, etc. Due to these factors the 21st century academic
profession has been established to a considerable degree and even so it has notrealized the ideal of the R-T-S Nexus thus far. At least its coping has been
delayed with teaching against rising uncertainty society in knowledge-basedsociety and also against super diversified students at the universalization stage ofhigher education development.
Fifth, in summarizing these discussions, it is undeniable that an impediment
to students’ active study is one of the most important problems confronting theacademic profession in both directly and indirectly now and going forward. In
this context concentration on the research orientation, which is clearly anobservable international phenomenon today on the basis of our surveys, should
be reconsidered in the midst of an increasing necessity of research and teachingprocess and also increasing awakening of attention to students’ active study.

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Akira Arimoto

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RIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
27

Strong States, Strong Systems

William K. Cummings

Strong States
Strong states are characterized by a consolidation of power, a stress on
economic over political rights. Strong states are those where, at least in
selected policy areas, top government officials define national targets andprovide firm leadership focused on the achievement of these targets (Gopinathan,1997). The literature on development notes that the most rapidly developing
economies are those with strong states (World Bank, 1993). Strong states are
sometimes described as authoritarian, but the most effective strong states are
only authoritarian in limited areas of economic and political affairs while leaving
most other areas to the market and the electorate.
Chalmers Johnson (1978) has provided an excellent account of the Ministryof International Trade and Industry’s (MITI) role in leading Japan to achieve
miraculous economic growth over the 1960’s. MITI focused on the cultivationof a narrow band of promising industries – first textiles, then electronics, steel
and ship-building, electronics, and computers – while leaving the rest of theeconomy alone. In other policy areas such as public health, welfare, anddefense, the Japanese government took a minimalist approach (Cummings,2014). Thus strong states are not typically dominating or expensive states.
Rather they tend to be lean, especially when comparisons are made with thewelfare states of Western Europe.

Professor of International Education, The Graduate School of Education and Human
Development and The Elliott School of International Affairs, The Gorge Washington
University, USA, e-mail: wkcum@gwu.edu

28Strong States, Strong Systems

Page

The Asian state and education
Asia has given birth to a number of strong states: first Japan, then Taiwan
and Korea, next Singapore and Hong Kong, and most recently mainland China.
The strong states in Asia are sometimes called developmental states, as thegovernments of these states primarily focus on industrial policy and thepromotion of exports.
Most accounts of the developmental states tend to overlook educational
policy. Yet we can surmise that subject matter targeting, the quality ofeducation, and the expansion of its provision may play a positive role in thedevelopment process. Indeed according to recent comparative studies byOECD and IEA many Asian societies excel in state-provided basic education,and most observers suggest that these educational achievements contribute todevelopment. For example, the World Bank analysis of the East Asian Miracle
highlights basic education as a key determinant of Asian economic growth,second only to technological innovation and financial investment.

A mixed picture for higher education and research
But what about higher education? Is tertiary education and research in
Asia also “strong”, and are there links between the relative strength of higher
education systems and the rate of economic growth and national development?
The answer obviously is influenced by the definition of strong higher education.
At the higher educational level, the concept of strength has at least two
meanings: (1) the degree of the state’s control or direction of higher education,and (2) the actual quality of higher education as measured by scientificproductivity and the achievement of major awards such as Nobel prizes. Our
initial focus in this paper will be on the first meaning. Later we will also
consider the second meaning.

Theoretical setting
Robert Merton (1973) specified the “norms” of science – arguably an
Anglo-Saxon or Western viewpoint.
Universalism – same principles of proof
Communism – knowledge owned by all
Dis-Interestedness – personal factors should not cloud judgments

William K. Cummings Page
29
Organized Skepticism – a critical view
Bernard Barber (1952) argued that Soviet science was hindered by theexcessive intervention of the state – but was it?
More recently Sheila Slaughter and others (1997) ask, does academic
capitalism hinder scientific productivity and creativity?
What about the impact of strong Asian states on Asian academic systems?
Does it, to some degree, hinder the performance of the Asian academies?

Perspectives on the strength and performance of Asian academic
systems
A superficial review might say tertiary education systems in Asia are weak;that is, the Asian higher education systems appear to be relatively insulated fromgovernment control and relatively unresponsive to government steering. The
academics who work in Asian universities tend to express a deep concern for
university autonomy and academic freedom. Moreover, the majority of Asian
higher educational institutions are privately owned and managed and seek todistance their affairs from government intervention.
But it can be argued that the state does loom large in certain aspects ofAsian tertiary education. In the public sector, in contrast to the U.S. andAustralian examples where the universities are expected to generate the majorityof their revenues, in Asia the state remains the primary funder. And in theprivate sectors of most Asian systems, the state sets standards for resource
provision and dictates quotas for admissions and enrollments. Thus Asianstates do seek to control the private sector in much the same way as theyintervene in the public sector.
Concerning research, Asian states stand out in the international arena for thefaith they espouse for the role of science and technology in enhancing national
competiveness. This faith translates into relatively generous public allocations
for research and development. And a substantial proportion of the state fundingof R&D ends up in university laboratories, both as support for basic research andfor various applied or targeted projects.
So we can say that there is a mixed picture when we consider the role of thestate in Asian higher education and research. From the standpoint of the daily
work of the professoriate, the state may not appear that prominent, but from alegal stand point the state looms large. Also the state provides significant
financial support, especially for the public sector and for academic research.

30

Strong States, Strong Systems

Page

A different approach to this question is to ask the academics themselves
about their own experiences with state intervention – does state intervention
seem modest or substantial, and assuming there is significant state intervention,
does it seem constructive or obstructive?

The CAP Survey
The CAP study enables us to at least partially address these questions(Section E of the CAP instrument). One battery of questions asks who makes
the decisions on a variety of issues. Another set considers the perceptions ofacademics concerning the nature and the helpfulness of those decisions made by
the state and by the managers who carry out the will of the state.
CAP collected data for 19 academic systems, five being located in Asia.
Two of these Asian systems (Japan and Korea) are relatively large or massified
with substantial private sectors while three (Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia)
are in the earlier stages of massification. For the analysis, we will compare
the Asian sub-group with the total international sample. Are the state and its
managers more prominent in the decision-making of the Asian sub-group ornot?

Who Decides?
The CAP study identified 11 types of decisions that are critical in theoperation of higher educational systems, and asked the respondents of eachnational survey to indicate who from a list of actors – students, individual
professors, professorial bodies such as the academic senate, academic unit
managers (department chairs or deans), institutional managers, and governments
or external stakeholders – has the most prominent role in deciding each of theseissues. Some of the decisions were more focused on academic matters whereas
others were more focused on budgetary or planning issues. While it is possible
to look at the responses to each of these decisions, for this paper we havedecided to rely on a summary measure: the average of the percent for eachdecision who indicated these decisions were made by managers or externalbodies (trustees or governments).
The first row of Table 1 presents the average percentages for the wholesample, for the Asian sub-group, and for the five countries in the Asian
sub-group. Overall, it can be said that managers in Asia play a larger role indecision-making than do managers overall.
Managers are particularly

William K. Cummings Page
31
prominent in decision-making in Malaysia and China. On the other hand,managers are considerably less likely to be the chief decision-makers in Japan;
as one example, professors in most Japanese universities carry out elections to
select their Deans and their Presidents, whereas these selections tend to be madefrom on top in most of the other Asian systems.
Table 1. Several indicators of “Strong” tertiary level systems
Intl.
Average

Asia
Average

Japan

Korea

Hong
Kong

China

Malaysia

Managers Decide

64

74

43

74

nd

92

86

Clear Mission

54

59

59

50

62

47

76

Performance
Orientation

48

59

51

62

64

60

57

Top-Down

55

58

57

55

72

45

60

Managers
Competent

39

46

55

27

35

63

49

Good
Communication

27

31

24

20

26

35

50

Kept Informed

41

39

30

41

37

45

43

Collegial
Atmosphere

38

33

45

17

25

36

42

Mission and performance orientation
In “strong” tertiary systems, it might be expected that the participating
institutions would have clearly defined missions and recognized procedures for
gauging success in the realization of these missions. According to the Asian
professors, their institutions are somewhat more notable for having a clear senseof mission than the international sample as a whole – 59% versus 54%. The
sense of mission is particularly evident in the Malaysian system (76%) and isleast evident in the Korean system (50%).
Asian higher education systems appear to be more likely than theirinternational counterparts to have introduced a performance evaluation approach– 59% versus 48%. Honk Kong is the most inclined (64%) while, according to
the Japanese respondents, Japanese institutions are the least likely to haveinstituted performance evaluation approaches (51%).

Top-down management style
Strong systems would presumably be led by strong managers who takeinitiatives and then promote these initiatives with relatively little regard for the32

Strong States, Strong Systems

Page

concerns of lower-level decision-makers. Only slightly more than half of the
respondents in both the Asian sample and the international sample indicate that
their managers practice a top-down approach. Within the Asian group, the top
down approach appears to be most evident in Hong Kong (72%) and least
evident in China (45%).
Interestingly, to the extent managers are perceived as using a top-down
approach, they are less likely to be described as competent. The Chinese
managers are said to be the least likely to use a top-down approach and most
likely to be described as competent, whereas the reverse is the case for Hong
Kong.

Communication and collegiality
Neither the international or Asian systems are perceived as being notably
successful in achieving good communication between managers and the rank
and file professoriate or of fostering a collegial atmosphere. Overall the
Malaysian system appears to be somewhat ahead in these matters and the Koreansystem appears most problematic. It may be that some of these differences area reflection of age differences in the sampling; the Korean sample is a bit older
reflecting the relatively early expansion of higher education in that country, andthere is a tendency for older academics to be more critical of thedecision-making processes.

Facilitating teaching and research
The above discussion provides modest support for the contention that Asian
higher education systems are more hierarchical than is typical around the world.
In our analysis, we extended this observation to a review of various indicators ofthe managerial expectations and practices in the realms of teaching and research– for example how these realms are evaluated and who does the evaluation, whatis stressed in these realms (e.g. should teaching be practically oriented, should
research be more applied or commercially oriented). In comparison with thefindings reported above, there were few consistent differences between the Asiangroup and the total international sample in the realms of teaching and research.
On the other hand, there were some interesting differences within the Asiangroup. The more established Asian systems tend to contrast with the more
recently emerging systems with the former sub-group being more academicallyoriented and the latter sub-group being more pragmatic.

William K. Cummings Page
33

Restrictions on publishing
From the perspective of promoting the knowledge economy, it has beenargued that academic systems need to be free of restrictions on thecommunication of research findings. How does Asia stand in this regard?
According to Table 2, one out of five professors report increased restrictions
on publishing. Increased restrictions are more common for publicly funded
research than for privately funded research. Increased restrictions are morecommon in Asia, and among the CAP countries especially in Japan, Korea, andChina.
Does the higher incidence of restrictions in Asia undermine the research
environment, at least in some Asian Settings? Table 3 compares the global
shares of R&D Funding with the global shares of academic productivity. Ifnations were equally creative, these two percentages should be equal. But two
Asian nations (China and Japan) lag in their share of academic productivity, andtwo have equal shares (Korea, Malaysia). In contrast, the non-Asian states ofAustralia, Finland, and the UK are more productive than might be expected.
Table 2. Percent who experience increased restrictions on publication of
results fromIntl.
Average

Asia
Average

Japan

Korea

Hong
Kong

China

Malaysia

Publicly Funded
Research

21

27

32

45

19

29

12

Privately Funded
Research

17

19

20

31

11

24

8

Table 3. Comparing global shares of R&F funding and share of articles 2009
Global Share of
R&D Funding 2009

Global Share of
Articles 2009

Australia

1.5

2.4

Finland

.6

.7

UK

3.2

5.8

Germany

6.5

5.8

Korea

3.5

3.4

China

12.2

9.4

Japan

10.9

6.3

Malaysia

.2

.2

USA

31.8

26.5

Source: National Science Board (2014)

34

Strong States, Strong Systems

Page

Conclusion
This is a sensitive topic, and we need to be careful in drawing conclusions –indeed, the information is limited and not that decisive.
It is safe to say that the Strong Asian State have played a key role in recent
Asian development. Was there a complementary strong Asian university
system, and if so did it contribute to this development?
The paper presents moderate support for the proposition that Asian higher
education is more autocratic than higher education in other parts of the world.
The evidence is more convincing if the Asian cases are disaggregated into atleast two groups – those Asian systems with a longer history and that haveachieved a higher level of massification (e.g. the Japanese and Korean systems)
as contrasted with those Asian systems that have more recently emerged and thatare gaining momentum (Hong Kong, Malaysia, and China). The latter group
has a greater tendency to be “strong” than the former: In the latter groupdecision-making is largely in the hands of management, it is more top-down, themanagers are more competent albeit less consultative, and there appear to be
more instances of managers becoming more directly involved in shaping
teaching and research.
The splitting of the five systems into these two groups suggests the
proposition that university/higher education systems may go through stages ofdevelopment, at first being more authoritarian or strong and then gradually
evolving into more democratic forms of management and governance.
It may well be that this evolution from more to less strong systems
facilitates development. It can be argued that high quality higher education andacademic research depend on a certain degree of autonomy. Thus what we may
be seeing in contemporary Asia is a functional transition as the respective Asian
nations move from the initial stages of political and economic development thatcharacterize the Asian Miracle to more advanced stages that require more
knowledgeable and flexible human resources and more basic and creative
academic research. We present this concept of stages in the evolution of Asian
Higher Education Systems as a working proposition to be further tested througha look at the experiences of the other systems that are being discussed at thisreport.

William K. Cummings Page
35

References
Barber, B. (1952). Science and the Social Order. New York: Collier Books.
Cummings W.K. (2014). Asian Research: The Role of Universities. In A. Yonezawa et al.
(Eds.), Emerging International Dimensions in East Asian Higher Education. (pp.35-54).
Netherlands: Springer.
Gopinathan, S. (1997). Educational Development in a Strong Developmentalist State: The
Case of Singapore. In W.K. Cummings, & N.F. McGinn (Eds.), International Handbookof Education and Development (pp.587-608). London; Pergamon.
Johnson, C. (1978). MITI and the Japanese Economic Miracle. Stanford University Press.
Merton, R.M. (1973). The Sociology of Science. University of Chicago Press.
National Science Board. (2012). Science and Engineering Indicators 2012. Washington: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
National Science Board. (2014). Science and Engineering Indicators 2014. Washington: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
Slaugher, S., & Larry, L.L. (1997). Academic Capitalism: Politics, Policies and theEntrepreneurial University. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
World Bank. (1993). The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy. New
York: Oxford University Press.

Presentations
Rewards & Internationalization of the
AcademyRIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
37

Quality of Education and Research at Higher
Education Institutions in Cambodia: Results of thesurvey on university faculty members

Yuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya**and Aki Osawa***

Introduction
In Cambodia, the higher education sector has been continuously expanding
since the late 1990s, following relaxation of the University Law in 1997, whichenabled the establishment of private universities. Since the 2000s especially,
the number of higher education institutions has been growing rapidly,
particularly as regards private universities. The expansion of this sector canalso be attributed to the growing demand for better educated human resources in
the Cambodian labor market, under global economic influence. Furthermore,
Cambodia’s economic development is a factor that cannot be overlooked: it has
expanded the country’s middle class, whose growing youth population has begun
to manifest greater needs and expectations regarding further educational
opportunities. Under these circumstances, the importance of qualitative
improvement in the education offered by higher education institutions has cometo be widely recognized (Chealy, 2009). Nevertheless, this task has provenquite challenging in today’s Cambodia, due to several factors. Cambodia’s
higher education has a relatively short history, having once been completely
annihilated together with rest of the country’s entire educational system in theAssociate Professor, Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, Japan, e-mail:yuto.kitamura@gmail.com**
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Expert (University Administrative
Management), Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Malaysia/Japan,
e-mail: umemiya@mjiit.jp***
Graduate Student, Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University,
Japan, e-mail: aosawaa@gmail.com

38

Quality of Education and Research at Higher Education Institutions in Cambodia
Page

mid-1970s under the Pol Pot-led regime of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea(Khmer Rouge).
Later, in the 1980s, the nation commenced gradualreconstruction of its higher education sector, which has not been an easy process.
In view of this background, the study presented here seeks to clarify thecurrent quality of education and research in Cambodian higher education
institutions. To that end, ten representative higher education institutions in the
country were selected and a written questionnaire survey was administered to awide range of faculty members at these universities, regarding the quality of
their education and research. The survey results were analyzed in terms offaculty members’ research achievements, involvement in education, working
conditions, degree of satisfaction with their current post, etc. The objectives of
the analysis were to derive a better understanding of the current status ofresearch and education in Cambodian higher education – which is still in its
developmental stage – and to gain insights for future development.

1. Survey outline
For study, a written questionnaire survey was conducted in 2011, withpermission from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia(“Ministry of Education”) and in collaboration with the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA). The survey, addressed to academic staff of thecountry’s major public and private higher education institutions offering
bachelor’s and postgraduate courses, consisted of questions regarding the current
status of university faculty members. The questionnaire sheets, written in
Khmer and English, were distributed in November 2011 via the offices of theselected universities. At the end of February 2012, completed questionnaire
sheets were collected from a total of 539 respondents, 8 of whom submitted 2
sets of questionnaires and were therefore discarded.
Ultimately thequestionnaire sheets of 531 respondents were analyzed (Table 1).
Of all the respondents, males comprised 85.1% and females 13.4%, male
instructors thus comprising the majority. The gender of the remaining 1.5%
was unidentified. These percentages correspond well to the ratios of male andfemale faculty members at the higher education institutions in Cambodia, asconfirmed by the offices of the universities covered in the study and the
Directorate General for Higher Education of the Ministry of Education. As
Table 2 indicates, some 65% of the respondents were relatively young, at or
below 40 years of age. This distribution of respondents by age can be also
considered as reflective of the nationwide composition of university facultyYuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya and Aki Osawa Page
39
members by age.1
Table 1. Higher education institutions selected for survey and numbers of
respondents
Name
Royal University of Fine Arts**
Royal University of Law and Economics**

Royal University of Phnom Penh

Established*

Type

Location

No. ofrespondents (%)

1918

PublicCapital51 ( 9.6%)

1949

PublicCapital25 ( 4.7%)

1960

PublicCapital99 (18.6%)

Royal University of Agriculture

1964

PublicCapital65 (12.2%)

Institute of Technology of Cambodia

1964

PublicCapital64 (12.1%)

Norton University**

1996

PrivateCapital95 (17.9%)

Pannasastra University of Cambodia

1997

PrivateCapital

44 ( 8.3%)

Cambodia University of Specialities

2002

PrivateCapital

44 ( 8.3%)

Svay Rieng University

2005

PublicProvince

15 ( 2.8%)

University of Battambang

2007

PublicProvince

29 ( 5.5%)

Total

531 (100.0%)* “Established” indicates the year in which each higher education institution was firstestablished as such, and not necessarily as a “university”: some were initially established as a“public institute” and were later recognized as a university, often following merger with, orseparation from, another establishment.
** The Royal University of Fine Arts, the Royal University of Law and Economics, andNorton University were recognized as universities by the Cambodian government in 1965,
2003, and 1997, respectively.

Table 2. Respondents by age groupAge

No. of respondents (%)

61 or older

4 (0.8%)51 – 60 yrs old

44 (8.3%)

41 – 50

115 (21.7%)

31 – 40221 (41.6%)

21 – 30

131 (24.7%)

Other/not specified

16 (3.0%)

Total

1

531 (100%)Comparison to the nationwide compositions of university instructors by gender and by age isbased on the interview that the author conducted in March 2012 with the Directorate Generalfor Higher Education in Cambodia, as well as the interviews and surveys that JICA experts
dispatched to the Ministry of Education of Cambodia conducted with the offices of theuniversities covered in the study.

40

Quality of Education and Research at Higher Education Institutions in Cambodia
Page

In the People’s Republic of Kampuchea led by Pol Pot (1975-1979), thecountry’s formal educational system was dismantled, and many educational
institutions were closed. With regard to higher education, it is reported thatduring the same period, the Khmer Rouge massacred 75% of university faculty
and over 95% of the university students in the country (Ayres, 2000). After thecollapse of Pol Pot’s regime, Cambodia remained in an unstable situation, withcivil wars and conflicts frequently breaking out up until the mid-1990s.
Consequently, it was extremely difficult for higher education institutions to train
academic staff. This historical background is reflected in the small percentageof academic staff in their 40s and 50s.

2. Survey results
With regard to Cambodian university faculty working conditions and degreeof satisfaction with their posts, the study revealed the following four important
points.
Firstly, public university faculty enjoy better working conditions andeducational/research environments, and show a higher degree of satisfaction
with their current posts, as compared to their counterparts at private universities.
In particular, faculty at public universities located in the capital Phnom Penh
maintain a relatively good balance of professional activities and show excellent
records of academic achievement.
The two tables (Table 3 and 4) indicate the weekly average number of hours
that faculty at different higher education institutions in Cambodia devote to theirprofessional activities, Table 3 during the academic term and Table 4 outside theacademic term.
These tables show that private university faculty devote more hours to
educational activities both during and outside the academic term. Presumably,
this is mainly because private university faculty members are often required toteach in special programs, such as summer programs, organized by their
universities when regular classes are not held, and because faculty members
often teach part-time at establishments other than their universities.
At public universities located in the provinces, faculty devote many hours
to their university administration even during the academic term. This isprobably because many faculty members are mobilized to participate ininstitutional design and development at universities which have been more
recently established, and whose institutional aspects, in many cases, have not yet
been fully completed. Moreover, instructors at public universities in theYuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya and Aki Osawa Page
41
provinces devote many hours to social service outside the academic term, withless time spent on research than during the term. On the other hand, theworking hours of faculty at public universities in the capital are fairly distributed
among education, research, and administration, with many hours dedicated toresearch, even outside the academic term.
Table 3. Hours devoted to professional activities by university faculty(weekly average, during academic term)
No. ofrespondents

Education

Research

Socialservice

Administration

Other

Total

Public(capital)

304

13.30

12.44

7.93

11.12

6.28

51.07

Public(provinces)

44

13.14

9.85

10.83

23.73

5.50

63.05

Private

183

17.78

10.05

10.61

7.16

7.50

53.10

Total

531

44.22

32.34

29.37

42.01

19.28

167.22

Table 4. Hours devoted to professional activities by university faculty(weekly average, outside academic term)
No. ofrespondents

Education

Research

Socialservice

Administration

Other

Total

Public(capital)

304

9.85

12.86

6.60

10.69

3.93

43.93

Public(provinces)

44

6.64

4.25

15.33

12.00

10.00

48.22

Private

183

11.79

11.13

6.79

5.18

5.11

40.00

Total

531

28.28

28.24

28.72

27.87

19.04

132.15

Table 5 provides the instances of academic achievement by university
faculty during the past three years. In this aspect, the list is headed by thoseteaching at public and private universities in the capital. Notably, those at
public universities in the capital registered the most academic achievements interms of the number of published books, papers, reports and presentations at
academic conferences. Private university faculty, on the other hand, had moreachievements in terms of the number of contributions to newspapers, computer
programs, works of art, films, etc.
Table 6 indicates the degree of faculty satisfaction with their current posts at
different types of higher education institutions. On the whole, public university
faculty are relatively more satisfied than private university faculty.

42

Quality of Education and Research at Higher Education Institutions in Cambodia
Page

Interestingly, faculty at public universities in the provinces show a high degreeof satisfaction.
This finding is quite unexpected, considering thedisadvantageous conditions under which they work: basically, universities in theprovinces are inferior to those in the capital in terms of education and research
environment. As indicated in Tables 3 and 4, faculty members at universities in
the provinces devote many of their working hours to activities such asadministration and social service rather than to education and research.
Moreover, they have fewer secondary sources of income, since there are many
fewer universities in the provinces, unlike in the capital where university
instructors can earn additional income by lecturing at educational establishments
other than their universities. This is also reflected in the small number of hours
dedicated to education, as shown in Tables 3 and 4.

Table 5. Academic achievements in the past three years
Public(capital)

Public(provinces)

PrivateTotal(1)No. of single/co-authored scholarly books

4.28

3.11

1.71

3.63

(2)No. of single/co-edited scholarly books

8.24

5.00

4.89

6.86

(3)No. of articles published in academic books/journals

5.25

2.50

4.53

4.96

Description(4)No. of report/monograph written for a funded

3.69

2.00

2.72

3.43

(5)No. of paper presented at a scholarly conferences

4.18

1.00

3.52

3.92

(6)No. of professional article written for newspapers or magazines

1.96

3.50

4.59

3.23

(7)No. of patents a secured on a process or invention

0.00

0.00

0.50

0.14

(8)No. of computer programs written for public use

1.94

0.00

3.60

2.33

(9)No. of artistic works performed or exhibited

1.71

0.00

2.50

2.00

(10)No. of video or film produced

3.00

0.00

4.17

3.32

Table 6. Degree of faculty satisfaction with current post (by type of institution)
No. ofrespondents

1*

2

3

4

5

Public (capital)

304

101

110

67

14

3

9

2.01

Public (provinces)

44

31

7

4

1

1

0

1.50

Private

183

54

56

46

8

5

183

2.25

Total

531

186

173

117

29

12

14

2.05

* 1: Highest – 5: Lowest

No
response Average

Yuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya and Aki Osawa Page
43
Although it was not possible to precisely discern the reasons for this highdegree of satisfaction, the other surveys and interviews that the author and others
conducted2 point to the following factors: universities in the provinces, having
been more recently established, have newer facilities and equipment; and living
costs in the provinces are not as high in comparison to the capital, which makes
their public university salaries sufficient to maintain a decent standard of living.
Public university faculty members in the capital, in contrast, would havedifficulty in this regard were it not for secondary income earned by lecturing atother educational establishments. Also there is not much dissatisfaction among
faculty members in the provinces, since there is only a small number of peers –who are all in a similar situation – with which to compare themselves, given thesmall number of universities in the provinces. Further study and verification
are necessary to determine the extent to which these factors actually affectfaculty’s sense of satisfaction, and to learn if there are other reasons as well.
The second point revealed by the study is that younger university faculty
members have long working hours, mainly devoted to education, and that thiscontributes to their low degree of satisfaction with their current posts. Table 7
indicates the number of working hours per week that faculty dedicate toeducation. While a large percentage (42.7%) of all age groups combined (fromtheir 20s to 60s) spend up to 10 hours per week on education, younger faculty
members tend to spend more time. Among those in their 20s, particularly,
faculty members who spend 11 to 20 hours per week on education comprise thelargest percentage (46.3%), with some spending over 51 hours per week onteaching.
One question asked full-time and part-time instructors was what theirworking hours were at the educational institution of their main affiliation and atother institutions. The responses revealed that, in comparison to full-time
instructors, part-time instructors, many of whom tend to be relatively young,work longer hours at educational institutions that are their secondary place of
employment and shorter working hours at the educational institutions of theirmain affiliation.
Overview of working hours for each type of activity by faculty classified
according to age group highlights tendencies and traits. Tables 8 and 9 indicate
2

They include the interview that the author conducted in March 2012 with the Directorate
General for Higher Education in Cambodia and the interviews and surveys that JICA experts
dispatched to the Ministry of Education of Cambodia conducted with the offices of theuniversities.

44

Quality of Education and Research at Higher Education Institutions in Cambodia
Page

the composition of working hours of university faculty during and outsideacademic terms, respectively. They show the percentage of total working hours
spent by university instructors of different age groups on their various activities.
During the academic term, weekly work of university faculty members intheir 20s averaged 58.68 hours, the most of all the age groups. Instructors intheir 20s seem to vigorously pursue education (30.8%) and research (24.6%),
while at the same time devoting a considerable portion of their working hours(23.8%) to university administration. Those in their 30s spend a relatively large
portion of their working hours on education (27.3%), but less on research(19.8%) and more on social service (16.6%) than do those in their 20s. Faculty
members in their 40s actively engage in social service (26.1%) working with thegovernment, international organizations, and NGOs. This seems to be linked
with less time on education (22.6%). Instructors in their 50s spend less time onsocial service (13.8%), while education (32.0%) and research (24.4%) become
their main activities. Those in their 60s are focused on education (53.3%) withsmaller portions of their working hours dedicated to research and other activities.
Outside the academic term, faculty members in their 20s spend more timeon education (31.5%) than during the term, presumably because they work insummer programs organized by their universities or teach part-time at othereducational institutions during the holidays. On the other hand, they spend lesstime on university administration (20.2%) than during the academic term.
Instructors in their 30s devote far more time to research (29.1%) than during theacademic term. Those in their 40s spend as large a portion of their working
time on social service (23.9%) as they do during the academic term. Moreover,time devoted to university administration (22.9%) increases outside theacademic term. Faculty members in their 50s and 60s spend less time on
education and focus more on their research.
These tendencies regarding working hours for different age groups revealthat younger faculty members, mainly those in their 20s, spend relatively longhours mainly on education and university administration during the academic
term, and markedly longer hours on education outside the academic term, ascompared to their older peers. Those in their 50s and 60s clearly shift theirfocus and module time devoted to different activities, depending on whether
regular classes are on or not at their universities. In other words, they devote
distinctly more time on education during the academic term and on research andsocial service outside the academic term. This balanced distribution of time
among professional activities seems to be reflected in the degree of satisfaction
with their current posts and is discussed below.

Yuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya and Aki Osawa Page
45
Table 7. Working hours devoted to education (weekly total, by age group)
Total
60 or
older
50-59
40-49
30-39
20-29
Total

-10hrs

11-20hrs

21-30hrs

31-40hrs

41-50hrs

51hrs-

4

4

0

0

0

0

0

100 (%)

100.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

39

17

11

10

0

0

1

100 (%)

43.6 (%)

28.2 (%)

25.6 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

2.6 (%)

99

51

32

13

2

1

0

100 (%)

51.5 (%)

32.3 (%)

13.1 (%)

2.0 (%)

1.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

187

86

73

20

2

5

1

100 (%)

46.0 (%)

39.0 (%)

10.7 (%)

1.1 (%)

2.7 (%)

0.5 (%)

108

33

50

12

6

4

3

100 (%)

30.6 (%)

46.3 (%)

11.1 (%)

5.6 (%)

3.7 (%)

2.8 (%)

437

191

166

55

10

10

5

100 (%)

42.7 (%)

38.0 (%)

12.6 (%)

2.3 (%)

2.3 (%)

1.1 (%)

Table 8. Composition (%) of university faculty working hours(weekly total during academic term)
Education

Research

Socialservice

Administration

Other

Total

60 or older

53.3

13.3

0.0

20.0

13.3

100

50-59

32.0

24.4

13.8

18.9

10.9

100

40-49

22.6

20.6

26.1

19.1

11.5

100

30-39

27.3

19.8

16.6

22.0

14.4

100

20-29

30.8

24.6

10.9

23.8

9.9

100

Not specified

48.6

13.2

0.0

5.3

33.0

100

Average

32.4

20.5

13.6

18.7

14.8

100

Table 9. Composition (%) of university instructors’ working hours(weekly total, outside academic term)
Education

Research

Socialservice

Administration

Other

Total

60 or older

14.9

35.8

22.4

17.9

9.0

100

50-59

26.1

30.8

15.0

10.0

18.1

100

40-49

21.7

21.3

23.9

22.9

10.2

100

30-39

21.7

29.1

18.2

22.2

8.7

100

20-29

31.5

29.4

9.6

20.2

9.5

100

Not specified

62.3

37.7

0.0

0.0

0.0

100

Average

28.3

29.4

15.6

16.5

10.1

100

46

Quality of Education and Research at Higher Education Institutions in Cambodia
Page

Table 10 indicates the degree of satisfaction that university facultyclassified by age feel about their current posts. The percentage of instructors
who are “extremely satisfied” with their current posts comprise 75% among
those aged 60 or older and 58.1% among those in their 50s. The degree ofsatisfaction almost seems to drop with the instructor’s age: 37.5% among thosein their 40s, 39% among those in their 30s, and 20.9% among those in their 20s.
One reason for these results is probably that, as suggested above, young
faculty members are rushed with teaching and related tasks, whereas older andmore experienced instructors manage to distribute their working hours among
different activities in a more balanced manner. Furthermore, it is surmised thatyounger faculty members tend to accumulate dissatisfaction with their academic
posts which do not necessarily pay well despite their high social status, thisperhaps being exacerbated by the growing gap between academic posts andprivate corporate jobs, in terms of income level – especially in the younger
generations – as against the backdrop of Cambodia’s marked economic
development in recent years. Furthermore, these factors seem related: the low
income level forces many young faculty members to teach part-time, thereby
increasing their working hours spent on education, which in turn negatively
affects their sense of satisfaction.

Table 10. Degree of satisfaction with current post (by age)

60 or older
50-59
40-49
30-39
20-29
Total

Total

1

2

3

4

5

4

0

0

0

1

3

100 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

25 (%)

75 (%)

43

0

1

5

11

25

100 (%)

0.0 (%)

2.3 (%)

14.0 (%)

25.6 (%)

58.1 (%)

112

1

7

25

37

42

100 (%)

0.9 (%)

6.3 (%)

22.3 (%)

33.0 (%)

37.5 (%)

218

6

11

49

67

85

100 (%)

2.8 (%)

5.0 (%)

22.5 (%)

30.7 (%)

39.0 (%)

129

5

9

35

53

27

100 (%)

3.9 (%)

7.0 (%)

27.1 (%)

41.1 (%)

20.9 (%)

506

12

28

115

169

182

100 (%)

2.4 (%)

5.5 (%)

22.7 (%)

33.4 (%)

36.0 (%)* 1: Lowest – 5: HighestYuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya and Aki Osawa Page
47
The third point revealed by the study is that faculty members in the fields ofengineering and agriculture show a particularly low degree of satisfaction with
their posts and have problems concerning qualitative improvement of education
and access to scientific journals. Table 11 indicates the degree of satisfaction
with the current posts of university faculty members classified by area ofspecialization. Large percentages of those specializing in social sciences,
natural sciences, health sciences/medicine, and fine arts are highly satisfied with
their current posts. In contrast, the percentage of those highly satisfied in thefields of engineering and agriculture are 17.5% and 23.8%, respectively, muchsmaller ratios than the others.

Table 11. Degree of satisfaction with current post (by area of specialization)
Total
Humanities
Social sciences
Natural sciences
Engineering
Agriculture
Health sciences/
Medicine
Fine arts
Teachertraining/Education
Other
Not classified
Total

1

2

3

4

5

46

6

2

10

14

14

100 (%)

13.0 (%)

4.3 (%)

21.7 (%)

30.4 (%)

30.4 (%)

81

2

5

10

30

34

100 (%)

2.5 (%)

6.2 (%)

12.3 (%)

37.0 (%)

42.0 (%)

67

0

2

16

24

25

100 (%)

0.0 (%)

3.0 (%)

23.9 (%)

35.8 (%)

37.3 (%)

57

0

2

22

23

10

100 (%)

0.0 (%)

3.5 (%)

38.6 (%)

40.4 (%)

17.5 (%)

42

0

4

10

18

10

100 (%)

0.0 (%)

9.5 (%)

23.8 (%)

42.9 (%)

23.8 (%)

2

0

0

0

0

2

100 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

100.0 (%)

41

0

0

10

11

20

100 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

24.4 (%)

26.8 (%)

48.8 (%)

25

1

3

4

9

8

100 (%)

4.0 (%)

12.0 (%)

16.0 (%)

36.0 (%)

32.0 (%)

54

2

3

7

17

25

100 (%)

3.7 (%)

5.6 (%)

13.0 (%)

31.5 (%)

46.3 (%)

5

0

0

0

2

3

100 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

0.0 (%)

40.0 (%)

60.0 (%)

420

11

21

89

148

151

100 (%)

2.6 (%)

5.0 (%)

21.2 (%)

35.2 (%)

36.0 (%)* 1: Lowest – 5: Highest

48

Quality of Education and Research at Higher Education Institutions in Cambodia
Page

In the survey, many faculty members stated that the quality of education attheir universities had improved in the past five years, pointing to the generaltrend of Cambodia’s higher education. In particular, those working atuniversities that regularly carry out faculty development (FD) activities were
aware of qualitative improvement in education during the same period. Table
12 indicates the correlation between FD activities and educational quality.
Strong correlation is found in the humanities, social sciences, health sciences/medicine, and teacher training/education. In engineering and agriculture, on
the other hand, no correlation is found between investment in FD activities andeducational quality improvement. One likely reason is that these areas of
specialization require, first of all, capital investment in machinery and equipment
for experiments, and that FD activities aimed at faculty member quality
improvement therefore do not necessarily lead directly to higher quality in
education.
The study has also revealed that access to scientific journals varies
considerably among faculty members in engineering and agriculture, ascompared to their peers in other areas of specialization. That is to say, 33.9%
of engineering faculty members said that they had “extremely insufficient”
access to scientific journals, while 21.4% had “fully sufficient” access.
Likewise, among agriculture faculty members, 34.9% had “appropriate” accessto scientific journals, while 23.3% qualified their access as “fully sufficient”.
In sum, scientific journals were sufficiently accessible to some faculty members
in engineering and agriculture, and not to others (Table 13).
In Cambodia, which presently has a large agricultural population and
expects to develop economically in the future through further industrialization,
agriculture and engineering are key academic disciplines supporting thecountry’s development. Accordingly, reinforcement in these areas is a major
challenge for Cambodia’s higher education.
Finally, the fourth point revealed in the study is the inadequate state of
institutional development regarding the promotion of research in the entire sectorof higher education. Figure 1 indicates the division of university faculty
member interest between education and research. Basically, they are stronglyinterested in research, as attested by 43% and 21% of the respondents, describing
their main object of interest as “leaning towards research” and “primarily inresearch”, respectively.

Yuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya and Aki Osawa Page
49
Table 12. Correlation between FD activities and educational quality
Area of specialization

R

N

Humanities

0.332 *

43

Social sciences

0.357 **

73

Natural sciences

0.263 *

61

Engineering

0.037

47

Agriculture

0.047

43

Health sciences/medicine

1 **

2

Fine arts

0.052

40

Teacher training/education

0.428 *

25

Other

0.321 *

46––

0.262 **

464

Not classified
Total*: p<.05**: p<.01

Table 13. Access to academic journals in engineering and agriculture

Engineering
Agriculture

Total

1

2

3

4

5

56

19

10

10

5

12

100 (%)

33.9 (%)

17.9 (%)

17.9 (%)

8.9 (%)

21.4 (%)

43

2

9

15

7

10

100 (%)

4.7 (%)

20.9 (%)

34.9 (%)

16.3 (%)

23.3 (%)* 1: Extremely insufficient – 5: Fully sufficient

Figure 1. Division of interest between education and research

50

Quality of Education and Research at Higher Education Institutions in Cambodia
Page
Table 14. Evaluation of funds, facilities, and human resources for research
Public (capital)

Public (province)

PrivateAverageLaboratories

3.51

2.13

2.68

3.11

Equipment

3.48

2.15

2.84

3.16

Computer

3.08

1.66

2.30

2.70

Libraries

2.74

1.78

2.22

2.49

Assistants

3.69

2.73

2.97

3.37

Fund

4.04

2.53

3.22

3.65

Travel allowance

4.16

2.63

3.28

3.75

Additional funds

4.48

3.29

3.69

4.11

* 1: Highest – 5: Lowest

However, the study has revealed that, on the whole, higher education
institutions in Cambodia lack a well-developed system for promoting academic
research, and that restrictions are imposed on time, funding, facilities, equipment,
and human resources required for research. Regarding time for research,
faculty members cannot secure sufficient time because, for private university
instructors, long working hours are spent on education both during and outside
the academic term and, for public university instructors in the provinces, many
hours are devoted to university administration and social service. While
younger faculty members generally manage to secure time for research, theiroverall working hours are lengthy since other activities such as teaching,university administration, and social service occupy as much time. Even
outside academic term, younger instructors, who often work part-time, inevitably
spend more time on education than research.
Table 14 shows how faculty members, classified by type of university,
evaluate the availability of funds, facilities, human resources, and the likerequired for their research. It points to the widespread perception among
faculty members of insufficiency regarding research funds, travel allowances,and other additional funds. Interestingly, public university faculty members in
the capital who manage to secure relatively sufficient time for research evaluate
these items with particular severity. Similarly, the availability of laboratories,
experimental equipment, computers, libraries, other facilities, and materials forresearch tend to be negatively viewed by instructors in the capital at both public
and private universities. Furthermore, the availability of research assistants is
also poorly evaluated notably by public university faculty members in the capital.
Their counterparts in the provinces, on the other hand, give their material
environment for research a relatively high rating, probably because manyYuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya and Aki Osawa Page
51
universities in the provinces have been more recently established and theirequipment and facilities are still new as stated above.
These results can be read as proof of the high motivation for research seenamong academics in the capital. A major challenge at universities in the capital
therefore becomes obvious: fulfilling the conditions for research, such as time,funds, facilities, and human resources at a level worthy of the large number ofhighly motivated faculty members.

Conclusion
Cambodia’s higher education sector has been expanding in recent years.
Given the country’s economic development and increase in youth population,societal needs for higher education are likely to continue growing in the future.
In such a situation, various measures are being implemented to improve thequality of higher education; the effects of these measures are directly perceived
by faculty, as revealed in the study presented here. At the same time,
Cambodia, with its limited experience in higher education, is confronted withmany challenges on its way to establishing an optimal environment for quality
education and research.
This study analyzed the results of a written questionnaire survey, addressed
to faculty members at higher education institutions in Cambodia, so as to obtainan overview of their working conditions, research achievements, and degree ofsatisfaction with their current posts, classified by type of university, instructorage, and area of specialization. The study revealed that instructors at public
universities in the capital have a relatively well-balanced distribution of working
hours among different activities and are active in achieving academic results
such as publication, in comparison to their counterparts at private universities
and public universities in the provinces. Regarding degree of satisfaction withcurrent post, the study revealed that younger instructors are less satisfied thantheir older colleagues, likely because younger instructors have relatively long
working hours, especially for education, and often work part-time even outside
the academic term. Degree of satisfaction is also low among faculty membersin the areas of engineering and agriculture, key disciplines that support thecountry’s development. In these areas, faculty development activities aimed at
improving instructor quality do not necessarily lead to qualitative educational
improvement. Furthermore, in these areas of specialization, access to scientificjournals is found to vary among faculty members. Future improvement in theseregards is essential. The study also revealed that research achievements have

52

Quality of Education and Research at Higher Education Institutions in Cambodia
Page

increased mainly on the part of faculty members at public universities in thecapital. To further promote research activities, it would be necessary to enablefaculty to secure time for research and to improve the environmental conditions
for research.
As discussed earlier, Cambodian higher education is facing numerous
challenges. Still, in line with the country’s economic progress, this sector has
been expanding and improving, though gradually. 3 For example, among
younger faculty members, especially those who have studied abroad, the numberof researchers with advanced qualifications such as doctorates has been
increasing, which is evidence of the enhancement of the human resources thatare essential for improving the quality of education and research (Kitamura &Umemiya, 2013). On the other hand, the generally low degree of satisfaction
with the current post, mainly among younger faculty members, constitutes aserious problem. This dissatisfaction has a structural background comprisinglong working hours, hence insufficient time for research, and low income levels
which also accounts for long working hours. As indicated by this example,
many aspects of the situation of Cambodian university faculty members cannot
be improved without financial support for salary, facilities, and equipment. To
overcome these challenges, reform in the higher education sector must be
accelerated based on political decisions clearly manifested mainly by the
Ministry of Education.
This study examined the qualitative improvement of education and research
at Cambodian higher education institutions based on the results of ourquestionnaire survey for university faculty members. Compared to higher
education in many other Asian countries, their higher education and faculty arein a more difficult situation, and it is no easy task to improve the quality of
Cambodia’s university education and research. Some faculty members bringobstacles to this process of improvement because of personal issues regarding
their economic situation, low motivation for research and so forth.
Nevertheless, many working in the field of higher education are courageously
struggling in the face of challenging conditions to fulfill their roles as educatorsand researchers. There are many who work hard, fully conscious of their heavy
responsibility toward society, an attitude that, as Cambodia moves forward, will
become increasingly important for realizing not only economic, but also political,
societal, and cultural development.
3

Refer to Kitamura (2012) for the expansion and improvement of Cambodia’s higher
education in recent years.

Yuto Kitamura, Naoki Umemiya and Aki Osawa Page
53

References
Ayres, D.M. (2000). Anatomy of a Crisis: Education, Development and the State in Cambodia,
1953-1998. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Chealy, C. (2009). Higher Education in Cambodia. In Y. Hirosato, & Y. Kitamura (Eds.), The
Political Economy of Educational Reforms and Capacity Development in Southeast
Asia: Cases of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (pp.153-165). Dordrecht: Springer.
Kitamura, Y. (2012). Kanbojia – Koto Kyoiku-no Shitsu Kojo to Shiritsu Daigaku-no Yakuwari(Cambodia – Qualitative Improvement of Higher Education and the Role of Private
Universities). In Y. Kitamura, & M. Sugimura (Eds.), Gekidosuru Ajia-no Daigaku
Kaikaku – Gurobaru Jinzai-o Ikuseisuru (University Reform in Rapidly Changing Asia –Developing Global Human Resources) (pp. 149-164). Tokyo: Sophia University Press,
Kitamura, Y., & Umemiya, N. (2013). Survey on the Academic Profession in Cambodia. The
Changing Academic Profession in Asia: Teaching, Research, Governance andManagement, 71-88. Hiroshima: Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima
University.

RIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
55

The Internationalization of the Academy in Asia:
Major findings from the international survey

Futao HuangIntroduction
Since the implementation of the first international survey on the academic
profession, which was basically organized by the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching in 1991, numerous studies have been conducted in theacademy or academic profession, however, except for a very few works on
individual countries or the region in Asia (Arimoto, 1996; Altbach, 1996; Welch,
1997; Hoffman 2008; Huang, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011; Huang et al., 2013), little
research has focused on the internationalization of the academy in Asia in thecomparative and empirical perspectives. According to existing literature, theformation of modern university systems, including the academic profession or
academy in most Asian countries, is essentially affected by Western academic
norms and standards dating to the 19th century. In a major sense, if the terminternationalization of the academy or academics could be interpreted as
cross-border activities concerning dispatching local academics abroad; inviting
foreign academics to local educational institutions; introducing international orcomparative perspectives into curricula; importing textbooks and teachingmaterials from foreign countries to academics’ teaching activities; and academics’
engagement in research activities modelled on foreign, especially Western
academic patterns, the importance of the internationalization of the academy inthe establishment of modern university systems in many Asian countries cannot
be overestimated. As pointed out by the previous research:

Professor, RIHE, Hiroshima University, e-mail: futao@hiroshima-u.ac.jp

56

The Internationalization of the Academy in Asia

Page

All of the higher education systems considered here have Western roots
and use basically Western models. In Asia, as in the rest of the world,
the contemporary university is a basically Western institution, tracing
their roots to the medieval European universities and shaped by theparticular Western power that was the colonial ruler. In the case ofJapan, China and Thailand, foreign influences were chosen withindependence, but the models were foreign nonetheless. (Altbach &Selvaratnam, 1989)
With an increased influence from economic globalization in recent years,
common phenomena have also emerged in more and more Asian countries intheir efforts to internationalize their academics. In addition to the traditional
patterns of the internationalization of the academy, such as personal movementof university faculty members and researchers across borders, new trends in theinternationalization of the academy are seen widely among some Asian countries.
They include a provision of English-medium teaching activities; anencouragement of making publications in English language; and an effort inundertaking research activities in collaboration with foreign partners etc.
The purpose of this study is to examine key aspects of theinternationalization of the academy based on major findings from theinternational survey which was conducted in Cambodia, China, Japan, Malaysia,
Taiwan, and Vietnam in 2011-2012. It focuses on the analysis of theinternationalization of the academics’ teaching and research activities and theirbelonging institutions, as well as their views on international connections.
Three major research issues are addressed:• What are the distinguishing characteristics of the internationalization of
the academy in selected Asian countries in relation to teaching andresearch activities in particular?
• Is the level of the internationalization of the academy in some countries
higher than other countries?
• What are the implications from the study?
The study begins with a brief introduction to the research framework andmethodology. Then it examines key facts about the teaching and research
activities which were undertaken by individual academics and occurred in their
institutions at an international dimension, as well as individual academics’
attitudes toward international issues. The study concludes by arguing key
characteristics of the internationalization of the academy and their universities
with a focus on teaching and research activities; differences in international

Futao Huang Page
57
teaching and research activities at individual and institutional levels; andimplications for research, policy and institutions.

Research framework and methodology
There are many interpretations of the term internationalization of theacademy; however, the internationalization of the academy in the international
survey which was implemented with a similar questionnaire from 2011-2012 inCambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam included
mainly the following aspects:
̵ international mobility of academics
̵ international teaching̵ research activities, and̵ academics’ views on international activities at both individual andinstitutional levels.
Despite the fact that internationalization of the academy can be discussed
from various perspectives and at diversified dimensions, due to the limitation of
the data, study is mainly concerned with two specific topics as follows:
The first is to present a brief portrait of teaching and research activities ineach participating team at both individual and institutional levels. As depicted
in Figure 1, with respect to teaching activities, at the individual level, it is about
academics’ emphasis on international perspectives or content in their courses.
While at the institutional level, they include issues concerning teaching courses
by foreign academics; enrolling foreign students; and sending local students tostudy abroad. In terms of research activities, at an individual level, they aremainly concerned with academics’ obtaining their doctoral degrees; publishingin a language different from the language of instruction at their current
institution; co-authoring with colleagues located in other (foreign) countries; andpublishing in a foreign country, at the institutional level, they refer to holding
international conferences and seminars.
Second is to analyze the academics’ attitudes toward four issues concerninginternationalization:
̵ Connections with scholars in other countries are very important to myprofessional work;̵ In order to keep up with developments in my discipline, a scholar must read

58

The Internationalization of the Academy in Asia

Page

books and journals published abroad;̵ Universities and colleges should do more to promote student and faculty
mobility from one country to another; and̵ The curriculum at this institution should be more international in focus.

Institutional level
Recruting foreign students
Dispatching local students abroad
Foreign academics teachingcoursesholding international
conferences & seminars

Teaching

Research

Emphasizing international
perspectives & content in ourcoursesPublishing in a foreign language
Co-authoring with foreign colleagues
Publishing in another country
Obtaining a doctoral degree abroad
Individual level

Source: Created by the author (2013)

Figure 1. Research framework of international teaching and research activities

The 2011-2012 international survey of university faculty in selected Asian
countries is a follow-up to the previous two research projects on the academic
profession. As mentioned earlier, one was the international survey on theacademic profession which was undertaken in 14 countries in 1991; the otherwas the international survey on Changing Academic Profession (CAP) in which
19 countries participated in 2007-2008 with a common questionnaire. By
adopting several similar questions about faculty members’ academic activities at
an international dimension and their views of international activities at bothindividual and institutional levels from the two previous surveys and, as of 2012,seven Asian research teams, including Indonesia, administered their national
surveys with the similar questionnaire. Participating countries teams agreed on
a common sample design and data collection instrument, but implemented intheir local languages. The project team agreed to aim for a minimum effective
sample size of 800 faculty members in degree granting institutions, as indicatedFutao Huang Page
59
in Table 1, though some teams do not achieve the objective and received
sufficient valid samples. Almost all countries used mail surveys. It wasagreed that response rates were at least 20 percent. In order to minimize
measurement bias across countries, country teams maintained a high level ofstandardization in terms of question order, question wording, response options,reference periods, and layout and formal design. However, because of cultural
patterns and language specifics, some country teams designed national
extensions to the questionnaire. By early 2013, the data bank included major
findings from six participating countries. Because the Indonesian team is stillin the process of cleaning and coding its data, only the data of the six teams isutilized for this study.
Table 1. Major characteristics of national surveys in participating teams***

Valid responses
Male
GenderFemale
20-29
30-39
Age

40-49
50-59
Over 60
Humanities
Social sciences

Discipline

Sciences
Engineering &Agriculture
Other
DoctorDegreeMasterBachelor

Participating teams
TaiwanJapan

Malaysia

Vietnam

Total

Cambodia

China

531

2480

412

1048

660

800

5931

452

1279

259

882

396

404

3672

86.4%
71
13.6%

52.7%
1147
47.3%

64.0%
146
36.0%

84.7%
159
15.3%

61.3%
250
38.7%

51.1%
386
48.9%

63.0%
2159
37.0%

105

188

2

20

57

190

562

20.4%
229
44.5%

7.8%
1246
51.9%

.5%
44
11.1%

2.0%
236
23.1%

9.0%
234
36.9%

24.6%
341
44.2%

9.8%
2330
40.6%

122
23.7%

752
31.3%

142
35.7%

299
29.2%

143
22.5%

141
18.3%

1599
27.8%

53
10.3%
6

206
8.6%
10

134
33.7%
76

258
25.2%
210

155
24.4%
46

93
12.0%
7

899
15.6%
355

1.2%

.4%

19.1%

20.5%

7.2%

.9%

6.2%

43

425

80

112

51

113

824

10.9%
85

17.5%
653

20.9%
71

10.8%
130

8.0%
156

16.8%
205

14.9%
1300

21.5%
62
15.7%

27.0%
370
15.3%

18.6%
39
10.2%

12.5%
207
19.9%

24.6%
63
9.9%

30.6%
103
15.4%

23.4%
844
15.2%

102

659

46

346

197

37

1387

25.8%

27.2%

12.0%

33.3%

31.0%

5.5%

25.0%

104

315

146

244

168

213

1190

26.3%

13.0%

38.2%

23.5%

26.5%

31.7%

21.5%

49

979

347

825

486

226

2912

9.6%
365

41.3%
1131

86.5%
51

81.6%
146

75.3%
142

28.7%
438

50.9%
2273

71.2%
99
19.3%

47.7%
259
10.9%

12.7%
3
.7%

14.4%
40
4.0%

22.0%
17
2.6%

55.7%
123
15.6%

39.7%
541
9.4%

Source: Arimoto et al. (2013) with author’s modifications.
Note: *** p<0.001

60

The Internationalization of the Academy in Asia

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Analysis and discussion
International teaching and research activities at an individual level
As can be seen in Table 2, significant differences can be found in the
responses to the academics’ view on the incorporation of international
perspectives or content into their courses. On average, 19.3 percent of theacademics strongly agree with the statement. Among all the participatingteams, the proportion of the Cambodian academics who stated “Strongly agree”
is the highest (24.6%), followed by the second largest group from Taiwan(21.6%). In contrast, the proportion of Malaysia’s respondents is the lowest(11.7%), and the proportion of Japan’s response is the second lowest (16.3%).
This suggests that the largest numbers of the Cambodian academics devoted
their efforts to the introduction of international perspectives or content into theirteaching activities in comparison to any other countries.
However, it is noteworthy that, if the checks to both “Strongly agree” and“2” are considered, the average proportion of the academics in agreement with
the incorporation of international perspectives or content into their courses
amounts to nearly 60 percent.
With respect to individual academics’ international research activities, Table
3 indicates that significant difference could be found in all the three research
activities in which the academy from individual teams engaged. Due to the factthat in Malaysia both English and Malay are employed as official languages
while all other countries are not English-speaking, it might be appropriate to saythat almost all the university faculty members use their national languages
instead of English as their primary languages in delivering their lectures. Thus,
the statement “Published in a language different from the language of instruction
at your current institution” could be understood as they published in English
language in most cases.
Relatedly, in terms of the statement “Published in a foreign country”,
though it is likely to assume that these academics might publish in non-English
speaking countries like Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, France, or Germany etc.,
a huge majority of them tend to publish in English-speaking countries and,
therefore, their publications were basically made in English journals.
Among the three different types of research activities, except for the factthat more than 60 percent of Malaysian academics published in a foreign country,
generally speaking, the largest percent of the academics from all the participatingteams believed that they were involved in activities concerning publishing in a

Futao Huang Page
61
language different from the language of instruction at their current institution,
followed by those who published in a foreign country. The least percent of theacademics expressed that they co-authored with colleagues located in other(foreign) countries.
Table 2. Incorporation of international perspectives or content into one’s
courses (%)***Country

Strongly
agree

2

3

4

Strongly
disagree

Total

Cambodia

24.6

31.5

32.3

9.3

2.4

100.0

China

21.3

47.8

27.3

3.1

0.5

100.0

Taiwan

21.6

46.8

24.9

5.6

1.2

100.0

Japan

16.3

30.1

34.5

11.5

7.6

100.0

Malaysia

11.7

38.0

44.8

4.3

1.2

100.0

Vietnam

19.2

32.8

35.8

8.1

4.0

100.0

Average

19.3

40.2

32.0

6.0

2.5

100.0

Note: ***：p<0.001“2” Refers to the degree between “Agree” and “Neither Agree nor Disagree”.

Table 3. International research activities at an individual level (%)***Country

Published in a language
different from thelanguage of instruction atyour current institution
Yes

No

Co-authored withcolleagues located inother (foreign)countries
Yes

No

Published in a foreigncountry
Yes

No

Cambodia

45.6

54.4

35.7

64.3

42.7

57.3

Taiwan

59.8

40.2

19.5

80.5

32.8

67.2

Japan

66.0

34.0

28.6

71.4

46.1

53.9

Malaysia

47.1

52.9

40.9

59.1

65.2

34.8

Vietnam

40.5

59.5

19.9

80.1

6.1

93.9

Average

54.9

45.1

30.0

70.0

43.7

56.3

Note: ***：p<0.001

Among the six participating teams, over half of both Japanese andTaiwanese academics confirmed that they published in a language different fromthe language of instruction at their current institution. This clearly shows thatthe academics from the two mature systems made more noticeable achievementsin this aspect than those from the emerging systems like Cambodia and Vietnam.
Furthermore, as discussed earlier, more Malaysian academics seem to be
involved in not only publishing in a foreign country, but also co-authoring with

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colleagues located in other (foreign) countries. One of the possible reasons liesin the fact that more Malaysian academics tend to employ English language as
their research language, therefore, they have less language problem while
publishing outside of Malaysia in English and co-authored with foreign
academics in English than any other teams.
As shown in Table 1, more than 70 percent of Japanese, Malaysian andTaiwanese academics held their doctoral degrees of the total. Though only
about 40 percent of the Chinese academics and less than 30 percent of theVietnamese academics possessed their doctoral degrees, Table 4 further suggeststhat as high as 90 percent of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese academics, andover half of both Malaysian, and Taiwanese academics earned their doctoral
degrees in their current institutions. In sharp contrast, less than 10 percent of
Cambodian academics held their doctoral degrees, and only about 22 percent ofthem obtained their doctoral degrees at their current institutions. From aninternational perspective, apparently, the vast majority of doctoral degree holders
were produced at home in countries like China, Japan, and Vietnam, though thepercent of doctor degree holders in both China and Vietnam is still lower thanJapan, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Whereas in both Malaysia, and Taiwan, though
they had a very high percentages of doctoral degree holders, a large number ofthem received their degrees abroad.
Table 4. Obtaining doctoral degree in country of current employment (%)***Country

Responses
Yes

No

Cambodia

22.4

77.6

China

96.0

4.0

Taiwan

55.2

44.8

Japan

95.8

4.2

Malaysia

53.9

46.1

Vietnam

99.4

0.6

Average

83.0

17.0

Note: ***：p<0.001

International teaching and research activities at an institutional level
Table 5 provides responses to the issue of how frequently international
activities have occurred during the past three years at respondents’ institutions.
Similar to Figure 1, though the data about these activities seems to be more

Futao Huang Page
63
complicated and diversified than what happened at an individual level, they canalso be practically categorized into two broad domains of internationalization ofhigher education: teaching and research activities. The former includes“Foreign academics have taught courses”; “Foreign students have beenenrolled”; and “Our students have studied abroad”, while the latter covers“International conferences and seminars have been held”.
Table 5. International activities at an institutional level (%)***Country

Foreign academics have taught
coursesInternational conferences andseminars have been held

Foreign students have beenenrolled

Cambodia
China
TaiwanJapan
Malaysia
VietnamAverageFrequently Occasionaly Never Frequently Occasionaly Never Frequently Occasionaly Never Frequently Occasionally Never
21.4
52.6
9.5
14.8
53.2
8.0
7.5
24.8 28.5
22.4
43.7
10.8
9.8
31.8 23.3
6.5
23.2
29.3
7.8
30.6 24.6
6.4
25.6
25.6
18.6
55.3
5.9
31.8
53.1
2.0
32.0
45.3
7
26.6
53.5
2.3
47.1
32.3
6
39.1
36.8
8.7
67.7
24.5
2.4
57.5
28.2
5.1
33.6
34.6
9.2
25.3
51.2
4.3
37.4
37.1
5.6
14.8
41.4
9.1
25.3
52.2 12.3
23.2
55.5
5
33.9
37.8
7.7
38.1
41.4
5.3
25.3
39.2 12.3
21.1
39.9
13.8
30.9
32 13.4
25.9
34.2
13

Our students have studied abroad

Note: Only responses to the checks of “Frequently”, “Occasionally”, and “Never” are shown.
***：p<0.001
Question: During the past three years at this institution, how frequently have the following
occurred? (Please check only one column on each decision)

In terms of international teaching activities, special mention should be madethat the proportions of respondents from Japan who answered “Frequently” to all
the four international activities at their institutions are highest among all theteams, especially the proportion of the Japanese academics who confirmed that
“Foreign students have been enrolled” and “Our students have studied abroad”
frequently makes up for 67.7 percent and 57.5 percent of the total universities
respectively. However, in contrast, except for the fact that 7.8 percent of theChinese academics answered that in their institution “Foreign students have beenenrolled” frequently, slightly higher than that of the Cambodian academics(7.5%), the lowest proportion of the Chinese academics admitted that their
institutions frequently carried out all other three international activities.
Among other teams, the second highest proportion of the Malaysianacademics stated that in their institution foreign academics have frequently
taught course (33.6%) and foreign students have been frequently enrolled(37.4%). The second highest proportion of the Taiwanese academics said thatin their institution international conferences and seminars have been frequently
held (31.8%) while the second highest proportion of the Vietnamese academics

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said that our students have studied abroad frequently (38.1%). For theremaining teams it appears that there exist more diversities in their response to
individual international activities at their institutions.
However, despite only very few countries confirmed that their institutions
have been frequently involved with all four international activities, theproportion of all the academics making checks of “Never” on any of theseinternational activities is less than 30 percent. This means that theseinternational activities occurred in practice at an institutional level occasionallyin almost all other participating teams.
Academics’ attitudes toward international issues
Table 6 indicates individual academics’ attitudes toward international
connections in higher education. Significant differences could be identified in
all four aspects of international activities perceived by the respondents. If both
checks of “Agree” and “2” are calculated, the proportions of respondents fromall the teams in agreement with “Connections with scholars in other countries arevery important to my professional work”; “It is necessary to read foreign books
or journals in order to advance further my discipline”; “University should
facilitate further exchange activities with foreign students or faculty members”;
and four teams (Cambodia, China, Taiwan, and Malaysia) which agree with “Thecurriculum in my university should be further developed from an international
perspective” account for over half of the total. In some countries, theproportions of their checks of “Agree” and “2” on some of the statement are ashigh as more than 80 percent. For example, the proportions of the checks of“Agree” and “2” made by Cambodian, Chinese, Japanese, and Malaysianacademics on “Connections with scholars in other countries are very important
to my professional work” and all the teams except for Vietnam on “It isnecessary to read foreign books or journals in order to advance further mydiscipline”.
It is interesting to note the proportion of respondents from almost all theteams agreeing with the statement that “The curriculum in my university should
be further developed from an international perspective” is slightly lower thanother statements. Especially the proportion of respondents from Japan,
Malaysia, and Vietnam who agree constitutes less than 30 percentage (20.5% inJapan, 29.4% in Malaysia and 24.6% in Vietnam) of the total, much lower thanthe proportions of their responses to the other statements. It could be argued
that at least a majority of academics from these three countries did not show theFutao Huang Page
65
same degree of positive attitudes toward further internationalization of theircurriculum at their institutions as they did in the other three international
activities.
Table 6. Respondents’ attitudes toward international issues (%)***Country

Cambodia
China
TaiwanJapan
Malaysia
VietnamAverage

It is necessary to read
Connections with scholars in
University should facilitate
The curriculum in myforeign books or journals in further exchange activities university should be further
other countries are very
important to my professional order to advance further my with foreign students ordeveloped from an
discipline
work
faculty members
international perspective
Agree
70.0
42.5
42.4
45.1
48.6
39.8
45.9

2
Agree+2 Agree
17.6
87.6
63.8
38.7
81.2
47.8
32.3
74.7
68.7
38.9
84.0
69.2
35.4
84.0
60.5
21.9
61.7
41.5
33.9
79.8
55

2
Agree+2 Agree
22.3
86.1
70.1
35.9
83.7
58.4
23.9
92.6
57.6
23.8
93.0
30.4
23.7
84.2
45.0
28.1
69.6
52.6
29.3
84.3
52.1

2
Agree+2 Agree
19.1
89.2
54.2
34.6
93
49
32.3
89.9
40.9
36.2
66.6
20.5
34.9
79.9
29.4
25.7
78.3
24.6
32.3
84.4
38.5

2
Agree+2
25.9
80.1
36.7
85.7
35.7
76.6
27.9
48.4
36.6
66.0
24.7
49.3
32.6
71.1

Note: Only answers to the checks of “Agree” and “2” and their totals are shown.
***：p<0.001
Question: We would like to learn more about your attitudes toward international connections
in higher education. Please indicate how you feel about the following issues.
(Please check only one column on each decision).

Though it is difficult to ascertain accurate reason(s) why there are higher
proportions of the academics from these three countries disagreeing with further
internationalization of their curricula, at least the data on their attitude toward
this specific activity matches the finding about their international teachingactivities at a course level. As revealed in Table 2, the proportions ofrespondents from the same three countries who strongly agree with the statementthat they introduced international perspectives or content in their courses are also
lower than the other group of countries.

Concluding remarks
First, the results of the data analysis indicate that the internationalization of
the academy in selected Asian countries is primarily concerned with academics’
international teaching activities at a course level, followed by their active
involvement in publishing in a language different from the language of
instruction at their current institution. In contrast, their belonging institutions
have not engaged in any of the four international activities so frequently over the
past three years. Arguably, the internationalization of the academy in selected
Asian countries took place more at an individual level than at an institutional
level if very few limited activities are examined.

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Second, as considerable numbers of the academics from all the participatingteams emphasized the important role of communicating with foreign scholars
and reading foreign books or journals in their professional work or discipline, itappears that a majority of Asian academics are still receptive to new ideas fromforeign academics and books or journals.
Third, though there exist mild differences, a vast majority of the academics
expressed clearly that their institutions should further facilitate exchange
activities with foreign students or faculty members and design curricula further
from the international perspective.
This implies that a great deal of
improvement is expected to be made in the international activities at an
institutional level in almost all the participating countries teams.
Fourth, with regard to the overall degree of the internationalization of theacademics among the participating teams, little evidence shows that one country
is particularly higher than any other countries in the entire international
dimensions or activities based on relevant findings from the international survey.
Actually, each country has its own distinguished characteristics while theiracademics engaged in various international activities. As noted previously,
though the largest percent of Japan’s academics expressed that they haveaccomplished many more aspects of international activities at both individual
and institutional levels, this does not necessarily mean that they have achieved
the highest level of internationalization in all dimensions or aspects. For
example, the largest proportion of Malaysian academics believed that they
published in a foreign country. In a major sense, due to the limited data
analysis, it is extremely difficult to generalize or identify different types ofinternationalization of the academy which might exist among the participatingteams. In other words, there appear more diversifications and no country
dominates overall international activities at either individual or institutional levelin the selected Asian countries.
Finally, though only simple arguments have been made about theinternationalization of the academy, this study suggests several implications at
the research and policy as well as institutional levels. With respect to theresearch implications, it makes more detailed analysis of international activities
at an individual level and also academics’ views on international issues,
especially the role of some international activities in their professional work, but
no information is available on how far the international activities have affected
academics’ belonging institutions in terms of their teaching and research
activities as well as managerial issues etc. From a research perspective,
probably more efforts are required to explore how internationalization could help

Futao Huang Page
67
non-English speaking countries improve the quality of their teaching andresearch, to produce high-quality graduates and enhance academic productivity
in particular. From policy and institutional perspectives, since less progress has
been made in some emerging systems like Cambodia and China, and a relatively
lower capacity of training doctoral-degree holders in Cambodia at home inparticular, additional efforts should be made to develop effective and operational
strategies to stimulate further development of their academics’
internationalization.

References
Altbach, P.G. (Ed.) (1996). Comparative Perspectives on the Academic Profession,43-67.
Praeger Publishers.
Altbach, P.G., & Selvaratnam, V. (Eds.) (1989). From Dependence to Autonomy: The
Development of Asian Universities, p. xii. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Arimoto, A. (Ed.) (1996). Daigaku kyoukyusyoku no kokusai hikaku [Academic Profession in
the Comparative Perspectives]. Tokyo: Tamagawa Printing House. ( in Japanese)
Arimoto et al. (2013). Changing Academic Profession in Asia (1) [Hennbou suru ajia nodaigaku kyoujyusyoku], presentation made at the 16th annual conference organized by
Japanese Association of Higher Education Research at Hiroshima University, Japan,
January 25, 2013.
Hoffman, D.H. (2008). Changing Academic Mobility Patterns and International Migration:
What Will Academic Mobility Mean in the 21st Century? Journal of Studies inInternational Education, 13(3), 347-364.
Huang, F. (2006). The Academic Profession in Japan: Major Characteristics and New Changes,
Reports of Changing Academic Profession Project Workshop on Quality, Relevance, andGovernance in the Changing Academia: International Perspectives( COE Publication
Series 20), 195-208.
Huang, F. (2007). Challenges of Internationalization of Higher Education and Changes in the
Academic Profession: A Perspective from Japan. In M. Kogan, & U. Teichler (Eds.), Key
Challenges to the Academic Profession (pp.81-98). UNESCO Forum on Higher
Education Research and Knowledge, International Centre for Higher Education
Research Kassel.
Huang, F. (2009). The Internationalization of the Academic Profession in Japan: A
Quantitative Perspective. Journal of Studies in International Education, 13 (2), 143-158.
Huang, F. (2011). The Academic Profession in East Asia: Changes and Realities. The
Changing Academic Profession in Asia: Contexts, Realities and Trends (RIHE

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International Seminar Reports, 17), 113-131.
Huang, F., Rostan, M., & Finkelstein, M. (Eds.) (2013). The Internationalization of the
Academy: Changes, realities and prospects. Dordrecht: Springer.
Welch, A.R. (1997). The Peripatetic Professor: The Internationalization of the Academic
Profession. Higher Education, 34 (3), 323-345.

Presentations
Formation of the Academy

RIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
69

Effects of International Education Degree andOrganizational Effectiveness Perception on
Academic Research Productivity in China

Lu Li* and Fengqiao Yan 

Introduction
Nowadays, the issue of assuring and improving higher education quality isunder the spotlight. As one of the core human resources of universities, theacademic profession (AP) has a vital impact on the improvement of teachingquality, research productivity, and social relevance. AP is a concept that isarguably initiated from western countries by Login Wilson in The Academic Man
which particularly refers to faculties working in universities and colleges.
When it spread to different counties, the term evolved to distinct implications
which are more or less relevant to diverse higher education systems. Despite
this, this term has some common features that a normal profession has, such as
exclusiveness and autonomy (Waddington, 1996); formal means of recruiting
and training; associations disseminating knowledge in the field; official
recognition; norms and regulations; and so on (Tang, 2008). Meanwhile, there
are some characteristics that distinguish the academic profession from others.
As Scott (1970) and Rhoades (1998) point out, AP is a group of faculties
employed by academic institutions and engaged in academic affairs.
Finkelstein et al. (1998) defines AP as an autonomous occupation withprofessional knowledge, common academic standards, and professional ethics;
easily influenced by new knowledge production; and undulated with theDoctoral Student, Graduate School of Education, Peking University, China,
e-mail: ladylolee@pku.edu.cn
Associate Dean & Professor, Graduate School of Education, Peking University, China,
e-mail: fqyan@gse.pku.edu.cn

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Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
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academic labor market. Shen (2011) claims that AP contains five significant
elements which are academic, materiality, spirituality, job, and group. She alsosays that there are three special traits that shape the heterogeneity of AP, that is,fundamentality, criticality, and discipline belongingness. In a broad sense, AP
refers to all faculties in different kinds of institutions. In this article, AP
specifically refers to the full-time faculties in four-year universities and colleges,
which is consistent with Shen’s narrow definition. It is no doubt that better
understanding and interpretation of AP will contribute to effective organizationof knowledge creation, transformation, and utilization. Nevertheless, there aremany topics on AP that cannot be embraced and discussed in this single article.
In this article, the literature review and theoretical framework are illustrated
firstly and then followed by the empirical study which sampled around 3000
faculties in public universities in China. Finally, the results and conclusions of
the empirical study are examined and discussed.
Worldwide trend of academic profession
Research Orientation.
With successive social changes from anagricultural through an industrial to a knowledge society, universities as well as
AP went through an evolving process from the medieval through the modern andto the post-modern. For the moment, most universities in different countries
are experiencing modernization that prioritizes research activities in addition toteaching. Accordingly, research is contained in the academic career through aseries of processes of graduate training, recruitment, promotion, etc. With theintense emphasis on the research function, the traditional identity of academics
as teachers at the pre-modern university shifted to the dual roles of bothresearcher and teacher (Arimoto, 2013). Consequently, research is regarded as
the most important activity for AP. It is worth mentioning that research is
closely related to teaching and service as well, in other words, it acts as the basic
and supportive role among three main functions of AP. In this case, it is ofgreat significance to observe and analyze the research productivity throughwhich the core elements and characteristics of AP can be precisely grasped.
Academic Research Productivity (ARP) implies quantity and quality of
publications. Quantity means total volumes of publications, and quality ismeasured not only by an index like “ACIF” but also the international
collaboration in publications. The academic research productivity measure by
publication quantity and quality will be the core dependent variable in this paper.
Internationalization. More and more faculties with international education

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
71
backgrounds and international activities have been observed globally in recent
years. With the development of economic globalization, more efforts weremade to promote academic internationalization. Although there have beenabundant studies of AP internationalization, few studies deal with therelationship between internationalization and academic research productivity.
What’s more, many papers about the internationalization of AP concentrate on
the post career stage rather than the prior career stage, that is, the acquirement ofInternational Education Degree (IED), including bachelor, master, and doctoral
degrees in foreign countries. The possession of international education degrees
is becoming more and more common among faculties, and it is meaningful toascertain the effect of international education degrees on research productivity,
especially on international collaborative research performance.
A brief review of Chinese academic profession development
Generally speaking, Chinese AP has been affected by both traditional andwestern culture. The historical development of AP in China has experienced
four periods:(1) Before Formation: unification of education and politics (Zheng Jiao He Yi).
Before the end of the Qing Dynasty, China failed to form an independent
academic profession, and lacked a knowledge ontology. At that time, theunification of education and politics was the significant characteristic ofacademics (Yan, 2013). The purpose to learn was to become officials.
(2) Formative Period (1895-1949): exogenous dynamics of the AP formation.
Historically, AP in China was formed in the late Qing Dynasty. The
establishment of the modern Chinese AP system is closely related to thefollowing academic norms: university idea, research methods, knowledge
classification, associations, and journals etc. The modern AP was formed when
western learning was introduced into China.
(3) Turbulent Period (1949-1978): excessive political interference.
During this time span, China adopted the former Soviet Union’s higher
education model, and AP became overspecialized and practically-oriented.
During the Cultural Revolution, the social status of AP was inferior to theworking classes (e.g., workers, peasants, and soldiers).
(4) Transition Period (1978-now): institutionalization and performanceorientation.
Since 1978, China has gradually adopted a market system. Then thehigher education in China began to forge ahead steadily. An institutional

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Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
Perception on Academic Research Productivity in China
Page

reform exploration was initiated in 1992, and the current position appointment
system along with performance assessment came into effect (Wang, 2009). An
incentive and competitive mechanism was introduced, and the relationshipbetween academic performance and remuneration was established. The
evaluation system put more attention on achievement especially research
productivity.
During the last decades of the 20th century, the elite or world-classuniversity project (985 and 211 Projects) were implemented respectively topromote university quality and development. Simultaneously, the Ministry of
Education implemented a policy on college enrollment expansion at the end of
the 20th century. With the substantial expansion of enrollment, the higher
education system in China has fulfilled the transition from the elite to themassive system. These two changes are basic contexts for the study of current
AP in China. Five obvious transformations in higher education resulted fromthe above social contexts: differentiation, massification, decentralization,marketization, and internationalization. These processes already have and willcontinue to shape AP well into the future.
Change has led the Chinese higher education system into a mixture having
both traditional and modern traits. Thus, the traditional and modern patterns ofuniversities coexist in the higher education system in which AP presents. The
traditional organization is featured by diffused function and ascription
orientation (DAO), whereas the modern organization is characterized as a
specialized function and achievement orientation (SAO). Usually, the SAO
organization performs higher level of organizational effectiveness (OE) than the
DAO does. When discussed at the individual level, organizational effectivenessis measured by the Organizational Effectiveness Perception (OEP). Rather
than the objective conformation of the organizational features, this concept refers
to the academics’ sensation and perception of the organizational orientation,
management strategy, collaborative relationship, decision making mechanism,
degree of occupation differentiation, and evaluation mechanism, etc. It will bemeasured quantitatively by a group of questions related to organizational
management designed in the self-rating scale. However, whether highorganizational effectiveness leads to more academic research productivity
remains unknown. Therefore, it is essential to verify the relationship between
organizational effectiveness perception and academic research productivity. Itshould be noted that current organizational types are not equal to pre-modern andmodern classification.
In sum, the world trend of research orientation for AP leads us to pay

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page73
attention to research productivity. While describing the influential factors on
research productivity, international education degree as an important personal
background will be taken into particular consideration, whereas theorganizational background variable is controlled. Additionally, organizational
effectiveness perception is an interactive element that mirrors individual
judgment of the university which may have effects on academic behavior andperformance. Based on almost 3000 questionnaires collected from academics
working in 30 public universities in China, this study examines the effects ofinternational education degree and organizational effectiveness perception onacademic research productivity.

Literature review and theoretical framework
Academic research productivity can be regarded as one part of academic
productivity. There have been accumulated many works on this topic. In
general, the following aspects are dealt with in previous studies:
The time effect on academic research productivity
Research productivity over the life cycle has increasingly become an
important topic to the American scientific community. Using data from theSurvey of Doctorate Recipients (National Research Council) and the Science
Citation Index, Levin & Stephan (1991) developed a model of scientificproductivity. On average, scientists become less productive as they age. For
the most part, vantage matters, but not in the way predicted from a point of viewlatest educated being best-educated. More recent vantages are never found tobe significantly more productive than earlier vantages. Not only will thecommunity be older, but over time the community will become increasingly
dominated by scientists who did not come from particularly productive cohorts.
Life cycle productivity in academic research has also been investigated in
Goodwin & Sauer’s (1995) paper by utilizing histories of research publications
obtained from individual vitae. It was found that productivity in economic
research rises sharply in the initial stages of a career, peaking at about the time ofa normal tenure review before encountering a slow decline. Variation in career
publication profiles and different attributes of individuals as manifested in career
choices are strongly related to the timing and level of research productivity. It
is confirmed that the distribution of productivity over the life cycle is humpshaped. The most productive researchers show little or no tendency for

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Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
Perception on Academic Research Productivity in China
Page

productivity to decline until about 20 years of experience. A permanent loss inresearch productivity is associated with an individual’s accepting an
administrative position in academia (figure 1).

Figure 1. The curse of peer recognition (Goodwin & Sauer, 1995)

Factors influencing academic research productivity
Individual factors. Individual factors like gender, age, family situation(children’s age), education background, etc. were found to be influential on
academic research (Over, 1982; Horta, 2009; Stack, 2004; Sax, Hagedorn,
Arredondo & Dicrisi, 2002). What is more, academic discipline and researchfunding were shown to have significant impacts on research productivity(Daizen, 2014). Age, gender, vantage, family background, education training,
management position as well as the time point when academics get tenureappointment exert an impact on research productivity in a long-term period likelife-cycle.
Organizational factors. Effects of organizational loyalty and professional
commitment on academic research productivity were examined in Jauch, Glueck,& Osborn’s (1978) research by using multiple linear regression. They foundthat researchers with the strongest professional commitment had higher research

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
75
productivity. Loyalty was found to be unrelated to productivity, and its
interaction with professional commitment provided no explanation of uniquevariance in research productivity over the main effect of professional
commitment. As what was found in Long, Bowers, Barnet, & White’s (1998)
study, the status of academic affiliation, rather than academic origin, had arelatively strong association with research productivity in terms of both numberof publications in top journals and citation counts of these publications.
Moreover, the reputation of higher education institutions contributes to academic
publications (Porter & Toutkoushian, 2006). Besides, the institutional mission
also plays an important part in faculty research productivity (Perry, Clifton,
Menec, Struthers & Menges, 2000).
Accordingly, academic affiliation,organizational reputation, institutional characteristics, perception of theorganization, and commitment indeed contribute to academic research
productivity.
Working condition factors. Some researchers focus on the collaborative
research activity’s influence on academic performance. Goldstein (1979) statedthat scholars in the two same-sex conditions published significantly more
research than did scholars in the two cross-sex conditions. Landry, Traore, &Godin (1996) claimed that collaboration, whether it be undertaken with
universities, industries, or institutions, may increase researchers’ productivity.
The effect of collaboration on productivity varies according to both the scientists’geographical closeness to their partners and on their fields of research.
Moreover, it was evidenced that collaboration between researchers and industry
had significantly more impact on productivity than collaborations between
researchers and their peers or researchers in other institutions. Researchers inhumanities were examined to produce less materials in collaboration thanscientists in other fields. Furthermore, scientist involved in collaboration aimed
mostly at producing patented and unpatented products, scientific instruments,
software and artistic production was also found to produce less. Insofar as acooperative climate and collaborative work enhance research productivity (Shin& Cummings, 2010; Smeby & Try, 2005), international collaboration is one
critical factor in research performance. In a word, same-sex cooperation,
cross-organizational, cross-sector, and international collaborative research
activities exert impacts on academic research productivity.
Other researches discussed about the relationship among research, teachingand service and combined it with study on academic research performance.
Mitchell & Rebne’s (1995) paper indicated that up to four hours per week ofconsulting and up to eight hours per week of teaching are indeed facilitative of

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Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
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research productivity. Thus, workload and time allocation among different
activities will influence academic research productivity.
Based on the previous empirical studies on AP, Gu (2012), using 2007
Changing Academic Profession (CAP) data, conducted research on the influence
factors of academic performance and found that achievement was affected byboth individual and organizational characteristics. For example, gender, age,
spouse educational level, and housework time were found to exert influence on
academic performance. In working conditions, efforts, title, and researchcooperation’s effect were shown to be significant. It is worth noting that theorganizational factors were put into the regression model and some variables likeresearch emphasized in higher education institutions (HEIs), performanceorientation, funding conditions, HEIs levels, and resource allocation were all
found to significantly affect academic performance.
In conclusion, academic research productivity is influenced by individual
characteristics (age, gender, discipline, title, family background, and educational
training); working conditions (management position, research collaboration, thetime point when academics get tenure appointment, workload, time allocation
among different activities, and research funding); as well as organizational
factors (institutional reputation, HEIs level, mission, research importanceregarded by HEIs performance orientation, etc.).
However, research orientation, personnel decision-making pattern andadministrative support’s effects on working conditions were not considered inprevious research. In addition, it neglects the AP’s working preference andinternational education experience. Furthermore, the differences between
organization effectiveness perception and organization effectiveness are notpreviously clarified and separately explored, although it is quite important todistinguish the effects of perception and objective measurement. Finally, eventhough a dynastic research view has been introduced into some research studies
in China, seldom have scholars combined the perspective with relative transition
period theories such as modernization or world culture. As a result,institutional and cultural characteristics were not systematically taken into
consideration.
Consequently, it is assumed that academic research productivity is not only
affected by individual, family, and organizational features, but also by theinstitutional structure and cultural elements in this research.
Based on the previous literature review, the theoretical framework is
depicted in the following figure.

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
77

Figure 2. Theoretical framework

Method and data
This essay adopts an empirical research approach to explore the influencing
factors on research productivity. Collecting data by a questionnaire, it uses thestatistical method to analyze data. The data analysis software tools used are
SPSS 19.0 and Stata 12.0. Multiple linear regression, cluster and ANOVA
analysis are employed in this study.
A stratified sampling investigation was conducted in 2012 involving 30
public HEIs in China. 3000 questionnaires were given out, and 2807 valid
questionnaires were collected. The population of this survey is full-time
faculty in four-year public HEIs in China. There are three levels of sampling:
HEI, college (department), and individual. The main stratified variables are
region, subject, and professional title. There are 1,456 male and 1,283 female
valid samples, the percentage female is 46.8% of the total. The basic structureof the sample can be found in the appendices.

Short-term academic research productivity among different
groupsAcademic research productivity of AP from different HEIs in short term
Quantitative dimension. According to the ANOVA analysis, there are
significant publication amount differences among AP in distinctive HEIs (at78

Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
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0.001 level) as it is shown in Figure 3. The research productivity of AP in
so-called “985” HEIs is much higher than those that are in “211” HEIs and other
HEIs categories on quantitative dimension.
Qualitative dimension. Qualitatively, Figure 4 shows the same trend, thatis, the average research publications with international cooperation (of per AP)
in “985” HEIs is significantly more than that of “211” and other HEIs at 0.001
level.
For ease of statistical analysis, we weighted one international collaboration
publication as two native publications and established a new dependent variable“WARP” representing both quantitative and qualitative characteristics ofacademic research productivity (ARP).
20.0

16.3

15.0
10.0

9.8

11.2

5.0
0.0
Other HEIs

211 HEIs

985 HEIs

Note: Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

Figure 3. Average academic research publications of per AP among different
HEIs in recent three years
2.00

1.80

1.50
1.00

0.97

0.87

0.50
0.00
Other HEIs

211 HEIs

985 HEIs

Note: Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

Figure 4. Average academic research publications with international
cooperation of per AP among different HEIs in recent three years

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
79
Short-term ARP of AP with different international education degree (IED)
Based on the ANOVA analysis, it was found that there are significant
differences between AP with and without IED on ARP (at 0.05 level). Thosewith IED publish much more than those without IED (Figure 5).
20.0
15.6
15.0

11.5

13.3
10.8

10.0
5.0
1.0

1.9

.0
Mean of WARP

Mean of TARPNo

Mean of IARP

Yes

Note: Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

Figure 5. Average ARP differences between AP with and without international
education degree in recent three years

Short-term ARP of AP with different OEP
Before discussing ARP, the content of Organizational Effective Perception(OEP) should be defined. In the Chinese version of the APA questionnaire,
three questions with 27 items are related to the AP’s perception about theorganizational management, one question involving 8 items asks about theassessment. Through factor analysis, two management pattern factors (SAO/
DAO); two incentive factors (research performance orientation/ teaching andservice orientation); and two assessment factors (internal evaluation/ external
evaluation) are abstracted from the specific questions.
According to factor analysis results, it was found that the first management
style SAO has the following characteristics: clear mission, flat decision structure,effective participation, specialized function, achievement orientation, and benign
cooperation whereas the other style DAO expresses bureaucratic decision
structure, inefficient participation, diffused function as well as ascription
orientation (Table 1 & 2). These two diverse management patterns arecoincident with the modernization switch from generalization to specialization

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Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
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and from an ascription to an achievement orientation.
By means of factor and correlation analysis, it was determined that bothincentive pattern perception factors are significantly related to the HEIs layers at
0.05 level. Those AP working in higher layers are more likely to judge their
incentive pattern as the first mode, that is, the research university mode (Table 3).
As both patterns reveal the performance orientation direction, the only differenceis emphasizing the degree of this tendency in consideration of the effect of these
two factors can be reflected from the HEIs variable. Therefore, the very item
named “strong performance orientation” is chosen to represent the degree of
performance orientation incentive characteristic in this article.

Table 1. Management pattern perception: SAO
Management pattern

Specific items

Clear mission

Unique and clear organizational mission

Flat decision structure

Top-level administrators are providing competent leadershipA strong emphasis on the institution’s mission
Collegiality in decision-making processes
Effective participation

I am kept informed about what is going on at this institution
Good communication between management and academics

Specialized function

Increasing professional level of administration

Achievement orientation

The incentive mechanism is based on fierce internal competition

Benign cooperation

A supportive attitude of administrative staff to teaching activities
A supportive attitude of administrative staff to research activities
The administration supports academic freedom
A supportive attitude of faculty switching to administration

Note: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value is 0.912, Bartlett sphericity test significance level is 0.000.

Table 2. Management pattern perception: DAO
Management pattern

Specific items

Bureaucratic decision structure

A top-down management style
A cumbersome administrative process

Inefficient participation

Lack of faculty involvement is a real problem

Diffused function

Administrators often switch positions

Ascription orientation

Most administrators get their positions by internal promotion

Most administrators also do research

Note: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value is 0.912, Bartlett sphericity test significance level is 0.000.

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
81
The AP’s perception about evaluation or assessment patterns mainly divides
into two directions: internal and external evaluation modes. On account of thefactor analysis, the former generally refers to the condition that assessment
subjects are composed by peers and directors in the same department or unit.
Correspondingly, the latter contains multiple subjects such as members of otherdepartments or units and external reviewers, etc. (Table 4). In view of an
external evaluation pattern involving multiple subjects making it difficult toabstract the core connotation accurately so the item “external reviewers” isselected to represent the external evaluation pattern in this paper, as it
generalizes the most information of external assessment.

Table 3. Incentive pattern perception: Research/ Comprehensive university
mode
Incentive pattern

Specific items
Strong performance orientation

Research
university mode

Performance based allocation of resources to academic units
Funding of departments substantially based on numbers of students
Considering the research quality when making personnel decisions
Considering the teaching quality when making personnel decisions
Considering the practical relevance/applicability of the work ofcolleagues when making personnel decisions

Comprehensive
university mode

Recruiting faculty who have work experience outside of academia
Encouraging academics to adopt service activities/entrepreneurial
activities outside the institution
Student should participate more in policy making

Note: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value is 0.912, Bartlett sphericity test significance level is 0.000.

Table 4. Evaluation pattern perception: internal and external modes
Evaluation pattern

Specific items

Internal evaluation

Your peers in your department or unit
The head of your department or unit

External evaluation

Members of other departments or units at this institution
Senior administrative staff at this institution
Your students
External reviewers
Yourself (formal self-assessment)

Note: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value is 0.764, Bartlett sphericity test significance level is 0.000.

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Short-term ARP of AP with different management pattern perception. As
Table 5 shows, there is significant partial correlation between SAO perception
score and WARP, while the correlation between DAO perception score and
WARP is not significant. However, it can be observed that both SAO and DAO
perception scores are positively related to TARP, in other words, the total amountof publications. Conversely, the IARP (measure of quality of publications) isneither significantly related to SAO nor DAO.
Short-term ARP of AP with different organizational performanceorientation perception. With HEIs layers under control, there is significant
correlation examined between WARP and organizational performanceorientation at 0.1 level. The positive correlation mainly presents itself in TARP
with the significance level of 0.1. Yet, the relationship between IARP and
performance orientation perception is proved to be insignificant (Table 6)

Table 5. Partial correlation between short-term ARP and management patternperception
SAO perception score

DAO perception score

WARP

0.058*

0.042

TARP

0.060*

0.060*

IARP

0.022

-0.039Note: *p<0.1, **p<0.05, ***p<0.01. Control variable is HEIs layers.

Table 6. Partial correlation between short-term ARP and performanceorientation perception
performance orientation perception
WARP

0.053*

TARP

0.061*

IARP-0.004

Note: *p<0.1, **p<0.05, ***p<0.01. Control variable is HEIs layers.

Table 7. Partial correlation between short-term ARP and performance
evaluation perception
External evaluation perception
WARP

0.069**

TARP

0.094***

IARP-0.046

Note: *p<0.1, **p<0.05, ***p<0.01. Control variable is HEIs layers.

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
83
Short-term ARP of AP with different evaluation pattern perception. The
correlation between external evaluation perception and ARP appeals to besignificant at 0.05 level according to Table 7 controlling HEIs layers. The
WARP and TARP are both positively related to external reviewer’s assessment

Econometric model
It is hypothesized that academic research productivity (ARP) is not only
affected by individual, family, and organizational features, but also by theinternational education degree (IED) as well as the organizational effectivenessperception (OEP) in this paper.
Multiple linear regression analysis of factors affecting on the ARP
Using statistical softwares of Stata 12.0 and SPSS 19.0, the variables that
influence on the ARP are analyzed (Table 8).
The econometric model is listed below:
ARP=β1+β2[femalei]+β3[agei]+β4[preferencei]+β5[international education
degreei]+βm[degreei]+βn[titlei]+βp[subjecti]+βq[HEIs layeri]+β6[workloadi]+β7[fundamental researchi]+β8[applied researchi]+β9[business oriented
researchi]+β10[social servicei]+β11[research supporti]+β12[performanceorientationi]+β13[SAOi]+β14[external evaluationi]+μi （m=1,2; n=1,2,3;
p=1,2,3; q=1,2）

Results and conclusion
Factors impacting on WARP. The research preference, professional title,
HEIs layer, workload, research funding support, and SAO score significantly andpositively influence on WARP, but performance orientation perception exerts
negative effect on WARP.
Factors impacting on TARP. Beside the same influential factors with
WARP, there are still some other elements working on TARP such as applied andsocial service research orientation.
Similarly, performance orientation
perception has a negative effect on TARP.
Factors impacting on IARP. The IARP mechanism seems to be different
from both WARP and TARP. Only title, discipline, research support funding
and fundamental research orientation play a role in the quality of ARP. It is

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Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
Perception on Academic Research Productivity in China
Page

worth mentioning that there are still other important factors that remain unknown
and need to be explored in future research. Additionally, the R-squared is0.1185, not as higher as the other two models (Table 9).

Table 8. Variable label and attribute
Dependent variable: WARP, TARP & IARP

Label

Attribute0=maledummy

Control variables(1) Individual characteristics
femaleage

continuousworking preference: research

0=teaching

dummy

degree: master degree0=bachelor degree

dummy

degree: doctoral degree0=bachelor degree

dummy

title: lecturer

0= TA

dummy

title: associate professor

0= TA

dummy

title: professor

0= TA

dummy

discipline: humanities

0=social science

dummy

discipline: natural science

0=social science

dummy

discipline: other subjects

0=social science

dummy

HEIs layer: 211 HEIs

0=other HEIs

dummy

HEIs layer: 985 HEIs

0=other HEIs

dummy(2) Organizational factors

research funding support from HEIs

continuous(3) Working conditions
workload per week (with teaching task)

continuous

research orientation: fundamental research

5 points

ordinalresearch orientation: applied research

5 points

ordinalresearch orientation: business oriented research

5 points

ordinalresearch orientation: social service

5 points

ordinal

0=no

dummy

Independent variables(1) IED: international education degreeinternational education degree achievement(2)OEP: organizational effectiveness perception
SAO management pattern perception scorecontinuous

performance orientation perception score

5 points

ordinalexternal evaluation perception

0=internal EP

dummy

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
85
Table 9. Multiple linear regression analysis of factors affecting on the
short-term ARP
Dependent variable:

WARP

TARP

IARP

female0.147-0.3350.133(0.832)(0.706)

0.261

age

-0.035-0.071-0.030(0.112)(0.094)0.029

3.207***

2.788***

0.270(0.817)(0.694)0.260-1.466-0.700-0.922(1.950)(1.502)

0.664

1.378

1.746

-0.632(1.987)(1.543)0.692

5.366***

4.863***

0.935**(1.326)(1.113)0.430

8.637***

8.355***

1.208**(1.799)(1.545)0.532

12.894***12.835***2.007***(2.396)(2.011)

0.762-0.4330.190-1.051***(1.188)(1.095)

0.312

0.795

0.596

0.197

(0.957)(0.834)0.282-4.692**-3.447-1.213**(2.304)(2.124)

0.495

1.018

1.327

-0.187(0.948)(0.831)

0.279

HEIs layer: 985 HEIs

5.129***

4.718***

0.288(1.617)(1.375)0.483

research funding support from HEIs

0.041**

0.025

0.013**(0.017)(0.021)

0.006

workload per week (with teaching task)

0.054***

0.042***

0.005(0.019)(0.015)0.005

research orientation: fundamental research

0.508

0.441

0.213**(0.374)(0.326)

0.107

Control variables(1) Individual characteristics

working preference: research
degree: master degree
degree: doctoral degree
title: lecturer
title: associate professor
title: professor
discipline: humanities
discipline: natural science
discipline: other subjects(2) Organizational factors
HEIs layer: 211 HEIs

(3) Working conditions

Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
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86

Dependent variable:
research orientation: applied researchresearch orientation: business oriented researchresearch orientation: social service

WARP

TARP

IARP

0.515

0.628*-0.166(0.441)(0.347)

0.143

0.456

0.423

-0.021(0.522)(0.448)

0.147

0.582

0.725**-0.070(0.400)(0.355)

0.110

2.137

0.803

0.823

(2.575)(2.061)0.741

0.903**

0.610

0.174

(0.414)(0.391)

0.126-0.917*-0.825*-0.242(0.546)(0.474)0.152

Independent variables(1) IED: international education degreeinternational education degree achievement(2) OEP: organizational effectiveness perception
SAO management pattern perception score
performance orientation perception scoreexternal evaluation perception score

0.786

1.136

-0.312(0.810)(0.737)0.219-1.848-1.6822.545*(5.012)(4.179)

1.472

Number of observations

504

550

504

Prob > F

0.00000.00000.0000R-squared

0.3196

0.32740.1185

Durbin Watson

1.821

1.823

2.029

VIF

<10

<10

<10

_cons

Note: *p<0.1, **p<0.05, ***p<0.01.
Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

In conclusion, the OEP’s effects on ARP are complicated. The modern
SAO management pattern perception has significant positive influence on WARP.
However, its effect is limited and not as effective as the other factors, forinstance, the preference, title, and HEIs layers even if its influence is larger thanworkload. Furthermore, in consideration that title and HEIs layer have, for themost, implied the unobserved capability of AP and organizational effectiveness,
the OEP’s impact is an associative but essential good based on personal
motivation, talent, effort or involvement, organizational conditions, and theinteraction between individual and organization as well. Still, an interesting
discovery in this article is that the performance orientation exerts a negativeLu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
87
effect rather than positive one on the ARP. Thus, HEIs administrators may
reexamine the current management pattern if it over-emphasizes short-term
profits and should take a broad and long view about academic productivity.
Moreover, the effect of IED is shown to be insignificant in all three models
after controlling individual and organizational variables. It may be due to thefollowing reasons: (1) IED is one of the labels reflecting AP’s unobserved
abilities such as title through which its effect is shunted; (2) its effect reduces astime elapses and mainly expresses itself on the process of recruitment andvanishes afterwards; (3) sample size is quite small, and it cannot represent thetarget population. Recently, it can be frequently found that the IED becomes anessential prerequisite to be recruited into a “985” or “211” universities. The
salary preferential treatment may last for as long as ten years until a fresh
assistant professor acquiring his/her associate or full professor. Taking a stepback and assuming that the IED indeed has no significant influence on ARP, then
the necessity of being discriminatory on salary should be further discussed,
provided that the discrimination actually exists. Besides, the long-term effectof ARP has not been illustrated so far in this paper.

Discussion
In this part, the long-term ARP effect is explored from two aspects: (1) age
effect and (2) professional title effect. First, it should be stated that the result isa biased estimate because of the use of cross-sectional data and lack oflongitudinal data. There will be an over-estimation of younger AP’s ARP and
an under-estimation of elder AP’s ARP due to the increasing maturity ofacademic publication system and development of research activities.
Long-term age effect on AP’s ARP
As can be seen in Figure 6, the ARP during long-term experiences a “tidewave” trend and reaches peak at 41-50 age group, then reduces slowly.
Long-term professional title effect on AP’s ARP
Different from the age effect trend line, the ARP continuously increases
with the promotion of professional title which reveals the Matthew effect of ARP(Figure 7).
Furthermore, the discriminatory on salary of AP with different IED
background is discussed through multiple linear regression analysis of factors
impacting on faculty income (Table 10).

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Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
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The econometric model is listed below:

Z=β1+β2[femalei]+β3[agei]+β4[international degree educaitoni]+β5[preferencei]+βm[degreei]+βn[titlei]+β6[father SEi]+βp[subjecti]+βq[institutional leveli]+β7[research program numberi]+β8[% of teaching timefor BCi]+β9[workloadi]+β10[fundamental researchi]+β11[applied researchi]+β12[business oriented research i]+β13[social servicei]+β14[research supporti]+β12[performance orientationi]+β13[SAOi] +β14 [external evaluationi]+μi（m=1,2; n=1,2,3; p=1,2,3; q=1,2）

25.0

21.0

20.3

18.7

18.9

1.5

2.0

1.6

31-40

41-50

51-60

20.0

18.3

15.0

17.1

13.4
12.2

1.0
0-30

10.0
5.0
.0

WARP

TARP

IARP

Note: Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

Figure 6. Long-term age effect on AP’s ARP

35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0

29.6
26.4
16.6

14.1

15.0

12.8
4.9
0.3
TA

1.1

1.6

Lecturer

Associate
professor

WARP

TARP

3.6
full professor
IARP

Note: Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

Figure 7. Long-term professional title effect on AP’s ARPLu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
89
Table 10. Multiple linear regression analysis of factors impacting on faculty
incomeDependent variable: Annual after-tax income
female-0.195(0.321)age

0.092**(0.038)international education degree (0=none)

3.155**(1.234)preference: research-0.406(0.294)

master degree(0=bachelor degree)

0.382(0.583)doctoral degree

1.045(0.642)lecturer(0=TA)

1.057***(0.403)

associate professor

2.068***(0.581)

full professor

4.532***(0.941)

father's social status

0.362(0.298)humanities (0=social science)-0.919*(0.557)natural science-1.452***(0.320)other subjects-1.404***(0.513)“211” institutions (0=general colleges)

0.191(0.265)“985” institutions

1.566***(0.595)

research project number

0.138*(0.077)% of teaching time allocated to undergraduate students-0.025***(0.006)working hours per week (with teaching task)-0.003(0.006)

research orientation: fundamental research-0.078(0.135)

research orientation: applied research

0.105(0.147)

research orientation: business oriented research

0.288*(0.173)

research orientation: social service

0.064(0.117)

research funding support of HEIs

0.425**(0.172)

_cons

1.646

(2.171)

Number of observations

1333

Prob > F

0.0000R-squared

0.2471

Durbin Watson

1.984

VIF

<10

Note: *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1
Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

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The results show that individual characteristics, working behavior, researchorientation, and organizational support exert impacts on the faculty income.
The institutional factors like SAO mode and evaluation did not have significant
effect on income. IED experience has remarkable impact on income while itdoes not contribute to academic publication prominently controlling othervariables which lead to a reconsideration about the unbalance between input andoutput. But this argument is not grounded solidly due to small sample size, andfurther exploration is needed. Based on the concept of Status Differential Effect(SDE), the status differential effect in this study is distinguished from thetraditional definition of social hierarchy in business administration research on
information communication out of ordinary. It refers to differences broughtfrom geographical displacement of AP, which can be divided into two types ofdifferentia: human capital and social capital. The former contains distinctions
in two dimensions: vertically on explicit knowledge, that is, discipline cognitive
maturity, and horizontally on implicit knowledge, in other words, assimilation ofalien culture and institution. Whereas the latter represents the added value
endowed by the society owing to the signal effect related to differences between
those with or without the IED. Whether the performance of scholars with IED
is over-optimistic should be further examined in subsequent research. The
title’s influence on faculty income was confirmed significantly, and there areconspicuous income differences among diverse HEIs levels and disciplines.
Faculty in social science earned much more than those in other subjects.
Amount of research projects at hand and commercial research orientation haveeffects on income gained. Finally, a noteworthy finding is that the lower thepercentage of time spent on undergraduate students, higher the income is, which
uncovered the fact that current incentive system actually encouraged effort inpostgraduate teaching rather than undergraduate teaching.
In sum, even though empirical analysis is utilized in this article todemonstrate previous points on cultural and institutional interpretation, theprocess is very complicated. More field studies should be followed by
combining multiple research perspectives with different methods.
The
reliability and validity of main dependent variables used in the article need to beillustrated further, and path analysis can be introduced into the mechanism study
so that the interaction between all independent variables can be clarified. The
cause and effect discussion and the linkage between data analysis and conclusion
can be explored by further research.

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan Page
91

Appendices
Survey sampling

1600

60.0

52.2

1400

50.0

1200

40.0

1415

1000
800

30.0

27.2

600
400

14.4

200

392

20.0

737
5.8
158

0
0-30

31-40

41-50

51-60
N

10.0

0.3
8

0.1
3

61-65

above 650.0%

Note: Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

Figure 8. The distribution of age

Table 11. Stratified sampling scheme (Region)
Numbers of public HEIs

Practical Sampling Numbers

N

%

N

%

North Eastern

107

12.7

4

13.3

North

145

17.2

6

20.0

East

239

28.4

9

30.0

South

68

8.1

2

6.7

Southwest

93

11.1

3

10.0

Northwest

79

9.4

1

3.3

Central

110

13.1

5

16.7

Total

841

100.0

30

100.0

Note：Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

92

Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
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Table 12. Stratified sampling scheme (Discipline)
Faculty Numbers

Humanities

Practical Sampling Numbers

N

%

N

%

338982

25.2

414

16.4

Social Science

350793

26.1

876

34.7

Engineering Science

364646

27.1

588

23.3

Natural Science

288706

21.5

647

25.6

Total

1343127

100.0

2525

100.0

Note：Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

Table 13.

Stratified sampling scheme (Professional title)
Faculty Numbers
N

Practical Sampling Numbers

%

N

%

Professor

148552

11.7%

410

15.2

Associate Professor

377225

29.6%

917

34.0

Lecturer

516938

40.6%

1197

44.4

Assistant Professor

231099

18.1%

171

6.4

Total

1273814100.0%

2695

100.0

Note：Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

Table 14. Descriptive statistics of samples (1)
N

%

1456

53.2

Gendermale
female1283

46.8

Marriage

Yes

2473

90.0

No

236

8.6

Offspring

Title

other

40

1.5

No

559

20.5

One

2112

77.6

Two or more

50

1.8

Assistant Prof.

171

6.3

Lecturer

1197

44.4

Associate Prof.

917

34.0

Prof.

410

15.2

Lu Li and Fengqiao Yan
Education degree

Bachelor

284

10.2

Master1289

46.2

Doctoral

1215

43.6

International education degree

No

2629

95.6

Yes

121

4.4

Working preference

Teaching

1415

51.6

Research

1325

48.4

HEIs Layer

93
Page

other HELs

1891

67.4

211

619

22.1

985

297

10.6

Note：Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

Table 15. Descriptive statistics of samples (2)
N

Mean

SD

Academic research publications (within recent 3 years)

1117

10.85

9.35

Average annual income (10 thousand)

2529

7.15

5.42

Workload per week with teaching task (hour)

2807

39.58

25.76

Workload per week without teaching task (hour)

2806

22.18

32.34

Hours spent on teaching (with teaching task )

2763

17.08

13.58

Hours spent on research (with teaching task )

2498

15.55

13.73

Hours spent on administration (with teaching task )

2498

2.09

4.31

Hours spent on service (with teaching task )

2498

5.41

9.63

Hours spent on teaching (without teaching task)

1392

10.35

12.70

Hours spent on research (without teaching task)

1391

20.36

17.85

Hours spent on administration (without teaching task)

1392

2.89

7.46

Hours spent on service (without teaching task)

1392

7.76

13.56

Research fund in past 3 years (10 thousand)

1752

40.95

234.62of which from present HEIs

1698

5.10

31.45

of which from local government and public institutions

1718

25.74

209.90of which from NGO and business

1698

5.48

41.23

of which from foreign government or internationalorganizations

1698

2.65

48.61

Note：Data from International Survey database of Changing Academic Profession in Asia (2012)

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Effects of International Education Degree and Organizational Effectiveness
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Descriptions of abbreviations
Table 16. Descriptions of abbreviations
Abbreviations

Descriptions

AP

Academic profession

ARP

Academic research productivity

WARP

Weighted academic research publications

TARP

Total academic research publications

IARP

International academic research publications

IED

International education degree

OE

Organizational effectiveness

OEP

Organizational effectiveness perception

SAO

Specialized function and achievement orientation

DAO

Diffused function and ascription orientation

HEIs

Higher education institutions

SDE

Status differential effect

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RIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
97

Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic
Profession

Aida Suraya Md.Yunus  and Vincent Pang**

The general scenario of Malaysian academic profession
The massification of higher education in Malaysia began in 1996 after theenactment of the Private Higher Education Institutions Acts together with a few
other related Acts. Currently the Malaysian higher education system consists of
20 public universities and about triple that number of private higher learning
institutions. Academics are classified into the ranks of professors, associate
professors, senior lecturers, lecturers, and tutors.
On average, Malaysian academics spend 18.19 hours on teaching and 7.98
hours on research when classes are in session and 8.61 hours on teaching and13.46 hours on research while classes are not in session (Azman et al., 2014).
These numbers indicate that even when university students are on vacation,
which is an ideal time for academics to catch up with research activities,
academics are still busy with teaching tasks. In general, academics in all
categories of universities prefer to engage in both teaching and research
activities, with those in research intensive universities are more inclined toward
research, whereas their peers in comprehensive and technical universities more
toward teaching (Azman et al., 2014).
The Malaysian section of the Changing Academic Profession (CAP) Project
dataset reveals that the profession consists of an almost balanced distribution of
Research Fellow, National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN), Penang, Malaysia /Professor & Director, Centre for Academic Development & Faculty of Educational Studies,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, e-mail: aida@upm.edu.my**
Research Fellow, IPPTN, Penang, Malaysia / Professor & Dean, Center for the Promotion of
Knowledge and Language Learning, Universiti Malaysia Sabah,e-mail: pvincent@umtp.ums.edu.my

98

Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Page

51.7% males and 48.3% females. The mean age is 39.5 years. Almost all(98.6%) the members of the profession are employed full time. For those whoare employed on contract, the average contract duration is 1.37 years only.
About 40% of them possess doctoral degrees.
At the entry point to the profession, a section of the members join after
serving in industry. The other section was recruited upon graduation. Those
who graduate with further degrees are admitted as lecturers, whereas some top
performers from bachelor’s degree programs are given scholarships by public
higher education institutions to pursue master and doctoral degrees, with acontract to serve as academics upon graduation.

Attractiveness of the academic profession
The carrots in the profession
As statutory bodies, the salary and promotion of academic staff in public
higher education institutions (HEI) are administered by the institutions andregulated by the Public Service Department (PSD). Generally, public HEIs
offer remuneration schemes and more promising career paths which are more
attractive than most other sectors in the public service. The salary scheme ofthese academics is based on the overall remuneration structure set by PSD.
With the status as civil servants, all academics enjoy the perks of the civil service
including an almost guaranteed annual increment until the attainment of theceiling pay, pension, and free health services.
As an illustration of the promotion exercise, the University of Malaya (n.d.)states that promotion of academic staff is to provide growth in the academic
career based on their achievement in their related discipline of expertise.
Promotion can be exercised through two channels: under normal and special
circumstances. Promotion under normal circumstances follows the usual path
which is hierarchical.
On the other hand, promotion under special
circumstances allows academics to skip one or more ranks, providing flexibility
to allow outstanding academics to have a preferred position in the university.
Almost similar to civil service, the standard criteria for promotion are
confirmation in the service; passing the assessment of required competency
levels; and achievement of acceptable level of excellence and conditions
stipulated by University Board of Directors, with the recommendation of thedepartment head. The level of excellence is considered in the areas of teachingand supervision; research, consultation and publication; professional or academicAida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang Page
99
expertise; leadership and academic contribution; and recognition and networking(especially for the promotion of professor to a higher grade). In addition, thelength of service is also considered in promotion (Table 1).
Table 1. Lengths of service and related criteria for promotion
Position

To position

Length of service< Promotion in normal circumstances >Lecturer

Senior Lecturer

3 years + PhD / 5 years
Special Case(without PhD)

Senior Lecturer

Associate Professor

2 years + PhD / 4 years
Special Case(without PhD)

Associate Professor

Professor Special Grade C

1 year + PhD / 7 years
Special Case(without PhD)

Professor Special Grade C

Professor Special Grade B

3 years

Professor Special Grade B

Professor Special Grade A

2 years< Promotion in special circumstances >Lecturer

Associate Professor

3 years + PhD

Lecturer

Professor Special Grade C

3 years + PhD

Senior Lecturer

Professor Special Grade C

3 years + PhD

Source: the University of Malaya (n.d.)With varying types of mission, institutional ownership, size etc., theremuneration schemes, career paths, and promotion exercise in private HEIs aremuch more varied and flexible. In general, academics in public HEIs enjoy
higher remuneration and an extremely high level of job security which grants
them almost permanent employment. A superior must provide substantial
evidence and must exert much effort to terminate the employment of a civil
servant. As an illustration for comparison, the maximum salary of a professor
in a public and private HEI are approximately USD 6,000 and USD 5,000
respectively, and the comparison for lecturers are approximately USD 5,000 and
USD 3,000. With the cost of living in Malaysia, an academic would have afairly comfortable life.
In all public HEIs, the annual excellent service award ceremonies are
conducted to show appreciation for academics who have shown excellence inteaching, supervision, research, publication, and professional services for theyear of appraisal. This may be the top 5% of the population of academics inevery faculty. The reward includes a certificate and cash. In researchintensive universities, cash rewards are given to academics who have shown
excellence in research productivity based on measurable outputs such as total
impact factors; number of publications in Institute for Scientific Information

100 Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Page(ISI) journals; number of citation; and H-index. Prestigious awards in the formof fellowship grants are also given to the ones who have shown excellence foreach category: teaching, research, and consultation. At Universiti Putra
Malaysia, the one selected for the Vice Chancellor Teaching Fellowship Award
has to undergo several processes which include assessment of the teaching
portfolio, observation of teaching, and interview. The fellowship award for
consultation is based on the amount that was received for the consultation
project for the year while the research award is based on overall research
performance.
Academic freedom
From the perspective of intrinsic motivation, another reason that attracts
people to join the academic profession is the expectation of academic freedom.
Academic freedom is the freedom of individual or collective members of theacademic community in the pursuit of developing and disseminating knowledge,
through academic work such as study, research, discourse, documentation,
production, knowledge creation, teaching, and writing (Canadian Association of
University Teachers, 1999). It is a key value in universities, and with it comes
responsibility expected of all members of the academic community.
Aarrevaara (2010) relates academic freedom with the academic profession
situation in three ways: there is autonomy in institutional governance; there islegislation to facilitate and guarantee academic freedom; and there is knowledge
culture in which knowledge is produced for the sake of knowledge. Many
Malaysian academics, especially the younger ones, join the profession with thehope of exercising academic freedom.
What it takes to be competitive in the profession
Traditionally, work expectations of academics consisted of teaching andsupervision; research and outputs generated from research which include
publications, patents, copyrights, and products; and professional services which
include consultation projects, community engagement projects, andadministrative work. The combination of these three tasks at varying degrees
allows institutions to categorize faculty members along a continuum.
Community engagement and administrative work have been given importance as‘standard’ tasks of academics.
In fact, as a result of massification and commodification of higher

Aida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang Page
101
education, an academic currently engages in a multiplicity of broader activities
ranging from not only teaching and research but also writing proposals;
developing contacts; designing and delivering e-learning contents; engaging intechnology transfers; finding openings for internships for students; making links
with regional, national, and international bodies; taking part in public debates;
sharing expertise; and supporting public policies. These days, activities otherthan teaching, research, community engagement and administration are notconsidered as peripheral secondary, but are recognized as important aspects ofacademic work. In Germany and the United States, for instance, the ability toraise money and to manage research projects using external funding is one
criterion for hiring professors (Musselin, 2007).
In France, academic
productivity is a criterion set by the Directors of the National ResearchInstitution on Agronomy (INRA) and management competencies are seen as
important as elements in scientific profiles by some European HEIs (Morshidi &Sarjit, 2007).
Likewise in Malaysia, to stand out from others, a member of the academic
profession needs not only to teach and supervise with quantity and quality, he or
she needs to secure large amounts of research grants (preferably internationalones); produce articles in high impact journals; provide advocacy andconsultancy services; and produce other outcomes and outputs of tasks
mentioned in the previous paragraph. In this light, Maimunah and Roziah(2007) suggested that members of the academic profession were expected topossess high level of competence, to perform simultaneous and multiple
academic responsibilities and to be independent and flexible.

Issues and challenges
The broadening of the range of outcomes and outputs of academics posesissues and challenges for them, and indirectly for administrators in HEIs and theMinistry of Education. Incidentally or coincidentally, the expectation of
Malaysian members of the academic profession took a drastic turn in the second
half of the last decade with the introduction of some reform initiatives. Amongthese were the Malaysian Qualifications Agency Act (2007), the National Higher
Education Strategic Plan Towards 2020 and Beyond (Ministry of Higher
Education (MOHE), 2007a) and its associated action plans (MOHE, 2007b,
2011a, 2011b). These led to additional auditing activities and performancemeasurement systems with their associated key performance indicators (Pang etal., 2011).

102 Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Page

More recently, the country introduced the Government Transformation
Program (GTP) after the 12th General Elections (Prime Minister’s Office, 2010).
The GTP outlined several National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) designed toadvance the nation toward developed status as the Vision 2020 draws near. The
introduction of a predetermined target known as Key Performance Indicators(KPI) for NKRAs in the Higher Education Sector has impacted its workforce,academicians, and support staff (Tajul et al., 2012). These KPIs cover thequantity and quality of research grants, as well as quantity and quality of
publications such as citation indices and impact factors. Whether these new
expectations and demands are able to re-orient academics or demotivate themand drive them away is a concern to higher education stakeholders.
These concerns was also voiced by Zain et al. (2010) who said that
Malaysian academics are expected to be able to carry out their core activities ofresearch, teaching and administration, as well as to demonstrate outstanding
contribution in the following categories in order to be promoted to associate
professor or full professor: publication, research, teaching, academic recognition,and service to the university and the community. With limited time and workoverloads, this may induce strain or stress in their lives.
According to Biggs (2003), with the massification of higher education, alarge number of students may not see HEI as a place to develop passion forin-depth studies for the subject areas of their choice. Instead, today, the main
objective of most students is to enrol in a course simply to obtain a better job
with a higher salary. It stifles the pursuit of academic freedom related to theculture in which knowledge is produced for the sake of knowledge. The impact
caused by this trend is compounded by the new demand of associating graduate
quality with employability, and more active participation of industry players incurriculum design and implementation activities.

Research methodology
The Academic Profession in Asia (APA) project, initiated by Hiroshima
University, was a continuation of the Changing Academic Profession (CAP)
project (2007) but with a special focus on Asia. Ten Asian countries agreed toparticipate and the Hiroshima International Workshop on July 17-18, 2011 washeld to establish the methodology and survey method for the project. Further
refinement of the survey was made via email discussions.
To allowcomparisons with data captured in the CAP project (2007), a similar
questionnaire was selected for the APA project.

Aida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang Page103
To allow each country to address the differences in their context of higher
education, each was given the freedom to make minor modifications to thequestionnaire. However, to allow comparison across countries, the format of
the original questionnaire was strictly maintained. It was agreed by all
members that country teams maintain a high level of standardization in terms ofquestion order, question wording, response options, reference periods, and layout
and formal design in order to minimize measurement bias across countries. It
was also reinforced that cultural patterns and language specifics might require
functional rather than formal equivalents and country teams could design
national extensions to the questionnaire.
The targeted number of respondents set for each country was 800. In
Malaysia, the questionnaire was sent to all 20 public institutions and to ensure
representativeness across academic ranks and disciplines, careful selection of
respondents was made using the cluster sampling method. The identification ofsamples for each institution was made by the appointed enumerators. They
were briefed through personal interaction or telephone call. Based on the
response rate in earlier studies involving academics, it was anticipated that thereturn would be very low, thus 3000 questionnaires were hand delivered orposted to the enumerators appointed in each institution. Responses werereceived from 18 universities (90%). Several reminders were made before theteam decided to end the data collection as the number of respondents met thetarget of 800. However, after the data cleaning process, a few responses had to
be excluded.

Findings and discussion
Background of respondents
A majority of the respondents were male (60.7%) and married (86.8%).
The team managed to get adequate proportion of responses across the threeacademic ranks; professors (14%), associate professor (21.8%), and lecturers(64.2%). This somewhat reflects the proportion of the three academic ranks in
Malaysian public higher education. According to the Malaysian Higher
Education Statistics 2011 (MOHE, 2012), the composition according to ranks ofthe 29,198 academics serving in universities were 6.86% professors and 16.48%
associate professors. The responses also cover a fair distribution across typesof universities (Table 2).
The classification used for the public higher institutions is based on the104 Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Page

classification determined by the Ministry of Higher Education (2013): which areresearch universities, focused universities and also comprehensive universities.
Research universities are ones that have surpassed the Malaysian benchmark for
performance and are very research inclined. A comprehensive university places
equal emphasis on teaching and research and the comprehensiveness reflect thewide range of academic programs that they offer. In contrast, a focused
university places emphasis on only specific disciplines. For example, theUniversiti Utara Malaysia is a management university, the Universiti Pendidikan
Sultan Idris is an education university, while the Universiti Teknikal Melaka isan engineering university. Of the 20 public universities in Malaysia, five areclassified as research universities, four are comprehensive, and 12 are focused
universities. The 12 focused universities include a network of four technicaluniversities which call themselves the Malaysian Technical University Network(MTUN) (MOHE, 2013).
Table 2. Distribution of respondents
Background Information

Categories

GenderMarital Status
Academic Rank

Types of Institutions

Frequency

Percentage

Male

476

60.7

Female308

39.3

Married/ Partner

676

86.8

Single10313.2

Professor

106

14.0

Associate Professor

165

21.8

Lecturer/ Assistant Professor

487

64.2

Research

320

40.0

Comprehensive

278

34.8

Technical

202

25.2

Academics’ views on prospects of the academic profession
To provide a general picture of how the respondents view the academic
profession in Malaysia at the present time, they were asked to indicate theirdegree of agreement on whether it is a poor time for any young person to begin
an academic career. The majority of the respondents had a stronger tendency todisagree rather than to agree, which shows their positive view of the academic
career.
Academics of technical universities tend to have greater disagreement to thenegative item (mean=3.87, SD=1.01) followed by research universities (meanAida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang Page
105
=3.74, SD=1.15) and comprehensive universities (mean=3.55, SD=1.14) (Table3). However, based on a 1 to 5 scale, the mean is slightly towards disagreementwith the statement. In other words, many feel that it is good time to begin an
academic career.
Table 3. Respondents’ agreement with the item “It is a poor time for any young
person to begin an academic career” by types of universities
Degree ofAgreement

Research
Mean

Comprehensive

n

%

n

%

n

%

1

4

1.3

12

4.4

2

1.0

2

59

18.6

36

13.3

10

5.2

3

62

19.5

85

31.4

70

36.5

4

85

26.7

68

25.1

39

20.3

5

108

33.9

70

25.8

71

34.0

3.74

SD

1.15

Mean

Technical

3.55

SD

1.14

Mean

SD

3.87

1.01

1 for “strongly agree” and 5 for “strongly disagree”

An analysis between the types of universities reveals that academics oftechnical universities may feel that it is a good time to begin an academic career
because technical universities are gaining better opportunities for research grants.
Their limited offering of degree programs and smaller number of student intake
may give them more opportunities to concentrate on other academic activities.
The least disagreement to this item is by those from the comprehensive
universities, which may have been influenced by their heavier burden ofteaching due to their larger student population.
Those from research
universities may feel more tension due to greater expectation on their research
performance while having greater supervision work load.
In line with the above statement, the respondents were also asked theiragreement with the negative item “If I had to do over again, I would not become
an academic”. The same trend was observed. The highest disagreement wasfrom respondents of technical universities (mean=3.93, SD=1.23), followed byresearch universities (mean=3.82, SD=.96) and comprehensive universities(mean=3.66, SD=1.22) (Table 4). These findings confirmed the earlier view onwhether it is a poor time for one to start an academic career. It can beconcluded that the Malaysian academics feel strongly that the academic career
has prospects.
The same trend was observed in response to the negative item “My job is asource of considerable personal strain”. The multiple tasks and excessive
teaching load, research, and services may be the cause of considerable personal

106 Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Pagestrain. As can be seen in Table 5, the highest disagreement is by academics oftechnical universities (mean=3.13, SD=.87), followed by research universities(mean=2.99, SD=.96), and comprehensive universities (mean=3.09, SD=.96)
which can all be considered as moderate. It seems that in general, academics
feel that the job is just moderately strenuous.
Table 4. Respondents’ agreement with the item “If I had to do over again,
I would not become an academic” by types of universities
Degree ofAgreement

Research
n

%

1

14

4.4

2

40

12.6

3

60

18.9

4

79

5

125

Comprehensive

Mean

n

%

16

5.9

29

10.6

82

30.0

24.8

50

39.3

96

3.82

SD

.96

Technical

Mean

SD

n

%

12

6.2

13

6.7

42

21.6

18.3

36

18.6

35.2

91

46.9

3.66

1.22

Mean

SD

3.93

1.23

1 for “strongly agree” and 5 for “strongly disagree”

Table 5. Respondents’ agreement with the item “My job is a source ofconsiderable personal strain” by types of universities
Research

Comprehensive

Technical

n

Mean

SD

n

Mean

SD

n

Mean

SD

318

2.99

.96

272

3.09

.96

189

3.13

.87

1 for “strongly agree” and 5 for “strongly disagree”

Job situations
Academics were also asked to indicate their views on overall working
conditions in higher institution, whether it has very much improved ordeteriorated since they started their academic career. The mean ranging from
2.25 to 2.34 shows that academics feel that working conditions has improved
since they started their career although it has not improved very much (Table 6).
It is worth analyzing the findings based on academic ranks. As shown in
Table 7, majority of the respondents were males. However, looking at thefemale composition, the proportion of female professors was only 20.8%,
associate professors 30.4%, and lecturers 43.9%. This is reflective of thecomposition of female academics advancing in academic rank. The proportionof female professors is much less than the proportions in the other two lower
ranks. According to the Ministry of Education Malaysia (2013) statistics, inAida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang Page
107
2012, 57.8% of lecturers were female, but the percentage decreases to 44.3% forassociate professors and 28.8% for professors.
Table 8 displays the number of children living at home. In most
Malaysian families, children will stay at home until the age of 18 when they
started attending college. The majority of lecturers (77.1%), associate lecturers(76.8%), and professors (70.5%) still have children living at home and 42.8% of
associate professors have more than three children at home.
Table 6. Respondents’ views on the item “Since you started your career, working
condition in higher education improved or declined” by types ofuniversities
Research

Response

n

%

1

39

2

169

3

89

27.9

4

13

5

9

Comprehensive

Mean

SD

n

%

12.2

69

53.0

100
85

30.7

4.1

16

2.8

7

2.32

.85

Technical

Mean

SD

n

%

24.9

27

13.6

36.1

99

50.0

56

28.3

5.8

9

4.6

2.5

7

3.5

2.25

.98

Mean

SD

2.34 .89

1 for “very much improved” and 5 for “very much deteriorated”

Table 7. Proportion of males and females across academic ranks
Professor

Item

Associate Professor

Lecturer

n

%

n

%

n

%

Male

84

79.2

112

69.6

264

56.1

Female

22

20.8

49

30.4

207

43.9

Table 8. Number of children living at home across academic ranks
Item

Associate Professor

Professor
n

%

n

%

Yes, 1 child

28

26.7

23

Yes, 2 children

17

16.2

31

Yes, 3 or more children

29

27.6

No

31

29.5

Lecturer
n

%

14.5

80

17.9

19.5

106

23.8

68

42.8

158

35.4

37

23.2

102

22.9

Problems of getting live in maids and insecurity related to leaving children
at day care centers causes most parents to have a bigger commitment to rearing
children which includes picking them up from school during lunch time,transporting them to baby sitters or day care, picking them back by 5 p.m. or 6

108 Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Pagep.m., preparing dinner and doing other daily chores. These are among thefactors that inhibit academics especially young female academics in accelerating
through their career paths.
The respondents were asked to rate their overall satisfaction with theircurrent job. Professors seem to be the most satisfied group (mean=1.80,
SD=.79), followed by associate professors (mean=2.14, SD=.97), and lecturers(mean=2.21, SD=.75) (Table 9). The satisfaction may be associated with the
pay and support system. Being more senior in the profession, professors andassociate professors may gain better support from management and support staff,
which does make their job more manageable and satisfying. Although the pay
is not comparable to those of developed nation, it allows lecturers to lead a rather
comfortable life. With the pension scheme and public hospital services for civil
servants, they need not worry about life after retirement.
In the survey, a majority of the respondents are permanent staff (Table 10).
In the Malaysian case, contract officers may apply only to expatriates or retired
academics. The mandatory retirement age for civil servants is 60. If theirservice is still needed, they may be hired on year-to-year contract basis or for acertain duration such as three years and based on performance, their contract
may be extended up to age 65.
Table 9. Respondents rating on overall satisfaction with current job
Response
1

Professor
n

%

41

38.7

2

49

46.2

3

12

11.3

4

4

5

0

Associate Professor

M

SD

n

%

38

23.4

M

84

51.5

30

18.4

3.8

2

0

9

1.80

.79

Lecturer
SD

n

%

76

15.9

242

50.5

149

31.1

1.2

9

1.9

5.5

3

0.6

2.14

.97

M

SD

2.21

.75

1 for “very high” and 5 for “very low”

Table 10. Terms of employment of respondents
Terms of Employment

Professor

Associate Professor

Lecturer

n

%

n

%

n

%

Permanently

79

74.5

136

82.4

436

90.8

Continuously Employed

14

13.2

14

8.5

24

5.0

Fixed-term Employment

13

12.3

15

9.1

20

4.2

Aida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang Page
109
The respondents were also asked to state whether they work for an
additional employer or do additional remunerated work in the current academic
year. In the Malaysian context, academics are not allowed to ‘moonlight’. All
work outside of their terms of work agreement must be approved by theimmediate superior. Thus there may be hesitation to declare that they do work
for an additional employer or do additional remunerated work.
Academics are encouraged to seek consultancy work.
However,
consultancy work must be reported to the university through establishments suchas the Research Management Center or the University Business Center. The
centers provide support, advice and provide legal protection to the consultants
for a fee, usually ranging between 10 to 15% of the total consultation fees.
Working for another organization or institution can only be done on thebasis of secondment. An academic can be seconded to another organization
during their terms of employment but their salary will then be paid by theorganization that they are currently servicing. As shown in Table 11, hardly 3%of professors or lecturers have other jobs or outside income. However, theassociate professors seem to be more involved in jobs outside their expected
duties. About 8.5% of associate professors are working for another research
institution, and the same percentage are working for non-profit organizations(Table 11).
Table 11. Additional employer or additional remunerated work acrossacademic ranks
Professors(N = 106)

Associate Professors(N = 165)

Lecturers(N = 487)

n

%

n

%

n

%

No additional work

102

91.1

140

84.8

450

93.4

Work at another research institution

3

2.8

14

8.5

13

2.7

Work at business organization

2

1.7

7

4.2

2

.4

Work at non-profit organization

3

2.8

14

8.5

10

2.1

Self-employed

1

.9

1

.6

3

.6

Other

1

.9

0

0

4

.8

Practices in rewarding and recognizing performance of academics
In analyzing rewards and recognition, an analysis of those who evaluatesteaching, research, and service work of academics may deem some light on theirjob situation and satisfaction. The respondents were allowed to choose more110 Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Page

than one choice of evaluators. For teaching, it was reported that across allacademic ranks, students and department heads are the main evaluators of theirteaching performance (Table 12). All universities require students to complete
evaluation sheets at the end of a course and this is used as part of the evidence ofthe quality of teaching. Department are also the evaluators for their teaching
performance for the yearly appraisal.
For research, it was reported that the main evaluators are the department
heads and external reviewers (Table 13). In this context, the department heads
may be the person to evaluate their research competence especially forpromotion and yearly appraisal but external reviewers may be the evaluators of
papers submitted for publication.
For service work, lecturers reported that the main evaluators are thedepartment heads, peers, and senior administrative staff. However, for the
associate professors, it is mainly done by senior administrative staff anddepartment heads. In this regard, the senior administrative staff is the dean.
For professors, it is done by department heads and external reviewers (Table 14).
The respondents were also asked how much do they expect that activities
such as research, teaching, administrative work, and social services areemphasized in the promotion exercise. They were to indicate ‘not emphasized’or ‘strongly emphasized’. In the next question, they were asked which of theactivities are actually emphasized.
Professors expect that teaching should be more emphasized (mean=4.05,
SD=.87); however, in actual practice they perceived that it is not as strongly
emphasized (mean=3.63, SD=.89) (Table 15). In Malaysian universities suchas Universiti Putra Malaysia, the weight given for teaching in promotion
decreases as one advances in academic rank. In other words, in lower rank
positions (senior lecturers and associate professors), teaching contributes more to
their promotion as compared to the criteria set for promotion to full professor.
In terms of expectation and their perception of actual practices as shown in Table
15, similar patterns can be seen for the associate professors and lecturers.
In terms of emphasis on research, professors and associate professors
expectations almost match actual practice. As compared to Table 15,
academics are aware that research is more emphasized in promotion as compared
to teaching. However, for lecturers, their expectations (mean=4.04, SD=.99)
are much higher than actual practice (mean=3.75, SD=1.05) (Table 16). As
discussed above, the weight of research is much lesser for lecturers as comparedto higher academic ranks.

Aida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang Page
111
Table 12. Evaluators of teaching
Professor(N = 106)

Evaluators
Peers

Lecturer(N = 487)

Associate Professor(N=165)

n

%

n

%

n

%

33

31.1

71

43.0

180

37.0

Department head

81

76.4

117

70.9

298

61.2

Members of other departments

19

17.9

23

13.9

109

22.4

Senior administrative staff

35

33.0

31

18.8

141

29.0

Own students

87

82.0

129

78.2

370

76.0

External reviewers

54

50.9

51

30.9

142

29.2

Yourself

71

67.0

89

53.9

276

56.7

No one

4

3.8

7

4.2

12

2.5

Table 13. Evaluators of research
Professor(N = 106)

Evaluators
Peers

Associate Professor(N = 165)

Lecturer(N = 487)

n

%

n

%

n

%

25

23.6

51

30.9

179

36.8

Department head

68

64.2

112

67.9

267

54.8

Members of other departments

24

22.6

60

36.4

161

33.1

Senior administrative staff

41

38.7

58

35.2

159

32.6

Own students

13

12.3

14

8.5

43

8.8

External reviewers

63

59.4

97

58.8

189

38.8

Yourself

64

60.4

83

50.3

268

55.0

No one

1

.9

6

3.6

19

3.9

Table 14. Evaluators of service
Evaluators

Professor(N = 106)n

Associate Professor(N = 165)%n%

Lecturer(N = 487)
n

%

Peers

18

17.0

52

31.5

190

39.0

Department head

69

65.1

85

51.5

262

53.8

Members of other departments

19

17.9

54

32.7

98

20.1

Senior administrative staff

35

33.0

90

54.5

176

36.1

Own students

26

24.5

35

21.2

70

14.4

External reviewers

48

45.3

22

13.3

77

15.8

Yourself

54

50.9

85

51.5

245

50.3

No one

6

5.7

14

8.5

19

3.9

Page

112 Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Table 15. Expected and actual practice of emphasis on teaching in promotion
exercise
Professorn%M

Associate Professor
SD

n

%

M

SD

Lecturer
n

%

M

SD

3.99

.86

3.77

.91

Expectation
1

2

1.9

1

.6

4

.8

2

2

1.9

9

5.5

12

2.5

3

19

18.3

26

15.9

116

24.4

4

47

45.2

49

29.9

195

41.0

5

34

32.7

79

48.1

149

31.3

4.05

.87

4.20

.94

Actual
1

2

1.9

2

1.2

11

2.3

2

2

1.9

11

6.7

13

2.8

3

49

47.6

23

14.0

155

32.9

4

29

28.2

61

37.2

186

39.5

5

21

20.4

67

40.9

106

22.5

3.63

.89

4.10

.96

1 for ‘not emphasized’ and 5 for ‘strongly emphasized’

Table 16. Expected and actual practice of emphasis on research in promotion
exercise
Professorn%M

Associate Professor
SD

n

%

M

SD

Lecturer
n

%

M

SD

4.04

.99

3.75

1.05

Expectation
1

2

1.9

0

0

7

1.5

2

4

3.8

10

6.1

30

6.3

3

12

11.5

18

11.0

91

19.2

4

18

17.3

4.40

.97

42

25.6

4.34

.90

154

32.4

5

68

65.4

94

57.3

193

40.6

1.9

1

.6

18

3.8

Actual
1

2

2

3

2.9

3

21

20.4

13

7.9

21

12.8

4

23

5

54

22.3

34

52.5

95

4.20

.99

32

6.8

131

27.8

20.7

160

34.0

58.0

130

27.6

4.27

1 for ‘not emphasized’ and 5 for ‘strongly emphasized’

1.00

Aida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang 113
Page
Table 17. Expected and actual practice of emphasis on administration andmanagement in promotion exercise
Professorn%M

Associate Professor
SD

n

%

2

1.2

M

SD

Lecturer
n

%

13

2.7

M

SD

3.53

.95

3.45

.87

Expectation
1

2

1.9

2

9

8.7

3

54

51.9

14

8.6

85

52.1

4

28

5

11

26.9

41

10.6

21

3.36

.86

42

8.8

176

37.0

25.2

172

36.1

12.9

73

15.4

3.40

.87

Actual
1

2

1.9

1

.6

15

3.2

2

10

9.7

11

6.8

33

7.0

3

54

52.4

63

38.9

198

42.1

4

32

31.1

64

39.5

172

36.6

5

5

4.9

23

14.2

52

11.1

3.27

.78

3.60

.84

1 for ‘not emphasized’ and 5 for ‘strongly emphasized’

Across all, academics expect and know that the weight given foradministration and management duties is much lesser than teaching or research(Table 17). It does not get higher as one moves up the academic rank.
However, associate professors indicate that higher weight of such duties is
exercised in actual practice for promotion. In promotion to associate professor,
some involvement such as being department head or program coordinator will
give some advantage in the application. But for promotion to professor,
contributions in terms of administration and management will definitely be an
added value to the application.
The respondents were also asked about the emphasis on social services forpromotion. The response is just moderate, similar to the pattern shown foradministrative and management duties. This is true in the promotion exercise.
Of utmost importance is research, followed by teaching, administration andmanagement, and social services.

Summary
In general, Malaysian academics find that the academic profession is very
promising and has good prospects. Academics, especially those from technicaluniversities, feel that it is a good time to begin an academic career, and that the114 Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Page

profession is just moderately strenuous. Research and study programs of
Malaysian technical universities are mainly engineering related. Most of theengineers who joined academia are those who have a passion for teaching andresearch, although there is a small number who may have joined academia afterlosing hope of getting a job as a practicing engineer. Those in technical fields
have more advantage in obtaining research funds such as the Science Fund, theTechno Fund, the Inno Fund, and the Industry Research and Development Grant
Scheme. Disciplines in research and comprehensive universities include
humanities and social sciences. There are fewer opportunities for those in these
disciplines to land a huge research grant. With the larger student population towhom they have to cater, it may have influenced the views of academics inresearch and comprehensive universities on the academic career. On top of that,those in the research universities also have greater supervision load due to thelarger graduate student population.
The study had also shown that academics feel that the working conditions
have improved since they started their career amidst the financial constraints
faced by all universities. However, it has not improved to the level of ‘very
much improved’. The improved working condition may have contributed totheir positive views of the academic profession.
The study also revealed that generally academics are satisfied with theircurrent job and that professors seem to be the most satisfied group. This
strengthened earlier findings by Enders and Teichler (1997) through their
examination of several countries that academics of the middle ranks were lesssatisfied, and lesser still are those in the lower ranks. Jaschik (2009) reported
similar findings based on the preliminary results of a national survey ofprofessors by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education(COACHE) at Harvard University that provided evidence that in most measuresassociate professors have lower job satisfaction than assistant and full professors.
Malaysian education statistics and data from this study showed that female
lecturers tend to lag behind in terms of promotion. At the lecturer level, theproportion of female academics is large, but it gets smaller at the profess level.
As shown in the education statistics (MOHE, 2013), less than 30% of professors
are females. Jaschik (2009) had also compared the time taken by male andfemale academics to be promoted. It was found that for the English andForeign Language Departments, the average time for women prior to promotion
as associate professor is 8.2 years, compared to 6.6 years for men. Jaschik(2009) reported that “many women in academe say that departments are
insufficiently supportive of those who must balance career and family

Aida Suraya Md.Yunus and Vincent Pang Page
115
obligations – and tend to reward those without child care duties/ continued
unequal division of labor in child care”. As in the Malaysian case, the set backof females in getting their promotion much earlier could be contributed to theirfamily commitment especially with the difficulty of hiring live-in-maids and thelack of good day care centers. Day care centers that operate according tonormal office hours may not solve the problem entirely because as academics,
they may have to work long hours, work outstation, or work weekends. Many
working women in Malaysia have more than three children, thus thecommitment of bringing up the children may slow down their move up the
career ladder.
The study had also revealed that not many Malaysians have additional
employers or do additional remunerated work. The system does not allow for
one to ‘moonlight’. They are allowed to take consultation work, but they will
have to contribute part of their consultation fees to the university. They are also
allowed to be on secondment to another higher institution, to industry, or to theministry. As an example, two of the professors from the Universiti Putra
Malaysia are serving as vice chancellors in two other public universities. The
Malaysian Director General of Higher Education is also a university professor,
on secondment to the ministry for three years, and the service may be extended
further.
In terms of evaluators for promotion, the study showed that the department
heads are the key person in assessing academics performance in all aspects:
research, teaching, administrative and management duties, and social services.
The assessment is also used for yearly appraisal and promotion. Students’views are often being used to indicate teaching performance. In some cases,
the deans are also evaluators of research.
The weight given to teaching in promotion or in yearly assessment
decreases as one moves up the academic rank, and the reverse is evident for
research. Professors are expected to be leaders of research, and thus, they may
concentrate lesser on teaching. However, it does not imply that the professors,
especially those who are not taking administrative positions, have smaller
teaching loads, but it indicates how much their teaching contributes andconsidered in promotion or in yearly assessment.
Across all ranks, academics do expect and do know that the weight foradministration and management duties is much less than teaching or research.
Contributions in terms of administration and management will definitely be an
added value to the application for promotion, especially associate professor toprofessor.
Of utmost importance is research, followed by teaching,116 Career Prospects of the Malaysian Academic Profession

Pageadministration and management, and social services.

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RIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
119

Academic Career Development in Vietnam

Pham Thanh Nghi

Introduction
The academic profession emerged in Vietnam at the beginning of the 20th
century with the establishment of the higher education system. Although thesystem has gone through about a century, it is still an immature one. The firstcolleges were established in 1918 under the French colony, and some colleges
then were merged to form the University of Indochina in Hanoi in 1939. The
system of higher education was divided into the two systems: higher educationin the North developed on the Soviet model and higher education in the Southdeveloped on the American model. In 1975, all colleges and universities wereunited into a national system based on the model of Soviet Union. Responding
to the socio-economic innovation in 1986, the system of higher education in
Vietnam changed its goals and regulations to serve the diversified economic
sectors; to mobilize the financial resources; and to develop its size and structure.
The two national and three regional multi-disciplinary universities were
established. Each province and ministry is trying to establish at least one
university under its supervision. The private sector of higher education has
more space to develop. As a result, the system of higher education in Vietnam
has reached over 400 institutions.
The student/faculty ratio increased from 8.73 in the 1980/1981 academic
year to 29.8 in the 2010/2011 academic year. The higher education system has
become a significant service sector, and working in the academic area has
become an interesting profession for Vietnamese young people. At the sametime the academic career ladder seems uneven for many young people who doProfessor, Institute of Psychology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam,
e-mail: ptnghi2008@gmail.com

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not work hard and lack perseverance and passion. It is necessary to emphasize
a few characteristics of the academic career in Vietnam. As compared tocounterparts in mature systems of higher education, academics working in
Vietnamese higher education institutions spend most of their time on teaching.
Research activities have recently been emphasized. And occupying an
administrative position is considered as an achievement for them. The rules foracademic promotion are defined by the state and heavily based on seniority.
There is a new pathway of promotion based on research and scholarship.
Female and ethnic academics are given priority in promotion, but due to theirshortage, the proportion of female, especially, ethnic high-ranking academics isstill small. This paper examines academic career development at a time ofhigher education transition from bureaucratic control to a market mechanism.
In this analysis academic career development is considered from the perspectiveof how academics enhance their performance through research, teaching, andadministration and in what pathway, their career is progressing to match with
university and society’s goals.

1. Teaching, research, and administrationa. Functions of teaching, research, and administration
Johnston and his colleagues (2012) have provided some essential
definitions of scholarship, teaching, research, and management.
Scholarship is recognized as an essential pre-requisite for high quality
teaching and basic research and can be defined as serious, formal
activity to ensure that an individual remains up-to-date with their
particular specialism. All academic staff are expected to maintain aclose and professional understanding of current developments inscholarship in their subjects. Their teaching should reflect, in a careful,
conscious and intellectually demanding manner, the latest developmentin their subject of study. An important aspect of scholarship is being
able to position one’s own discipline in the context of other relevant
disciplines.
Teaching includes any activity that contributes to student learning andthe student experience, including design and delivery of courses,
supervision of student projects and research, pastoral support,
management and leadership, student recruitment, widening participation,
professional updating, maintaining awareness and understanding ofrecent advances in knowledge of the relevant discipline.

Pham Thanh Nghi Page
121
Research builds on scholarship. Through research an academic
contributes to the development of their discipline, by original researchleading to new knowledge, and/or by the application of research/new
knowledge in novel and innovative ways. The amount of time
allocated for research in the workload model for academic staff will vary,taking account of the quality of the research outputs and other researchesteem factors e.g. research grant income.
Management and Leadership. Progression in all pathways will dependon the member of staff taking on management and leadership
responsibilities. The display of personal qualities associated withleadership and a willingness to take on and effectively discharge
significant responsibilities for a function or area of activity, in any
pathway, will strengthen a case for career advancement.
Higher education in developed countries encourages academics to commit toparity between research and teaching. In the teaching and research pathway
there may be substantial variation in the proportion of time that academics
devote to teaching, scholarship, research innovation, and other activities.
Being an academic employed by a higher education institution means
fulfilling several functions such as teaching, research, management, andleadership. Most academic staff combine these functions, but many have roles
that have a contractual commitment to a specific activity.
b. How these functions are distributed by law and regulations
As stated in the Higher Education Law (Vietnam National Assembly, 2012),
academics have at least three functions: teaching, research, and administration.
These three functions are defined in details in Ministry of Education andTraining (MOET) regulations (MOET, 2008). Committed to the teaching
function, academics are required to spend time on understanding educational
goals and curricular; regulations on teaching; and assessment of student
knowledge, attitudes, and skills. They are also required to develop teachingplans, course outlines, and teaching and learning materials, as well as teaching,supervising student learning, undertaking experiments, conducting seminars,
performing projects, guiding students in practices, and graduation projects.
Academics with Ph.D. degrees are required to supervise graduate students inwriting thesis and dissertations. Completing the teaching function, academics
are also required to prepare materials, textbooks, and references for courses theyteach.

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As researchers, academics are required to lead or participate in projects ofresearch or technological application. At the base of research results,
academics upgrade teaching and learning materials of their subjects.
Academics are also required to participate in scientific seminars and conferences,and publish their research articles in the scientific journals in Vietnam andoverseas. Committed to the research function, academics are required toparticipate in consultancy and technological transfer activities with partners both
domestically and internationally.
As administrators, academics are required to participate in student
enrollment activities, student learning, and research assessment. They are also
required to lead teaching or research units as deans, department heads, or leadersof higher education institutions.
These functions are distributed differently to the three groups of academics:
lecturers; senior lecturers/associate professors; and high-ranking lecturers/full
professors (MOET, 2008).
(1) Tasks of lecturers
Lecturers are required to teach courses both at three year colleges and four
year colleges and those who hold the Ph.D. degree are to teach special subjects
or units at the master’s level and supervise master’s theses and Ph.D.
dissertations. In term of research, lecturers are required to undertake research
projects and technological transfer. They are also required to be head teachersof student classes and to do other administrative academic affairs.
(2) Tasks of senior lecturers / associate professors
Senior lecturers/associate professors are required to teach special units andsubjects at four year colleges and supervise master’s theses and Ph.D.
dissertations. They are required to lead and participate in a group who prepares
learning materials. This group is the major force supervising master’s theses
and Ph.D. dissertations at higher education institutions. In term of research,
they are required to undertake research projects and technology transfer. They
are also required to participate in academic and research management affairs.
(3) Tasks of high-ranking lecturers / full professors
Different from the two above groups, high-ranking lecturers/full professors
lead the design and improvement of institutional goals, teaching plans, andcurricula for all levels of training. They are required to provide training
courses for other kinds of lecturers according to the programs of academic staff

Pham Thanh Nghi Page
123
development of the institution. These academics lead research activities, andthe organization of seminars and conferences. They are also required to leadacademic affairs, research, and academic staff management.
Table 1. Time requirement for academics
FunctionsLecturers

Senior lecturers/
associate
professors

High-ranking
lecturers/ full
professors

Teaching

900

900

900

Research

500

600

700

Administration andother tasks

360

260

160

Time requirement for all these three groups of academic staff is presented inTable 1. It shows that more research time is distributed to senior andhigh-ranking lecturers.
These teaching hours are then transferred to equivalent hours based on theweighting of teaching subjects and other works. One hour of teaching at a large
class accounts for 1.8 equivalent hours; one hour of teaching by foreign
languages accounts for 2.0 equivalent hours; one day of guiding probationaccounts for 1.2-2.0 equivalent hours; one hour of guiding subject practice orundertaking experiments accounts for 0.5-1.0 equivalent hour; supervision of
one student graduation paper accounts for 12-15 equivalent hours; supervision of
one master’s thesis accounts for 20-25 equivalent hours; and supervision of a
Ph.D. dissertation accounts for 45-50 equivalent hours.
Academics occupying an administrative position are required to teach atleast a certain proportion of equivalent time requirement. Rectors and vicerectors are required to teach 15-20 percent of equivalent time requirement; deans
and vice deans are required to teach 70-80 percent of equivalent timerequirement; and heads of department are required to teach 80-85 percent ofequivalent time requirement.
Research tasks are devoted to academics depending on their ability,
research potential, and the research emphasis of the institution. Important andcomplex research tasks are devoted to highly-qualified and high-ranking
academics, and these research tasks account for more equivalent time.
Academics are required to publish at least one scientific article in journals wherearticles are assessed critically by reviewers or complete one research project
funded by the institution.

124 Academic Career Development in Vietnam

Page

The application of these rules varies from institution to institution
depending on conditions. In case of a shortage of qualified academic staff, therector of the university may assign more research tasks to highly-qualified
academics and reduce their teaching workloads at the same time. For those
who do not complete research tasks, as assessed, their research time isconsidered as teaching as compensation purposes.
c. How these functions are performed in practiceBased on the Regulations issued by MOET, as presented above, the rectorof a university promulgates institutional regulations to assign concrete tasks toacademics. Student enrollment expansion in the last two decades has led toheavy workloads for academics. In terms of the regulations, a lecturer isrequired to teach 280 equivalent hours, senior lecturer/associate professor – 320
equivalent hours and high ranking lecturer/full professor – 360 equivalent hours(Table 2), but in practice academics are asked to work many more hours forwhich they are compensated. Consequently, they have not much time left for
research. However, a survey undertaken in October 2012 revealed that hours
spent on teaching and research reported by respondents are fairly balanced(Table 3). Academics spend more time on each activity when classes are not insession. Vietnamese academics spend much more time on teaching per week,
34.3 hours (both in session and not in session), compared to 25 hours by
Japanese and 26.8 hours by Taiwanese counterparts. Vietnamese academics
also spend more time on teaching when classes are not in session. Regarding
time spent on research activities, Japanese and Taiwanese academics spend more
hours both when classes are in session and not in session. Japanese spend 46.3
hours on research per week, and Taiwanese spend 41.2 hours, while Vietnamese
academics spend only 34.1 hours (Nghi, 2013, pp.173-174).
In choosing preferences “teaching and research”, academics clearly preferteaching (Table 4). This situation is rooted in differentiation of functions given
to higher education institutions in Vietnam. Teaching and research areseparated. The primary function of higher education institutions is teaching;
the research function is assigned to institutions traditionally organized separatelyfrom colleges and universities, while research and teaching graduate students are
considered as two important functions of academics at a university.

Pham Thanh Nghi Page
125
Table 2. Equivalent teaching time requirement per year
Academic ranks

For academic teaching

For physical anddefense education

High-ranking lecturers/full professors

360 hours

500 hours

Senior lecturers/associate professors

320 hours

460 hours

Lecturers

280 hours

420 hours

Table 3. Time spent by academics on teaching, research, service andadministration
Hours per week whenclasses are in session

Hours per week whenclasses are not in session

Teaching

15.4

18.8

Research

14.2

19.7

Service

7.2

7.2

Activities

Administration

9.3

10.3

Other academic activities

8.3

9.5

Total

54.4

65.5

Table 4. Teaching and research preferences
Frequency

Valid Percent

1. Primarily in teaching

187

23.8

2. In both, but prefer teaching

390

49.6

3. In both, but prefer research

183

23.3

4. Primarily in research

26

3.3

Total

786

100

The weakness of separating teaching and research has been addressed inrecent years by the attempt to establish numerous research centers or institutes
within universities. Responding to the questions “how much academics thinkthat research and teaching activities are actually emphasized” and “how muchthey expect these activities to be emphasized”, academics have mentioned an
actual imbalance between teaching and research, and expected more balance(Table 5).

126 Academic Career Development in Vietnam

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Table 5. Evaluation by academics on emphasis of teaching and research
Actually emphasized(1) on scale 1-5

Expected to be emphasized(2) on scale 1-5

Relations between(1) and (2)

3.81

4.14

0.47**

Teaching

4.17

4.33

0.60**

Administration

3.65

3.62

0.27**

Social service

3.35

3.54

0.35**

Research** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

According to academics, teaching is currently more emphasized thanresearch, therefore, they expect the university to place stronger focus on research.
The relation between actual and expected emphasis on research (with r =.47) isless strong than actual and expected teaching (with r =.60). At the same time,
the relation between actual teaching and actual research (with r =.710) is lessstrong than expected teaching and expected research (with r =.725), despite thatthese two relations are strong.
Due to limited funding, each research project gets a modest funding andthat discourages academics from committing to research activities. There areseveral levels of funding for research projects in Vietnam. At the institutional
project level, they usually get limited funding from the institution that is
sufficient to undertake the first stage of basic research to define research
problems, or to review literature for further study. At the ministerial projectlevel, academics are given the task to do independent research in their discipline,or to solve a particular practical problem that is significant to the professional orpractical application. At the national project level, academics have a chance toundertake a significantly important project for their discipline or for practicalapplication and they get a relatively large funding to undertake a research project.
Most academics have a chance to work with research projects at the first andsecond levels of funding which have little attractiveness.
Due to the low proportion of doctorates in Vietnamese universities and therank structure of the academic profession, most academics in Vietnam are notactively involved in research, measured by the number of articles andpublications produced. The table 6 provides data on research output in 2005
for public, semi-public, and non-public institutions. Public institutions have thebest record with over 17,000 publications, but only 0.03% of these articles were
published in international journals. The average publications per academic waslow (0.45 publications per academic).
The output of research and professional activities taken from our survey(Table 7) is more positive compared to the statistical data from MOET. The

Pham Thanh Nghi Page
127
average number of articles published per academic in books or journals is 1.70 inthree years or 0.56 per year compared to 0.45 per year in the MOET data.
Table 6. Research output for higher education in Vietnam in 2005
Ownership
PublicType ofmanagement

Number of
publishedarticlesPercentage ininternational
journal

Averagepublications per
academic

17,088

0.03

0.45

146

0

0.36

Total
National
Regional

292

0.09

0.09

Other

15,941

0.02

0.80

Local

30

16

0.03

Colleges

726

28

0.07

Semi-public

72

0

0.07

Non-public

38

0

0.01

1717,198

0.03

0.39

Total

Source: The World Bank (2008: 37-38) (data are drawn from the MOET Survey 2005)

Table 7. Output of research and professional activities
Items
1

Scholarly books authored, co-authored

Number of publications per
academic in three years
2.99

2Scholarly books edited, co-edited

0.59

3

Articles published in an academic book or journal

1.70

4

Research report/monograph written for a funded project

0.52

5

Paper presented at a scholarly conference

1.25

6

Professional article written for a newspaper or magazine

0.73

7

Patent secured on a process or invention

0.02

8

Computer program written for public use

0.04

9

Artistic work performed or exhibited

0.02

10

Video or film produced

0.09

11

Others0.02

In sum, academics in Vietnam place stronger emphasis on teachingcompared to research and administration. This situation may be caused by theoverwhelming teaching workload, and less funding for research activities andless weight given research for promotion. Making clear to what extent it is true
requires analysis in the next section.

128 Academic Career Development in Vietnam

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2. Academic promotion
The career ladder within a university consists of four steps: assistantlecturer, lecturer, senior lecturer/associate professor, and high-ranking
lecturers/full professor; in a research institute they are likewise four steps:
assistant researcher, researcher, senior researcher, and high-ranking researcher.
Promotion from one step to another requires several criteria, some of which are
related to research and teaching achievements, others are related to seniority.
This section describes how an academic is promoted on the academic
professional ladder and through what pathway.
a. Traditional pathway of academic promotion
Entering the academic profession and attaining a position as a lecturer,
academics can choose one of two pathways to advance; he or she can get the title
senior lecturer and then high-ranking lecturer, or he or she can achieve the title
associate professor and then full professor. The first pathway is called“traditional pathway” and the second is “scholarship and research pathway”.
The former emphasizes seniority more, and qualifications and achievements inteaching and research much less. The latter requires minimum seniority, andmore scholarship and research achievement. This section analyzes the
traditional pathway of academic promotion.
Before the Law of Higher Education was passed in 2012, one who
graduated from a higher education institution with a bachelor’s degree could be
recruited as a lecturer after one year of probation. At present, to be promoted
as a lecturer, an academic must have a master’s degree of appropriate
specialization. In addition, one is required to have three certifications: level B1
foreign language proficiency; level B information technology; and middle level2
political theory and public administration. The criteria for promotion to seniorlecturer include holding a master degree of appropriate specialization, and threecertifications: level C 3 foreign language proficiency; level C information
technology; and middle level political theory and public administration. He or
she must also demonstrate the ability to develop training curricula; teachingplans and materials; and completion of one research project at the institutional
1

Certification of level B means the intermediate level of proficiency.
Middle level means the intermediate level of knowledge and understanding.
3
Certification of level C means the advanced level of proficiency.

2

Pham Thanh Nghi Page
129
level. To be promoted to senior lecturer, one is required to have at least 7 yearsof work experience as a lecturer. The requirement for high-raking lecturer
includes the Ph.D. degree, at least one scientific project or creative work alreadysuccessfully applied into practice, and certification of high level 4 politicaltheory and public administration. The promotion requires at least 7 years ofwork experience as a senior lecturer.
During the time required for each step of one’s academic career, the lecturer
must collect required certificates and academic degree accordingly. This
pathway does not require much research achievement and significant
contribution to the training goals of higher education institutions. Practically,
every academic can get to the level of senior lecturer without considerable
efforts.
b. Scholarship and research pathway of academic promotion
If the first pathway of academic promotion relies heavily on seniority, thescholarship and research pathway is based on one’s research and teachingachievements made by the academics. Since 1975, five decrees have beenpromulgated by the Prime Minister. In the first three decrees, the titles ofassociate and full professor were recognized as research titles and in the two lastdecrees, the title was recognized as a teaching one. The recognition procedure
for these titles has become more completed, detailed and scientifically based.
The last decree, promulgated in 2008, defines in detail not only the criteria, butalso organization, activities of councils, and procedures of assessment andrecognition.
In terms of organization, there are three levels of councils involved inassessment of one’s file: the council for the professor title at the institutional
level, the council for the professor title at the disciplinary or inter-disciplinarylevel, and the State Council for Professor Title. The procedure of assessment
starts from the institutional council and the applicant file will be passed to theinter-disciplinary council and then to the State Council for the Professor Title(MOET, 2009a, 2009b).
Applicants are required to meet several criteria defined by the Regulations
issued by MOET (2009a, 2009b). They are required to have a total of six yearsof teaching, and three recent years must be continuous. If one has less than six
years of teaching, he or she is required to have doubled values of research and
4High level means the advanced level of knowledge and understanding.

130 Academic Career Development in Vietnam

Pagepublications. In addition, an applicant for associate professor is required tosupervise successfully two master’s theses, while the applicant for full professor
is required to supervise successfully two Ph.D. dissertations. Applicants arealso required to be proficient in one of five foreign languages: English, French,
German, Russian, or Chinese for their professional activities and communicate
successfully in English.
Publications and research results achieved by the applicants are assessed
based on the equivalent values, and the rules of this assessment are establishedby MOET (2009b). For example, a scientific article published in a prestigious
journal counts for a maximum of 1.0 valued point and a book published based oncomprehensive research by a prestigious publisher counts for a maximum of 2.0
valued points. Research at the institutional level that is completed and has beenassessed by a committee can count for 0.25 valued points. Completed researchat the ministerial level counts for 0.5 valued points and at the state level counts
for 1.0 valued point. Applicants for associate professor are required to get atleast 6 valued points while full professor applicants are required to get at least 12
valued points. For applicants who work in research institutions or who takeresponsibility as visiting lecturers, the research and publication criteria are nearly
doubled in valued points: 10 valued points for associate professor and 20 valued
points for full professor. Practically, the applicants should get doubled points
for scientific publication and research results to ensure sufficient votes of council
members. (Two thirds vote from the institutional council, three fourths votefrom the inter-disciplinary council, and two thirds vote from the State Council
for the Professor Title.)
After the State Council members have approved a file, the Chairman of theCouncil signs the certificate to attest that the applicant meets the criteria of thetitle of associate or full professor. The rector of a university then signs a
decision to appoint the applicant to the position of associate or full professor.
Since 1976, 10,453 academics have been promoted, among them 1,569
professors and 8,884 associate professors (State Council for Professor Title,2013). The distribution of high-ranking academics by territory is not rational:
73 percent of associate and full professors promoted during 2009-2013 work atuniversities in the Hanoi area; 11 percent in Ho Chi Minh City area; and the rest,
only 16 percent in the other areas of the country.
The proportion of female associate and full professors is low. In 2013,
among 57 newly-appointed professors and 514 associate professors, there are
only 3 female professors, accounting for 5.6 percent, and 116 female associate
professors, accounting for 22.6 percent. There is a commitment to increase thePham Thanh Nghi Page
131
female ratio among teaching and research academics: the number of female
academics increases steadily and proportion of female academics promoted asassociate professor among total high-ranking academics increases accordingly.
The proportion of ethnic origin high-ranking academics is even lower. In
2013, there are only six ethnic associate professors: two of Chinese ethnic origin,
three of Tay ethnic origin, and one of Thai ethnic origin. The situation of ethnic
minority academics is more difficult. Since ethnic people in Vietnam usually
live in remote and mountainous areas, the opportunity for them to enter colleges
and universities is small, and consequently, the proportion of ethnic origin
academics among the total number is very modest. This explains why minority
ethnic high-ranking academics are uncommon.
c. Academic satisfaction
In the survey undertaken in October 2012, most academics are satisfied
with their career: 62.1% demonstrated high and very high levels of satisfaction,
only 4.4% expressed unsatisfactory feelings (Table 8).
Table 8. Overall satisfactions with the academic profession
Frequency

Valid Percent

1 – Very high

127

16.2

2

361

45.9

3

246

33.6

4

28

3.6

5 – Very low

60.8

Total of academics responded

786

100

This high level of satisfactory attitude towards academic profession could
be explained by the prestige of teaching and learning activities in Vietnam.
Moreover, at present, academics working at colleges and universities have above
average income in the society. Academics enjoy their professional activities
and, at the same time, they are able to cover their living expenses.

Conclusion
Commitment to teaching, research, and administration is required foracademics to develop their knowledge and get appropriate academic degrees.
Academics are highly valued for achieving the highest research degree and a132 Academic Career Development in Vietnam

Pageteaching position such as associate professor or full professor. Academics also
have the possibility of being promoted into administrative positions within andoutside the university. Academics are considered most successful when theysuccessfully occupy an administrative position. At first, academic careerdevelopment in Vietnam follows the traditional pathway, based on political andadministrative values, but recently this process has been becoming moreinternationalized, and research and teaching achievements become the mostimportant criteria for promotion. At present, the academic career ladder in
Vietnam may have features different than in other countries in the region. Thiscan be caused by levels of development and difference in cultural and politicalcharacteristics.

References
Johnston V., Stevenson T., & Burrow R. (2012). Academic Staff Career Pathways. Retrieved
from
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/academic_career_pathways_rjcb_200513.pdf
Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). (2008). Regulation on working regime ofacademic staff. Decision No. 64/2008/QĐ – BGDĐT, 28th November, 2008.
MOET. (2009a). Regulation on Organization and Operation of the State Council, theDiscipline and Inter-Disciplinary Council of and the Institutional Council for Professor
Title. Decision No. 3932/2008/QĐ – BGDĐT, 02nd June, 2009
MOET. (2009b). Assessment, Recognition, Cancel of attainment of Criteria, Appointment andDismissal of Professor and Associate Professor Title. Circular No. 16/2009/TT - BGDĐT,02nd June, 2009
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Education and Training. (2011). Joint-Ministerial
Circular on Criteria, tasks, working regime and treatment policies for lecturers working
in Professional Upgrading and Development Colleges belonging to Ministries andAgencies.
Nghi P.T. (2013). The Academic Profession in Vietnam. In RIHE (Ed.), The Changing
Academic Profession in Asia: Teaching, Research, Governance and Management(International Seminar Reports, 20, 187). RIHE, Hiroshima University.
State Council for Professor Title. (2013). Report of 2013 Operation, November.
Vietnam National Assembly. (2012). Higher Education Law, passed in June 2012.

RIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
133

The Self-contained Academic Profession in Japan, aMatured Country

Akiyoshi Yonezawa

Introduction
Formation and development of the academic profession is one of thepractically important topics in Asia. In Asia, many countries started their
history as decolonization, and faced difficulties in forming first generation
academics after independence (Kim, 2001). After that, these countries haveexperienced a rapid expansion of higher education that has demanded substantial
increases in the academic profession. Japan is an exceptional Asian country
that took the position of a colonizer. Reflecting the history of its modern higher
education from the latter half of 19th century, however, Japan at the beginningalso experienced difficulty in the formation of its academic profession.
This research examines the self-contained profile of the academic
profession of Japanese universities from a comparative point of view. Firstly, itbriefly overviews the historical background of the Japanese academic profession,and identifies its structural profile of its self-contained formation. Secondly,
the complex patterns of academic mobility based on the framework developedby Kim and Locke (2010) are examined, and the data for Japan are presented as
an example. Thirdly, international comparisons in representative patterns in thescience, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are made. In
conclusion, the research reveals a contradictory relationship between gaining
international profiles in the academic profession and the capacity of fostering
next generation academics.
Associate Professor, Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University,e-mail: yonezawa@gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp

134 The Self-contained Academic Profession in Japan, a Matured CountryPage
Historical background
The history of Japanese modern higher education began in the mid-19th
century when Japan opened its trade relationship with Western countries adding
to the traditional and limited trade with the Netherlands. Japan invited experts
from North America and Europe to get advice on the formation of the first
generation universities and higher education institutions, including the
University of Tokyo. The Japanese national government and other local
authorities also sent Japanese youth to study abroad. Then, foreign experts who
were hired as first generation university teachers were replaced by thoseJapanese who came back after gaining experience in the Western world. By theend of 19th century, Japan established a system to foster next generation
researchers at its own flagship universities and higher education institutions.
By the end of World War II, Japan established seven “imperial” universities(national comprehensive universities with a research function), such as Tokyo
Institute of Technology, Hitotsubashi University, and private universities like
Waseda and Keio. After World War II, the number of universities drasticallyincreased, first through education reform under the strong influence of American
experts, and then from the 1960s through the mushrooming establishment andexpansion of private universities. However, the universities that can foster next
generation researchers have been rather limited as a number, and the alumni of
the above-mentioned, prestigious universities have dominated the academic
labor market in Japan (Fujimura, 2005) as seen in table 1.
This phenomenon has been discussed as an issue of “inbreeding”. In
Japanese literature it has been defined as the faculty members whose affiliationis the same as the university from which they graduated. Kojunsha publishedthe list of such faculty members at all universities (name, age, and university of
final degree) annually from 1954 to 2006. Then, the Hiroshima University
group led by Shimbori, Arimoto, and Yamanoi analyzed academic mobility by
developing the database. Yamanoi (1990) conducted a full-scale analysis ofacademic mobility in Japan, and demonstrated the existence of a strong influenceof university networks in academic mobility among universities.
The
mechanism of inbreeding is not only seen among the top universities that
produce competitive researchers, but more widely as the general tendency ofJapanese universities to employ their own graduates in the first junior job status.
Inbreeding is much more apparent among the top research universities.
Traditional chair and Kyojukai (the professoriate) systems that show a preference
for the reproduction of academic culture through generations are typically foundAkiyoshi Yonezawa Page
135
among the top universities (Ogawa, 2002; Yonezawa, 2014). The dominantrole of academic bosses in recruitment was also observed among non-(doctoral)
degree granting universities (i.e. colonies) (Cummings & Amano, 1977).
Inbreeding was also seen as new universities undertook actions to raise theirprestige (Ushiogi, 2009). Iwata (2011) said it took 14 years on average to
produce the first professor from alumni; after 25 years, around 60% of the
newly-appointed professors in imperial universities before World War II werefrom their own alumni.
Table 1. Share of graduates from the academic labor market in Japan (%)
1961

1981

2001

The University of Tokyo

24.8

15.4

11.4

Kyoto University

13.4

9.3

7.6

Tohoku University

5.5

4.8

4

Tsukuba (Tokyo Normal) University

5

4.6

4.1

Kyushu University

4.6

4.5

3.8

Hokkaido University

3.5

3.4

3.1

Waseda University

3

3.5

3.5

Osaka University

2.9

3.7

4.1

Hiroshima University

2.9

2.6

2.4

Keio University

2.1

2.2

2.5

Nagoya University

1.4

2.5

3

Tokyo Institute of Technology

1.4

1.6

1.8

(Non-Japanese universities)

2.7

2.8

6.9

53.3

51.8

51.3

Modified by the Author based on Fujimura (2005, p.82)

Academic mobility as complex patterns
In contemporary arguments on the academic profession in relationship toresearch productivity, brain circulation is recognized as a positive factor for
improving the quality of academic profession in an emerging country. Lee andKim (2010) defined brain circulation as a somewhat extended definition of brain
gain with an emphasis on human capital circulating across nations in the global
market, benefiting both the sending and receiving nations, i.e. a two-way flow ofskill, capital, and technology based on the argument of Saxenian (2002, 2005).
Here, Korea could be regarded as a typically successful model that realized rapid

136 The Self-contained Academic Profession in Japan, a Matured CountryPage
improvement of international recognition of its leading universities based on thestrong international network through their massive amount of foreign trained
academics.
Kim and Locke (2010) developed a typology of academic mobility, andidentified Korea as a typical model of the domination of “study abroad” mobility,
i.e. the movement of individuals out of a national higher education system toundertake doctoral training abroad before re-entering the system forpost-doctoral study and/or employment. On the other hand, Japan could be
identified as a typical pattern of a self-contained model, i.e. the internal
movement of academic staff from study to employment within the national
higher education system or even within a single institution.
On the other hand, Yonezawa, Ishida, and Horta (2013) analyzed themobility pattern of foreign academics working at universities in Japan, andargued that a weak pattern of magnetic mobility can be observed within adominant self-contained mobility pattern. Here, “magnetic” means the flow ofacademics to a national higher education system for study, work or both.
Yonezawa et.al. identified two patterns of academic mobility, namely, foreign
academics in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) which are mostly trained at the graduate level in Japanese universities,
and foreign language university teachers trained outside of Japan mostly
concentrated on education only.
Here, we could see complex patterns of academic mobility. Kim andLocke (2010) simply showed conceptual patterns, but they did not examine theactual mobility pattern based on the data.
This article endeavors to identify the academic mobility pattern ofrespective countries by utilizing data of the Changing Academic Profession(CAP) survey and the Academic Profession in Asia (APA) survey. Here, themobility pattern could be operationally defined as follows.
• Self-contained: obtained both first degree and doctoral degree in homecountry• Study Abroad: obtained first degree in home country, and doctoral degree
abroad• Magnet A: obtained first degree abroad, and doctoral degree in homecountry• Magnet B: obtained both first degree abroad and doctoral degree abroad
Here, we could also identify the difference of the stage in the formation andAkiyoshi Yonezawa Page
137
development of academic profession.
• Formation stage: increase of higher degrees• Matured stage: stagnation or decrease of higher degrees
Table 2 presents (by the year of earning and the academic field in and out ofJapan) the number of respondents who earned doctoral degrees based on Japan’scountry data of the APA survey. The table indicates that the trend patterns in
the number of doctoral degree earning is different among respective fields.
Namely, a systematic production of doctoral degrees was established by 1980s in
the STEM fields. Then, the number of doctoral degree earning at Japanese
universities in the humanities and the social sciences (HSS) began to increase
from the 1990s. By the 1970s, except for the HSS fields, the number ofdoctoral degrees earned inside Japan has always far exceeded the number ofdoctoral degrees abroad since the 1960s in all fields. These indicate that evenin the case of Japan which experienced the earliest development of the academic
profession in East Asia, a normative pattern of formation of the academic
profession reached to the doctoral degree is not such an old phenomenon.
Some fields such as the natural sciences already reached the stagnation of
doctoral degree earning by the 1990s. However, the academic profession with
doctoral degrees in humanities, social sciences, and health sciences may still
have been in a formative stage in the 2000s, at least qualitatively. Having saidso, as can be seen in Table 2, the share of those domestic degrees within total
earned doctoral degrees among faculties in Japanese universities has always
been more than 90% in STEM fields from the 1960s, in the humanities from the1970s, and even in the social sciences from the 1980s. This is sufficiently highto identify Japan as a type of self-contained formation of the academic
profession.
The domination of the self-contained pattern among academics of Japanese
universities is also confirmed by a more detailed pattern analysis based on theabove-mentioned definition of the academic mobility patterns (self-contained,
study abroad, Magnet A, and Magnet B) shown in Table 3. Until the 1980s, theopportunities to earn domestic doctoral degrees had been highly limited in the
HSS fields, and then academics in these fields tended to earn doctoral degrees
abroad, after earning the first degree inside Japan. However, once the doctoral
degree started to be granted in the HSS fields from 1990s, the domination of theself-contained pattern of academic mobility became dominant. In the STEM
fields, where the systemic production of doctoral degrees started earlier, the138 The Self-contained Academic Profession in Japan, a Matured Country
Page
Page
domination
dominationofofthe
theself-contained
self-containedpatternpatternhashasalwaysalwaysbeen
been
outstanding
outstanding
afterafter
World
World
War
WarII.
II.
Table
Table2.2.Doctoral
Doctoraldegrees
degreesearned
earnedbyby
academics
academics
in Japanesein Japanese
universities
universities
shareshareof doctoralof doctoral
degreesdegreesearnedearnedininJapanJapan(%) (%)
beforebefore19701970-19801980-1990199020002000before
before19701970198019801990-19902000-2000beforebefore
1970-19701980-19801990- 19902000- 20001970
1970 1979
19791989
19891999
19992012
20121970
197019791979
19891989
19991999
20122012
1970 1970
1979 1979
1989 1989
1999 1999
2012 2012
earnedearnedin Japanin Japan

Humanities
Humanities
SocialSocialsciences
sciences
NaturalNaturalsciences
sciences
Engineering
Engineering
Agriculture
Agriculture
Health/Medical
Health/Medicalsciences
sciences
Teacher
Teachertraining
trainingand
andeducation
educationsciencescience

0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
3 3
0 0

0 0
0 0
11 11
21 21
1 1
5 5
0 0

earnedearnedin otherin othercountries
countries

1 1
9 9
2 2 11 1154 54 53 53
34 34 107107
17 17 23 23
26 26 44 44
0 0
5 5

34 34
45 45
66 66
99 99
15 15
83 83
5 5

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

2
1
1
1
0
0
0

2
1
1
1
0
0
0

0
2
3
1
0
0
0

0
2
3
1
0
0
0

2
3
4
0
0
0
0

2
3
4
0
0
0
0

3
6
0
1
1
1
1

3
0.0 100.0
0.0 100.0
81.8 81.8
91.9 91.9
6
0.0 0.0
50.0 50.0
78.6 78.6
88.2 88.2
091.7 91.7
94.7 94.7
93.0 93.0
100.0 100.0
195.5 95.5
97.1 97.1
100.0 100.0
99.0 99.0
1
100.0 100.0
100.0 100.0
100.0 100.0
93.8 93.8
100.0
1 100.0
100.0 100.0
100.0 100.0
100.0 100.0
98.8 98.8
1
100.0 100.0
83.3 83.3

Table
Table3.3.Mobility
Mobilitypatterns
patterns
ofof
academics
academics
in inJapaneseJapanese
universities
universities(%)(%)
beforebefore1970
1970

1970-1979
1970-1979 1980-1989
1980-1989 1990-1999
2000-2012
1990-19992000-2012

HSS
HSS
Self-contained
Self-contained

0.00.060.060.0

77.377.3

87.3 87.3

Study
StudyAbroad
Abroad

100.0
100.0

40.040.0

18.218.2

6.3 6.3

0.00.00.0 0.0

0.0 0.0

5.1 5.1

MagnetMagnetAA
MagnetMagnetBB

0.00.00.0 0.0

4.5 4.5

1.3 1.3

0 0

3 3

5 5

22 22

79 79

Self-contained
Self-contained

100.0
100.0

94.9
94.9

96.996.9

96.896.8

97.0 97.0

Study
StudyAbroad
Abroad

0.00.05.15.1

3.1 3.1

0.9 0.9

0.4 0.4

MagnetMagnetAA

0.00.00.00.00.0 0.0

1.4 1.4

2.1 2.1

MagnetMagnetBB

0.00.00.00.00.0 0.0

0.9 0.9

0.4 0.4

2 2

39 39

130130218 218237 237

NN
STEM
STEM

NN

International
Internationalcomparison
comparison
Hereafter
Hereafter thethe focus
focusisisexclusively
exclusivelyupon
uponthetheSTEM
STEM
fields,fields,where
where
the theacademicacademic level
level reachedreached totothethedoctoral
doctoraldegree
degreeis isrelatively
relatively
standardized
standardized
internationally.
internationally. Also,
Also, academic
academicmobility
mobilityin inthetheSTEM
STEM
fieldsfields
could
could
be be
considered
considered thethe result
result ofofglobally-measured
globally-measuredresearchresearchperformance,
performance,at least
at least
comparedcomparedwith
withoneoneininthe
theHSS
HSSfields
fieldswhere
where
thetheculturalculturalandandlinguistic
linguistic
factors
factors
are aresignificantly
significantlyinfluential.
influential.
patterns
selected
selected
fromfromthethecountries
countries
participating
participating
Following
Followingare
arethethetypical
typicalpatterns

Akiyoshi Yonezawa Page139
in both the CAP and APA surveys. From the CAP survey, four representative
cases were selected (Table 4). Germany could be understood as a typical caseof the domination of the self-contained pattern just as Japan is seen to be in Table
3. There, the number of earned doctoral degree were already high in the 1980s,
and the share of domestic doctoral degree (Self-contained + Magnet A) has
always exceeded 90%. Korea can be categorized as a typical case of thedomination of the study abroad pattern. From the 1980s Korean academics in
the STEM fields began to earn doctoral degrees in Korea, and even in the 2000s,
around 30% of them earned doctoral degrees outside of their country. However,the share of the self-contained pattern already exceeded the share of the study
abroad pattern by the 1990s, mainly caused by the acquisition of the capacity ofsystematic production of doctoral degrees by Korean universities, at least, in the
STEM fields.
The United States type can be understood as the significance of the Magnet
A mobility pattern. Here, a significant number of faculty who earned first
degree outside of the United States has always exceeded 20% (Magnet A and B),
but the absolute majority of them earn doctoral degree in the United States(Self-contained and Magnet A). This means that it is much more advantageous
in getting an academic job in the United States if one earns doctoral degrees at auniversity there. At the same time, the United States has experienced
stagnation in the absolute number of doctoral degree earning since 1970s, at leastin the STEM fields.
Lastly, Hong Kong can be seen as a representative example of thedominance of magnet patterns in academic mobility. Until the 1990s, themajority of the faculty there earned both first degrees and doctoral degrees
outside of Hong Kong (Magnet A). The difference of Magnet A and Magnet B
is mainly caused by the capacity of fostering next generation researchers. It isquite recent that Hong Kong started to hire those who earned doctoral degrees inHong Kong.
This may be partly because Hong Kong has attracted
internationally competitive researchers to a high level academic environment,
while it is still recent that they obtained the capacity in their graduate educationin the STEM fields to meet the high standards required of their faculty members.
Table 5 shows the results of the APA survey in the same manner, i.e. thetrends in the STEM fields in Asian countries. Here, Japan and Taiwan are
obviously in a matured stage (Table 3). However, in Taiwan, the study abroad
pattern of academic mobility dominated until the 1980s, and even now issignificantly strong. Considering that Japan is definitely a country where theSelf-contained mobility pattern is dominates, Taiwan is much closer to Korea in140 The Self-contained Academic Profession in Japan, a Matured CountryPage
terms of the significance of the Study Abroad pattern. As shown in Table 5,other countries can be understood to be in a formative, developmental stage.
Especially, Cambodia which started the actual formation of the academic
profession in the 2000s, and even now it is difficult to ascertain whether the
Cambodian universities have the capacity to foster next generation researchers,
and the academics with doctoral degrees tend to start studying abroad at the first
degree level.

Table 4. Mobility patterns of academics of selected countries from the CAP
survey in the STEM fields (%)
before1970

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2008

Germany
Self-contained

95.2

90.4

87.9

90.0

85.2

Study Abroad

0.0

1.2

0.7

3.0

0.8

Magnet A

4.8

2.4

4.7

3.0

6.6

Magnet B

0.0

6.0

6.7

4.0

7.4

N

21

83

149

201

122

Self-contained

0

20.0

47.2

58.0

67.0

Study Abroad

100

80.0

51.4

42.0

31.1

Magnet B

0

0.0

1.4

0.0

1.9

N

1

5

72

207

106

75.8

81.8

71.3

74.4

79.4

Study Abroad

0.0

0.0

1.1

0.0

0.0

Magnet A

15.2

9.1

16.1

17.4

15.9

Magnet B

9.1

9.1

11.5

8.1

4.8

N

33

66

87

86

63

Korea

Magnet A

US
Self-contained

Hong Kong
Self-contained

5.6

1.9

24.5

35.7

Study Abroad

16.7

22.2

16.3

15.7

Magnet A

0.0

1.9

7.1

21.4

77.8

74.1

52.0

27.1

18

54

98

70

Magnet B
N

0

Akiyoshi Yonezawa Page
141
Table 5. Mobility patterns of academics in Asian countries from the APA
survey (%)
Before1970

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999

2000-2012

0.0

20.0

Cambodia
Self-contained
Study abroad
Magnet A
Magnet B

100.0

80.0

0

3

15

Self-contained

83.3

80.0

97.5

Study abroad

16.7

20.0

2.5

0

6

25

397

Self-contained

27.3

21.7

57.6

65.0

Study abroad

54.5

78.3

39.4

35.0

18.2

0.0

3.0

0.0

11

23

33

20

Self-contained

37.5

15.2

40.3

Study abroad

37.5

15.2

24.8

Magnet A

0.0

8.7

15.4

Magnet B

25.0

60.9

19.5

16

46

149
15.2

N

0

0

China

Magnet A
Magnet B
N

0

TaiwanMagnet A
Magnet B
N

0

MalaysiaN

00Singapore
Self-contained

0.0

0.0

0.0

5.0

Study abroad

0.0

50.0

11.1

10.0

4.3

Magnet A

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

13.0

Magnet B

100.0

50.0

88.9

85.0

67.4

1

2

9

20

46

Self-contained

0.0

48.2

Study abroad

50.0

46.4

Magnet A

0.0

3.6

Magnet B

50.0

1.8

2

56

N
Vietnam

N

0

0

0

To reiterate, mobility patterns are different among those countries in theformative, developmental stage of the academic profession in the STEM fields.
Namely, in China, the self-contained mobility pattern is highly dominate as seen142 The Self-contained Academic Profession in Japan, a Matured CountryPage
in Japan and Germany. In Malaysia and Vietnam, the Study Abroad patterns
and Magnet B patterns are substantially strong, while the share of the
Self-contained patterns rapidly increased in the 2000s. In Singapore, theMagnet B pattern is highly significant just as seen in Hong Kong, and the reason
should be completely different with Cambodia.

Conclusion
From the foregoing analysis, one finds that the mobility patterns and theformation of the academic profession in various countries do not necessarily takethe same path way. The summarized results point out a contradiction between
the international profiles in academic mobility and the capacity to foster next
generation researchers at a system level (Table 6). Namely, if a higher
education system has a high level capacity to foster next generation researchers,a Self-contained model tends to be strengthened. At the same time, the legacy
of colonization may still be influential. The former colonizers tended to trust in
doctoral degrees earned in home countries (Self-contained or Magnet A), while
the others with colonized experiences tended to rely more on the degrees earned
abroad (Study Abroad or Magnet B). Further detailed investigation based oninternational comparisons and clear frameworks are necessary to identify the
missing link for the enhancement of research capacity.
Table 6. Patterns of academic mobility: National comparison
Forming

Developing

MaturedSelf-contained

ChinaJapan, Germany

Study Abroad

Malaysia, Vietnam

Taiwan, Korea

Magnet A
Magnet B

US
CambodiaHong Kong, Singapore

References
Cummings, W. K., & Amano, I. (1977). The changing role of the Japanese professor. Higher
Education, 6, 209-234.
Fujimura, M. (2005). Ryudoka suru Daigaku Kyoin Shijo (Increasing mobility of academic
labor market). In A. Yamanoi (Ed.), Nihon no Daigaku Kyoin Shijo Saiko (A Study ofAcademic Marketplace in Japan). Hiroshima: RIHE, Hiroshima University. [InJapanese]Akiyoshi Yonezawa Page
143
Iwata, K. (2011). Kindai Nihon no Daigaku Kyoju Shoku (Academic Profession in Modern
Japan). Tokyo: Tamagawa University Press. [In Japanese]
Kim, T., & Locke, W. (2010). Transnational academic mobility and the academic profession.
Centre for Higher Education Research and Information, The Open University, London.
Kim, T. (2001). Forming the Academic Profession in East Asia: a Comparative Analysis. New
York & London: Routledge.
Lee, J., & Kim, D. (2010). Brain gain or brain circulation? U.S. doctoral recipients returning
to South Korea. Higher Education, 59(5), 627-643.
Ogawa, Y. (2002). Challenging the traditional organization of Japanese universities. Higher
Education 43(1), 85-108.
Saxenian, A. (2002). Brain circulation: How high-skill immigration makes everyone better off.
The Brookings Review, 20(1), 28-31.
Saxenian, A. (2005). From brain drain to brain circulation: Transnational communities andregional upgrading in India and China. Studies in Comparative International
Development, 40(2), 35-61.
Ushiogi, M. (2009). Shokugyo toshite no Daigaku Kyoju (University Professors As a
Profession). Tokyo: Chuko Sensho. [In Japanese]
Yamanoi, A. (1990). Daigaku Kyoju no Ido Kenkyu (Research on the Mobility of University
Professors). Tokyo: Toshindo. [In Japanese]
Yonezawa, A. (2014). The Academic Profession and University Governance Participation in
Japan: Focusing on the role of Kyoju-kai. Educational Studies in Japan, 8, 19-31.
Yonezawa, A., Ishida, K., & Horta, H. (2013). The long-term internationalization of higher
education in Japan. In K. Mok, & K. Yu (Eds.) Internationalization of Higher Educationin East Asia: Trends of Student Mobility and Impact on Education Governance(pp.179-191). Routledge.

Presentations
Work & Academic Productivity of the
AcademyRIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
145

The Impact of Research Productivity on Academics
in Taiwan

Chen, Robin J.  and Wu, Ching-Shan *1. Introduction
In recent years, Taiwan has been actively promoting several projects for thereform of higher education. The Ministry of Education assists universities byimproving their infrastructure, teaching excellence, development of key areas,
and overall management strategies with hundreds of millions New Taiwan
Dollars per year. Such a development toward the improvement of higher
education’s quality and performance has provided its positive contribution.
Taiwan had only 7 higher education institutes in 1950; in 1970 it increased
to 92; in 2000 it expanded further to 150; and by 2010 it already amounted to163. The density of higher education institutes is quite high. This rapid
development of higher education has shifted from the traditional elite education
to the massification of education. Although it has provided students with more
schooling opportunities, however, it has raised several questions such as low
quality of education, lack of competitiveness, and so forth. On the other hand,coupled with current development such as the quality of education, the strict
requirement of publication for faculty, the operation of higher education has
generated some issues which became challenges for Taiwan’s higher education
development.
The expectation for higher education has become a dynamic concept
following with evolution of social structure. Due to the trend of global
university rankings, getting published has been adopted as the dominant status

Associate Professor, National Chengchi University, Department of Education, Taiwan,
e-mail: robinch168@hotmail.com**
Director-General, K-12 Education Administration, Taiwan, e-mail: wchingshan@gmail.com

146 The Impact of Research Productivity on Academics in Taiwan

Pageamong academics around the world, especially in the East Asia region. This
paper questions whether the quantity of publication contributes to the job
satisfaction of university teachers. In the Taiwanese context, university
teaching can also be viewed as community service; the service performed by theeducators is not only for the students, but also to serve the country, thecivilization, and to all humankind (Lin, 2009). Therefore, job satisfaction ofuniversity teachers hinges on the quality of university education. Improving
the quality of higher education in Taiwan is worth discussing.
From Taiwan’s theses, dissertations, and academic journals, one discovers
that research on “job satisfaction of university teachers” is rare. Currently,
Taiwan still mainly focuses on studying the job satisfaction of primary andsecondary school teachers or the job satisfaction of school administrative staffs,
hence the job satisfaction of university teachers is worthy of further study.
The quality of education is relevant to national competitiveness, particularly
where the university is the last stage of schooling, it should be the driving force
behind the nourishment of future talent upon which the country’s future depends.
University teachers act as a go-between; they are the matchmakers between
students and knowledge who pass the results of their research to the next
generations to help the country face future competiveness and perform social
services to enhance the country’s soft power.

2. Literature review
2.1 Regional integration of higher education
The 1998 Sorbonne Joint Declaration can be regarded as an importanttransition in European Union (EU) higher education policy. The Declaration
proposes an ideal European Higher Education Zone to encourage mutual
learning and cooperation among the students of each member states. The later
amendment of the Blolgna Declaration in 1999, in addition to further emphasison the importance, it also made six specific recommendations: 1) the use ofreadability and comparability qualification system; 2) the use of two-cycle
system in the university system; 3) establishing credit system; 4) promoting themutual mobility among the students; 5) promoting the education quality
assurance in Europe; and 6) advancing European higher education and expecting
the ideal European Higher Education Zone to be completed by 2010 (European
Union, 2010).
Pepin (2007) pointed out that the EU’s current efforts in higher education

Chen, Robin J. and Wu, Ching-Shan Page147
are to complete the European Higher Education Zone dream. The higher
education zone means that the diploma and leaning courses are not limited or
restricted to a single country but at the same time their credits can be converted
among the EU countries, even learning content easily compatible among them.
In order to increase the mobility of students in higher education in Europe, theErasmus Project was established in the European Community (EC) as early as
1987. It was hoped that by granting higher education students in Europe tostudy abroad and learn more about the culture and values from different regionsof Europe thereby achieving knowledge of the member states and theopportunity for interactions among the students. Because of the effective
implementation of the Erasmus Project, in 2004 it further expanded its
implementation, establishing the Erasmus Mundus Project which added non-EU
countries into its scope and letting students pursue a degree in Europe. In
addition to attracting other outstanding students, it also attempts to shape Europe
as a world leaning center.
Given the trend of regional integration, Marginson and Rhoades (2002)
consider it is necessary to analyze the mode of future operation through the roleof the states, the market, and the higher education system in order to effectively
face challenges in the 21st century. The reason for their recognizing that higher
education along with the state apparatus and the features of the market show
relationships in triangles, is due to the development of future globalization
mainly through the impact on economic expansion of supply and demand. The
economic characteristics and scale are no longer the tangibles sources, land andmoney, but through professional mobilization and cross-border cooperation,
which means that higher education will play an important role on the
aforementioned characteristics. Coincidentally, two Korean scholars Kim andLee (2008) also studied in recent years the development of South Korea. In the
study they indirectly responded to the important relationships between the
countries, markets and the higher education. They believe the results
concluded from students’ enrollment in Korean higher education over the pastfew decades along with the increasing amount of schools, provided that market
choosing has become an inevitable trend, as the government gradually exert its
influence on higher education in the private sector. They also have relatively
lower their resources invested in higher education, making the scale of Korean
higher education dependent on private sector resources relatively high among theOECD countries.

148 The Impact of Research Productivity on Academics in Taiwan

Page

2.2 The output of higher education in Taiwan
From 1950 to 1980, Taiwan has been mainly focused on its economic
development, emphasizing the cultivation of professionals, but by the mid-1990s,
a serious gap of supply and demand between higher education and industry
manpower developed.
Hence the competitive advantages of Taiwan’s
professionals declined sharply, and the resulting challenge was an insufficient
supply of professionals. In 2007, there were 163 colleges whose 90%
admission rate resulted in a scale of 1.3 million students, approximately 300, 000
of whom were graduating annually; however, around 130,000 of them remained
unemployed. An urgent issue that needs to be resolved.
The imbalance of supply and demand of professionals is the primary subject
which Taiwan must face. Compared to South Korea who in recent years has
been vigorously promoting digital professional cultivation programs, Taiwan’s
digital industry demanded 6,600 professionals but the education sector could
only supply around 3,900 (Executive Yuan, 2006). Industry mostly demanded
R&D engineers and programers, but the ones urgently needed were project
managers, marketing specialists, and planning related personnel. There wasformation of many multi-professionals, but specialized personnel were a rare
phenomenon. According to the Executive Yuan survey, the current prevailingview among domestic manufacturers regarding professional supply is: high-end
producers and directors are not easily to find; the demand for R&D personnel ishigh; professions in digital content production process mostly lack aesthetic
qualities; and the education system is short of integrated professionals needed by
the digital content industry. Therefore it is visible that there is a clear gap inour demand for professionals in practitioner field, as well as our supply fortraining professionals in academic field.
In addition to the aforementioned lack of professionals, it shows that inrecent years technicians and management professionals have become very
worried. The imbalance in the supply and demand of professionals due to thefact that our economic policy has been depended on production for a long time.
We have relied on importing technology skills and ignored the ability of R&D,
hence leading to a lack of researchers, especially a serious shortage of R&D
personnel in four main technology industries, such as semiconductors, flat panel
displays, digital content, and communications technology.
Informationengineering, industrial design, industrial engineering, materials engineering, andother departments are also facing a shortage of professionals. On the other
hand, information management, civil construction, food and nutrition,

Chen, Robin J. and Wu, Ching-Shan Page
149
mechanical engineering, agriculture, forestry, and environmental sciences
graduates find it difficult to find employment. In conclusion, it creates aphenomenon of the unbalanced supply-demand situation in the field oftechnology.
Second, the quality of professionals has highly increased. For example,
every year around 28,000 of students graduate from the Department ofElectronic Science and Technology. Half of them lack professional capability,
and companies are reluctant to hire them. Many universities find the basic
skills of their students have gradually declined, and the burning thirst forknowledge and to work hard has been fading. After graduation, many students
exhibit three shortcomings: many resignations, leave of absence, and private
matters, meaning lack of professionalism. Their performance needs to bestrengthened, but their overall performance is not much better than that ofuniversity students from ten years ago. According to Chang and Huang (2007),
Taiwanese professionals are obviously insufficient, compared to the UnitedStates where their counterparts possess more professional and diverse expertise.
In a total population of 14% of professionals, primary and secondary teachers
only account for 3.7%. The rest are very diverse, such as doctors, lawyers,
accountants, and other professionals. In relation to Taiwan, professionals
occupy around 5% of the total population. Primary and secondary teachers
already account for 2%, equivalent to about four percent. Therefore it isevident that Taiwanese professionals account for few of the total population andthe diversity of professionals is much lower than the percentage of the
population. Facing global competition, the education sector must adjust theirpace in response to the rapid changes in the industrial structure, and assure theneeded implementation of higher and vocational education in order to ensure anadequate supply of human resources in R&D and industrial technology at alllevels to provide the most competitive professionals and to further enhance thepercentage and diversity of our professional specialists.
2.3 Working condition and the stress of university teachers
In Taiwan, the University Act (Ministry of Education, 2011) expressly
provides that university should establish an educator evaluation system, as far as
is concerned to perform assessment on teachers’ teaching, research, counselingand service effectiveness, therefore the mission of Taiwanese university teachers
encompasses four dimensions: teaching, research, counseling, and service.
Modern university teachers should mainly shoulder the tasks of teaching,150 The Impact of Research Productivity on Academics in Taiwan

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research, and social service. Teaching includes evaluation and results, thenumber and quality of theses and dissertations guided, and researchachievements on teaching strategies through curriculum designed to enhance thecore competencies for students’ career development. Research is a way forfurther exploring disciplinary knowledge to continue the role of deepening theuniversity academic knowledge, including the level of difficulty of monographs,
theses, winning projects, and research projects. Social service includes campus
counseling, working condition and its effectiveness, and off-campus part-timesocio-economic benefits.
Viewed from the standpoint of evaluation, the university teachers’ mission
includes teaching, research, and service. Teaching includes preparation ofmaterials, student assessments, teacher and student discussions, course content,
teaching skills, curriculum design, etc. Research includes academic journals,
thesis conferences, monograph book or research reports, and doctoral thesis
guidance. Service includes campus’ services, participation in public affairs,
seniority, etc. (Deng, Hsiao & Tseng, 1994; Lin, 2009). In short, first-classuniversities should provide good teachers with sufficient time to study, toconduct research, and to teach.
Stress is a popular subject in modern psychology. According to somearguments (Chu, 1997; Liang, 2007; Yu, 2005; Steers & Black, 1996; Nelson &Quick, 2012), it is the physical and mental exertion brought about as a result of
stimulation the individual faces both internally and with the external
environment. The stress of university teachers may come from the external
environmental factors of teaching, research, and service per se, it may also due tothe anxiety generated from their own intrinsic personal characteristics such as
gender, position, etc. The origins of stress among university teachers
From international rankings
Top universities are located around the world, and all of them are pursuing
higher rankings in order to be perceived as better. For example, the London’sTimes Higher Education – QS World University Rankings is an agency widely
known for ranking world universities. Ranking is the best way to compare andevaluate universities’ performance, to ensure the transparency of information,and to guarantee quality. Achieving the prestige of becoming one of the top
100 universities in the world is bound to increase their work and stress.
From domestic competition
Due to declining fertility rates, the number of first year college students will

Chen, Robin J. and Wu, Ching-Shan Page
151
start to drop in 2016 academic year. It is estimated that universities will cut
27,330 students compared to the 2012 academic year; therefore, recruiting
students becomes a responsibility for everyone (Huang, 2012). At the sametime, universities in order to seek funding have applied to programs provided by
the Ministry of Education, such as the Five-Years-50-Billion Project, theTeaching Excellence Project, and the Develop the Paradigm Science andTechnology University Program. Universities are continuingly “pressing” theteachers; they apparently have become analogous to sweat factories which are
the products of competitiveness. University teachers are all at full sprint,
striking for resources and talents, definitely increasing their work stress.
From teacher evaluation
University teacher evaluation is systematic, organized, purposeful, andwidely aimed at teacher background and performance. It serves as a basis for
improving the quality of teachers as well to ensure the quality of teaching (Lin,2009). According to the University Act regulation, university faculty members
must receive an evaluation every five years. It consists of several dimensions
including teaching, research, counseling, and service, each on a 100 point scale,
70 points is the minimum score in order to pass. Teachers who do not pass theteacher evaluation for two consecutive years are not grant promotion and startingfrom the third year benefits such as granting a salary increase, research or
studying abroad, etc. are reduced. Those who do not pass for three consecutive
years are terminated. Hence, it is evident that teacher evaluation has broughtmuch stress to full-time teachers.
From school promotion
The Taiwanese government has imposed a criterion that universities only
emphasize the number of theses, the result is that speculators will be specificallylook for less-influential journals for their submissions, namely the 3I: Social
Sciences Citation Index database (SSCI); Science Citation Index database (SCI);
and Arts and Humanities Citation Index database (A&HCI). Scholars will only
write short papers, and refuse to write time-consuming books (Tseng, 2011).
University teachers are mustering all their energy, sprinting for promotion.
Most of the universities clearly state that teachers promotion includes the three
dimensions of research, teaching, and service. Research accounts for more than80%. This indicates that conducting research has grown increasingly stressful
among university teachers.

152 The Impact of Research Productivity on Academics in Taiwan

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2.4 Job satisfaction
The term ‘job satisfaction’ refers to one’s view about his/her overall job atboth the physical and psychological levels (Hsieh, 2009). It concerns
organization members working hours, working location, and promotion
opportunities hence it leads to produces feelings about their work, the more
feelings they possess, the higher is the job satisfaction. Conversely, the lower
the feelings, the lower is the job satisfaction. Since the mission of university
teachers encompasses three dimensions including teaching, research and service,
as discussed in section II, therefore this paper will mainly focuse the degree ofsatisfaction with these as well their overall satisfaction.
Many empirical studies regarding job satisfaction have been conducted athome and abroad. Raemah and Rosli (2011) found that teachers from
Malaysian universities tend to achieve higher job satisfaction on teaching andresearch. As for teaching, its academic freedom and teaching autonomy aremostly satisfied by the teachers. In addition, Safdar, Riasat, Gulap and
Muhammad (2010) found that the job satisfaction university teachers from
northwest Pakistan was increased by upgrading software and hardware facilities.
It helps university teachers to achieve better teaching and research, and as aresult university teachers have more time to allocate for teaching and research.
However in regards to teaching, university teachers are mostly dissatisfied withcourse assignments; sometimes it brings additional burdens when the curriculum
does not match with teachers’ professional fields.
Since satisfaction with teaching, research and service may vary, we need tofurther look for the factors which influence university teachers’ job satisfaction.
Ward and Sloane (2000) consider that job satisfaction for female teachers in thefields of science and technology, and social studies is relatively low. Male
teachers satisfaction in the field of social studies is high, but their satisfaction in
the field of science and technology tends to be low. Moreover, Chen (2013)
found that gender differences in job satisfaction of university teachers do show asignificant impact. Besides the different specialty fields which influences job
satisfaction, gender differences are also a key impact on it.
The position of the teachers is also one of the factors which affect their job
satisfaction. Teachers from Greek universities generally possess a higher job
satisfaction, in which the job satisfaction among lecturers ranks higher than otherteachers. However, there are some scholars who disagree and believe that
position is not the factor which influences job satisfaction: male teachers’ jobsatisfaction is lower than female teachers; demographic factors such as age,

Chen, Robin J. and Wu, Ching-Shan Page
153
status, degree do not have a significant impact on job satisfaction (Nadeem,2011). Coincidentally, Yu and Yao (2011) found that for young teachers in thearts, sciences, and engineering at Anhui University of China, their job
satisfaction job promotion, and perceptions of leadership and of colleagues did
not differ significantly. Therefore in this research will further deepen thisvariable in order to understand whether position do show a significant impact
among domestic university teachers.
In addition to gender and position, there are many other variables that affectuniversity teachers’ job satisfaction. Yang (2010) found that for university
teachers of mainland China the primary factors in determining teachers job
satisfaction were wages and benefits; followed by the work itself – job
accomplishment, job interest, and job creativeness; followed by management
factors, leadership, system, working conditions, and social relationships.
Therefore, salary is also a concern worthy of study.

3. Research design/methods
According to the above-mentioned three research motivations, the purposeof this study includes: (a) understanding the allocation of work time of university
teachers in different specialty areas; (b) understanding the job satisfaction ofuniversity teachers in different specialty areas; (c) understanding the relationshipof individual interests and the research production for the past three years; and(d) analyzing individual expectations and institutional practice in terms ofpromotion.
The research questions of this study are: (a) How is the allocation of work
time of university teachers in different specialty areas?; (b) How is the job
satisfaction of university teachers in different specialty areas?; (c) What is therelationship of individual interests and the research production for the past three
years?; and (d) What is the relationship between individual expectation andinstitutional practice in terms of promotion?
The study utilizes purposive sampling with the questionnaires developed for
the Academic Profession in Asia serial conferences organized by the ResearchInstitutes for Higher Education at Hiroshima University. At the cooperation
meeting held in Hiroshima, it was agreed that an ideal sample size for Taiwan is400. To achieve an effective sample size, it was necessary for the actual sample
size to be larger than 400 to account for the non-response of the target population.
The sample size needs to be adjusted to reflect anticipated response rate.
Experience in previous survey studies in Taiwan suggest that response rates to154 The Impact of Research Productivity on Academics in Taiwan

Page

survey tends to hover around 30 percent. A conservative response rate of 30
percent has been assumed for the survey. Therefore, this study design sample
size has been rounded up to 1200, and the number of the respondents is 412.

4. Results and discussion
4.1 The allocation of work time of university teachers in different specialty
areas
According to Table 1, the mean teaching hours per week in the humanities
is 18.87; 20.22 in the social sciences; 14.07 in the natural sciences; 17.45 inengineering; and 17.28 in the teacher training and education science (Fvalue=.996; p=.411). The result shows university teachers in different
disciplines have no significant difference in working hours per week.
There were similar results in research (F value=.453; p=.770), service (Fvalue=1.094; p=.360), and administration (F value=.349; p=.845) areas. In
other words, the ANOVA test shows that neither in teaching, research, service, orthe administration area do different university teachers have any significant
difference in terms of working hours.

Table 1. ANOVA (different disciplines vs. hours per week when classes are notin session)
Teaching

Variables

Research

Service

Administration

Mean

Std.
Deviation

Mean

Std.
Deviation

Mean

Std.
Deviation

Mean

Std.
Deviation

Humanities

18.87

13.301

15.85

12.877

7.64

5.342

8.94

9.334

Social Sciences

20.22

16.11517.22

10.923

8.55

6.381

10.96

10.006Natural Sciences

14.07

5.327

18.57

8.864

5.36

5.472

11.07

8.204

Engineering

17.45

6.878

19.32

8.791

6.41

4.563

9.73

8.592

Teacher Training& Education
Science

17.28

9.477

18.16

13.805

8.04

6.582

9.96

9.330

Differenceof means
test

F
test

.996
(P=.411).453(P=.770)

1.094(P=.360).349(P=.845)

Chen, Robin J. and Wu, Ching-Shan Page
155
4.2 Job satisfaction of university teachers in different specialty areas
According to Table 2, the mean job satisfaction in the humanities is 2.32;
2.21 in social sciences; 2.00 in the natural sciences; 2.00 in engineering; and2.12 in teachers training and education science (F value=1.212; p=.306). The
result shows university teachers from different disciplines have no significant
difference in job satisfaction.
Table 2. ANOVA (different disciplines vs. job satisfaction)
Variables
Humanities
Social Sciences
Natural Sciences
Engineering
Teacher Training & Education Science

Difference of means test

Job satisfaction
Mean

2.32

Std. Deviation

1.152

Mean

2.21

Std. Deviation

.804

Mean

2.00

Std. Deviation

.707

Mean

2.00

Std. Deviation

.750

Mean

2.12

Std. Deviation.904

F test1.212(p=.306)

Post hoc

4.3 The relationship of individual interests and the research production for the
past three years
According to Table 3, those who have interest in both teaching and researchshow more research productivity than those who only have a single interest,
either teaching or research. According to Table 4, the correlation between
individual interests and research production for the past three years is significant(F=10.376, p<0.001). From the multiple comparisons (Table 5), the group of“in both, but leaning toward research” shows more research productivity (7.609)
than the group of “in both, but leaning toward teaching” for the past three years
and reaches a significant result. The group of “in both, but leaning toward
research” also show its higher productivity (12.205) compared to the group of“Teaching”.

156 The Impact of Research Productivity on Academics in Taiwan

Page

4.4 The correlation between individual expectation and institutional practicein terms of promotion
Promotion for university teachers is one of the crucial elements when it
comes to professional development. Based on Person Correlation analysis,Table 6 shows the correlation between individual expectations and institutional
practice on promotion. No matter in research, teaching, administration andmanagement, or social service, the correlation between individual expectations
and institutional practice in terms of promotion is moderately correlated(.493, .398, .426, .444). In other words, the correlation between individual
expectation to get promotion and the institutional practice is not high.

Table 3. Past three years research productionN

Std.
Mean Deviation

Std.
Error

Teaching

15

9.67

9.875

In both, butleaning
towardteaching

156

14.26

In both, butleaning
towardresearch

164

Research
Total

Interest

95% ConfidenceInterval for Mean

Minimum Maximum

Lower
Bound

Upper
Bound

2.550

4.20

15.14

1

35

13.358

1.069

12.15

16.38

1

97

21.87

15.316

1.196

19.51

24.23

0

82

16

11.94

10.611

2.653

6.28

17.59

1

38

351

17.52

14.651

.782

15.98

19.05

0

97

Table 4. ANOVA (individual interests and research production)
Sum of Squares

df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

10.376.000

Between Groups

6184.8583

2061.619

Within Groups

68944.806

347

198.688

Total

75129.664

350

Chen, Robin J. and Wu, Ching-Shan Page
157
Table 5. Multiple comparisons
Dependent Variable: past three years research production Scheffe(I) Main interest

Teaching

Mean
Difference
(I-J)

Std.
Error

Sig.

Both, but leaning
toward to teaching-4.596

3.810

Both, but leaning
toward to research-12.205*

Research
Teaching

Lower
Bound

Upper
Bound

.693

-15.30

6.11

3.802

.017

-22.89-1.52-2.271

5.066

.977

-16.50

11.96

4.596

3.810

.693

-6.11

15.30

-7.609*

1.576

.000

-12.04-3.18

Research

2.325

3.700

.941

-8.07

12.72

Teaching

12.205*

3.802

.017

1.52

22.89

7.609*

1.576

.000

3.18

12.04

Research

9.934

3.692

.066

-.44

20.31

Teaching

2.271

5.066

.977

-11.96

16.50

Both, but leaning
toward to teaching-2.325

3.700

.941

-12.72

8.07

Both, but leaning
toward to research-9.934

3.692

.066

-20.31.44

Both, but leaning Both, but leaning
toward to teaching toward to research

Both, but leaning Both, but leaning
toward to research toward to teaching

Research

95% Confidence(J) Main interest* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

5. Conclusion
The research requirement for Taiwanese university teachers has become the main
focus of an academic career, led by the forced criteria of evaluation. This also
explains the result of a positive correlation between research hours and job
satisfaction. Compared to teaching, teachers get more academic feedback fromthe outcome of research. However, this finding exposes the priority setting ofuniversity teachers in Taiwan, that is, research plays a more crucial role thanteaching, even though the era of massified higher education opening more
enrollment opportunities to the public has arrived. The deflective focus of158 The Impact of Research Productivity on Academics in Taiwan

Page

university teachers, leaning toward the research, will lower the quality ofteaching in higher education. The teaching and research nexus has been
becoming a dilemma for the development of Taiwanese higher education.
Under the trend of globalization and university rankings, university teacher
hardly can possess the autonomy of engaging in teaching. Therefore, the roleof higher education institutes needs to be reflected. It has been done from thepoint of functional evolution: elite to universal, to massification. It seems
research has replaced the importance of teaching. This new academic focus hasturned into the dominant discourse among university teachers. The triangle
pillars, research, teaching, and service, now are now becoming out of balance.

Table 6. Individual expectation vs. institutional practice on promotion
Individual side:
Research Teaching.142**.190**.181

Sig. (2-tailed)

.000

.000

.008

.000

.314

N

357

357

347

349

33

.434**.398**.257**.202**.171

Sig. (2-tailed)

.000

.000

.000

.000

.341

N

355

358

346

350

33

.094

.153**.426**.337**

.369*

.082

.004

.000

.000

.038

347

348

345

344

32

.168**.180**.412**.444**

-.010

.002

.001

.000

.000

.957

348

350

342

348

32

.136

.270

.466*

.355

.869**

Sig. (2-tailed)

.498

.174

.014

.070

.000

N

27

27

27

27

18

Institutional side:

Correlation

dministration
Sig. (2-tailed)andmanagement
N
Correlation
Social services Sig. (2-tailed)N
Correlation
Other

Other

.397**

Correlation
Teaching

Socialservices.493**

Correlation
Research

Administration
andmanagement* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)Chen, Robin J. and Wu, Ching-Shan Page
159

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RIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
163

University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research
Productivity: Similarities and differences in six
Asian nations

Tsukasa DaizenIntroduction
Society in the 21st century has been identified as a knowledge-based one.
To sustain and develop the society, the creation, communication and applicationof new knowledge are important (Technology and Science Council, 2005).
Specifically, the university, which is primarily concerned with conducting
education and research activity, is very important with respect to the formationof students’ character; the training of young researchers and advanced
professionals; the progress of national strategy such as the promotion of culture;and increasing global competitiveness. In Japan, from about 1990, higher
education reforms such as the advancement of education and research activity,
the individualization of higher education institutions; and the activation of higher
education management have been implemented in response to social andnational expectations.
1.1 The report of the university council
The National Council on Educational Reform, which was established byPrime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone under the direct control of the Cabinet,
submitted four reports and was dissolved in 1987. In response to one of thereports of the National Council on Educational Reform and with the primary aimof discussing the nature of higher education in Japan, the University Council wasProfessor, RIHE, Hiroshima University, e-mail: tdaizen@hiroshima-u.ac.jp

164 University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research Productivity

Pageestablished as a consultative body of the Minister of Education in September,1987. It was reorganized with ministries and government offices in January,
2001 to the Central Education Council’s working group on universities.
Meanwhile, the working group reported many policies.
1.2 Facilitation of the awarding of the Doctorate
The Degree Regulations were revised by clearly defining the basic conceptof the graduate school course system and establishing a graduate school setting
in 1974. In other words, it was decided to confer a degree upon the one whocompleted the course of the graduate school and acquired the desired ability
which the course demanded; for example, in the doctoral course, superior
research capability necessary to independently perform research activities in
his/her major field.
Whereas, in the field of the natural sciences, a doctoral degree is conferred
according to the purpose of the degree conferment system based on this graduate
school course system. Few doctoral degrees are conferred in the fields of thehumanities and social sciences.
As the reason, the way of thinking of the graduate school course system andthe degree system based on it is not well understood in the humanities and social
sciences. An excessively advanced and systematic article is required tocomplete a doctoral course. However, for globalization and active acceptanceof foreign students to progress, improvement in the situation of degree
conferment along the basic idea of the graduate school course system is strongly
needed in the various quarters.
Furthermore, because a graduate student generally cannot acquire a doctoral
degree within the standard years required for graduation, the learning motivationof graduate students is spoiled. To address these situations, a 1991 report of the
University Council called for “the review of the degree system and theevaluation of the graduate school” and it was pointed out that it was an urgent
problem to review the degree system and implement an aggressive measures tofacilitate degree conferment.
Table 1 presents the situation of acquisition of the course doctorate in Japan.
In 1991 it was 63.9% in all disciplines. According to the University Council
report, the rate continued rising for all disciplines. By 2010 it exceeded 80% in
the specialized fields of science and engineering; it became approximately 100%in agriculture; and 90% in the field of health studies. On the other hand, in thehumanities, social sciences, and each pedagogical field the rate was half that of

Tsukasa DaizenPage165
Pagethethenatural
naturalsciences.
sciences. Nonetheless
Nonethelessthetherate
ratein inthese
thesefields
fieldsincreased
increasedfrom
from4.7%,
4.7%,
11.0%,
11.0%,
and
and
16.3%
16.3%
in in
1991
1991
to to
48.9%,
48.9%,
57.8%,
57.8%,
50.6%
50.6%
in in
2010.
2010.
Table
Table
1. 1.
The
The
situation
situationofof
acquisitionacquisition
ofof
thethecoursecoursedoctorate
doctorate
inin
Japan
Japan
Mar-8
Mar-8
2 2
( a )( Thea ) Thenumbernumberof graduatesof graduates
fromfrom
HighHighschoolschool 1,449,109
1,449,109
Apr-8
Apr-8
8 8
Humanities
Humanities
899899Socialsciences
Socialsciences
607607Naturalsciencse
Naturalsciencse
929929( b )( Theb ) Thenumbernumberof ofEngineering
1,258
Engineering
1,258
newnew
students
students
to ato aAgriculture
Agriculture
502502
doctoraldoctoralcoursecourseHealthsciences
2,973
Healthsciences
2,973
education
educationlevellevel
Education
Education
153153
OthersOthers157157
Total
7,478
Total
7,478
MarMar91 91( c )( cThe) The
numbernumberof of Humanities
Humanities
42 42
the thecoursecoursedoctorate
doctorate Social
Socialsciencessciences
67 67
acquisitors
acquisitors
NaturalNaturalsciencsesciencse
586586Engineering
Engineering
983983
Agriculture
Agriculture385385
HealthHealthsciencessciences
2503
2503
Education
Education
25 25
OthersOthers188188
Total
Total
4779
4779
Humanities
Humanities
4.7%4.7%( d )( Thed ) ThecoursecourseSocialSocialsciencessciences
11.0%
11.0%
doctorate
doctorateacquisitor
acquisitor Natural
Naturalsciencsesciencse
63.1%
63.1%
ratioratio
whowhogo togoato aEngineering
Engineering
78.1%
78.1%
doctoraldoctoralcoursecourseAgriculture
Agriculture
76.7%
76.7%
education
educationlevellevel
three
three Health
Healthsciencessciences
84.2%
84.2%
years
years
ago agoEducation
Education
16.3%
16.3%
( d )=(( d )=(c )/(c b)/()*100b )*100 Others
Others119.7%
119.7%
Total
Total
63.9%
63.9%
( e )( eThe) Thecoursecoursedoctorate
doctorateacquisitor
acquisitor
ratioratio
whowhograduates
graduates
Total
Total
fromfrom
HighHighschoolschoolninenine
years
years
ago ago( e )=(( e )=(c )/(c )/(a )*100a )*100

0.3%0.3%

MarMar87 87
1,654,685
1,654,685
AprApr93 93
1,047
1,047
813813
1,317
1,317
2,410
2,410
8448443,660
3,660
207207383383
10,681
10,681
MarMar96 96
162162
1811819959952143
2143
641641
3175
3175
32 32
387387
7716
7716
15.5%
15.5%
22.3%
22.3%
75.6%
75.6%
88.9%
88.9%
75.9%
75.9%
86.7%
86.7%
15.5%
15.5%
101.0%
101.0%
72.2%
72.2%

Mar-9
Mar-9
0 0
1,766,917
1,766,917
Apr-9
Apr-9
6 6
1,398
1,398
1,225
1,225
1,697
1,697
3,248
3,248
9879874,490
4,490
329329971971
14,345
14,345
Mar-9
Mar-9
9 9
295295362362
1319
1319
2680
2680
776776
3613
3613
90 90
635635
9770
9770
21.1%
21.1%
29.6%
29.6%
77.7%
77.7%
82.5%
82.5%
78.6%
78.6%
80.5%
80.5%
27.4%
27.4%
65.4%
65.4%
68.1%
68.1%

MarMar93 93
1,755,338
1,755,338
AprApr99 99
1,602
1,602
1,514
1,514
1,786
1,786
3,310
3,310
1,143
1,143
5,189
5,189
347347
1,385
1,385
16,276
16,276
MarMar02 02
461461525525
1415
1415
2985
2985
9009004136
4136
129129801801
11352
11352
28.8%
28.8%
34.7%
34.7%
79.2%
79.2%
90.2%
90.2%
78.7%
78.7%
79.7%
79.7%
37.2%
37.2%
57.8%
57.8%
69.7%
69.7%

Mar-9
Mar-9
6 6
1,554,549
1,554,549
Apr-0
Apr-0
2 2
1,587
1,587
1,681
1,681
1,630
1,630
3,274
3,274
1,112
1,112
5,561
5,561
374374
2,015
2,015
17,234
17,234
Mar-0
Mar-0
5 5
543543778778
1432
1432
3417
3417
9719714579
4579
185185
1272
1272
13177
13177
34.2%
34.2%
46.3%
46.3%
87.9%
87.9%
104.4%
104.4%
87.3%
87.3%
82.3%
82.3%
49.5%
49.5%
63.1%
63.1%
76.5%
76.5%

MarMar99 99
1,362,682
1,362,682
AprApr05 05
1,621
1,621
1,571
1,571
1,621
1,621
3,359
3,359
1,057
1,057
5,696
5,696
4104102,218
2,218
17,553
17,553
MarMar08 08
694694855855
1388
1388
3455
3455
9659654666
4666
180180
1377
1377
13580
13580
42.8%
42.8%
54.4%
54.4%
85.6%
85.6%
102.9%
102.9%
91.3%
91.3%
81.9%
81.9%
43.9%
43.9%
62.1%
62.1%
77.4%
77.4%

Mar-0
Mar-0
1 1
1,326,844
1,326,844
Apr-0
Apr-0
7 7
1,555
1,555
1,503
1,503
1,322
1,322
3,264
3,264
1,006
1,006
5,672
5,672
4534532,151
2,151
16,926
16,926
Mar-1
Mar-1
0 0
760760869869
1415
1415
3240
3240
1004
1004
4943
4943
229229
1542
1542
14002
14002
48.9%
48.9%
57.8%
57.8%
107.0%
107.0%
99.3%
99.3%
99.8%
99.8%
87.1%
87.1%
50.6%
50.6%
71.7%
71.7%
82.7%
82.7%

0.5%0.5%

0.6%0.6%

0.6%0.6%

0.8%0.8%

1.0%1.0%

1.1%1.1%

Note:
Note:
The
The
data
data
of of
lists
lists
arearecollected
collected
throughthrough“Report“Reportonon
SchoolSchoolBasic
Basic
Survey”.
Survey”.

Promotion
movement
university
professors
andemployment
1.31.3
Promotion
ofof
thethemovement
ofof
university
professors
andthetheemployment
ofofa varietytalented
persons
university
professor
a varietyofof
talented
personsasas
university
professor
enhanceeducational
andresearch
activities
Japanesehighereducation,
ToToenhanceeducational
andresearch
activities
in inJapanesehighereducation,
1994reportreport“About“Aboutthetheimprovement
improvementofofthetheemployment
employmentofofuniversity
university
thethe1994
professor”statedstatedthat
thatthethemovement
movementofofuniversity
universityprofessors
professorswas
wasimportant.
important.
professor”
And,it itwas
wasfollowed
followedbybythethe1995
1995reportreport“A“A
termlimit
limitsystemsystemofofthetheuniversity
university
And,
term
academicstaff”
staff”which
whichrecommended
recommendeda aterm
termlimit
limitsystemsystemforforuniversity
university
academic
professorsto topromote
promotetheir
theirmovement.
movement. It Italso
alsopromoted
promotedthetheemployment
employmentofof
professors
working
peopleandforeignstudents
university
academic
staff.
working
peopleandforeignstudents
asas
university
academic
staff.
Thispaper
paperseeks
seeksto todetermine
determinewhether,whether,in inaddition
additionto toresearchresearchfunds
fundsandandThis
hourswhich
whicharearegenerally
generallyconfirmed
confirmedasasdeterminants
determinantsofofresearchresearchproductivity,
productivity,
hours
carriervariablessuch
facilitation
awarding
doctoraldegrees(conferring
carriervariablessuchasasfacilitation
ofof
awarding
thethedoctoraldegrees(conferring166 University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research Productivity

Page

a doctoral degree just after completing a course of study); promoting the
movement of university academic staff; and employing persons with a variety ofoccupational experiences as university academic staff, determine research
productivity. It does so by using the APA data of six countries.
To achieve this purpose, two sections clarify the situation of research
productivity of Japanese university academic staff, which is the explained
variable of this research. A third section performs a multiple regression
analysis and confirms the difference of significant explanatory variables by six
countries. The article clarifies whether in Japan there are any differences insignificant variables by a specialized field or a generation. Finally, throughclarifying variables to promote the research activities of university academic
staff, a measure to activate the research activities in the university is presented.

2. The situation of the number of research papers
Academic articles were used as the indicator of research productivity.
Their distribution resembles log-normal distribution as shown in Figure 1.
Log-normal distribution has the character in which corresponding distribution
turns into a normal distribution when the logarithm of the random variableaccording to Log-normal distribution is calculated. So, in the following
analysis, the logarithm of research productivity score is used.
Figure 2 displays the distribution of the logarithm of research productivity
score (LRPS).
300

263

Average=8.67

250
200
150

169
122

100

138

123
52

50

56

33

14

8

9

0
0

more more more more more more more more more morethan than than than than than than than thanthan
1.0 and 3.0 and 6.0 and 10.0
15.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
70.0
less
less
less and less and less and less and less and less and lessthan than than than than than than than than
3.0
6.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
70.0

Figure 1. Distribution of the number of research papers

350
350

319
319

300
300
250
250
200
200
150
150

Tsukasa Daizen 167
Page
Page

205
205

169
169

122
122

Average=0.997
Average=0.997

130
130

100
100

42
42

50
50
0
0

less than 0.3 more than 0.3 more than 0.6 more than 0.9 more thanless than 0.3 morethan
0.3 morethan
0.6 morethan
0.9 1.20
more
thanand lessthanand lessthanand less
than
and
less
and less
andless
0.6 than and less
0.9 than and less
1.20than 1.20
than
1.50
0.6
0.9
1.20
than 1.50

more than
more
than
1.50
1.50

Figure 2. Distribution of LNRP
Figure 2. Distribution of LNRP

3.
3. Explanatory
Explanatory framework
framework andand variables
variables ofof researchresearch productivity
productivity
It is faculty members and their associates, colleagues and graduate students,
It is faculty members and their associates, colleagues and graduate students,
who perform research projects. Therefore, the results of a research project are
who perform research projects. Therefore, the results of a research project are
dependent upon their personal abilities and efforts (Daizen, 2008). However,dependent upon their personal abilities and efforts (Daizen, 2008). However,the success of their work is influenced by their attributes and the environment of
the success of their work is influenced by their attributes and the environment of
their research activity. This fact has been documented by extensive studies of
their research activity. This fact has been documented by extensive studies ofresearch productivity (Bellas & Toutkoushian, 1999; Bland, Center, Finstad,research productivity (Bellas & Toutkoushian, 1999; Bland, Center, Finstad,
Risbey & Staples, 2006; Bonzi & Day, 1991; Daizen, 1996a, 1996b, 2008, 2011;
Risbey & Staples, 2006; Bonzi & Day, 1991; Daizen, 1996a, 1996b, 2008, 2011;
Kotrlik, Bartlett, Higgins & Williams, 2002; Stack, 2004).
Kotrlik, Bartlett, Higgins & Williams, 2002; Stack, 2004).
A model for examining the factors which influence research productivity is
A model for examining the factors which influence research productivity ispresented schematically in Figure 3 and is discussed below.
presented schematically in Figure 3 and is discussed below.
Pe rsonal attributions and activitie s
Pe rso nal attributio ns and ac tivitie s①Gender①Gender②Age②Age

Fe ature o f unive rsity to w hich resp ond ents bel ong
Fe ature o f unive rsity to which re spo ndents belong⑥Institutional type
⑥Institutional type
⑦Research evaluation⑦Research evaluation

Research Productivity( theResearchlogarithm ofProductivity
numbers of articles published in an( the logarithmof numbersof articles published in an
academic
book or journal)
academic book or journal )Fe ature o f the resp onde nts' care er
Fe ature o f the r espo nde nts' care er⑨Years for which worked at the places⑧Age of⑨Yearsfor whichworkedat the places⑧Agetheirofexceptthe higher
education
institutions
obtaining
except thehigher education institutions
obtaining theiror research
institutions
doctorateor research institutions
doctorate⑩Frequency of changing
their⑩Frequency
niversities of changing
their niversities

Figure 3. Framework for the analysis
Figure 3. Framework for the analysis

Analysis framework 2⑤Hours per
week spend on④Hours per
research
week spend on
activities

Analysis framework 2
Analysis framework 1④Research funding
in④Research
the previousfunding
in theprevious
three
years
three years

Analysis framework 1③Academic③Academic
disciplines
disciplines168 University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research Productivity

Page

The variables used in this paper are presented in Table 2.
In developing and applying the model, the initial step is to clarify the
relationship between each independent variable and the dependent variable
research productivity.
Table 2. Variables used in the analysis
Variable s

Cate go ry

D e p e nd e nt variable s
Research Productivity

the logarithm of numbers of articles publishedin an academic book or journal

Inde p e nd e nt variable s
Pe rso nal attributio ns and activitie s
Male=1, Female=0①Gender②Age
Age40

Over 40 and under 49 years of age=1, Others=0

Age50

Over 50 and under 59 years of age=1, Other=0③Academic discipline
Humanities & Social sciences

Discipline of current academic unit which
faculty belong to is Humanities or Social
sciences =1, Others=0

Natural sciences

Discipline of current academic unit which
faculty belong to is Natural sciences=1,
Others=0

Engineering & Agriculture

Discipline of current academic unit which
faculty belong to is Engineering orAgriculture=1, Others=0④Research funding in the previous three years

Research funding of more than an average=1,
Research cost of less than an average=0⑤Hours per week spend on research activities

Actual hours of research activities when classes
are not in session

Fe ature o f unive rsity to which re sp o nd e nts be lo ng⑥Institutional type

1)

TypeI

The institution which offer a doctorate degreeby all specialized fields

TypeIIThe institution which offer a doctorate degree
by more than 50 % of specialized fields⑦Research evaluation

Someone at or outside your institution evaluate
your research activities=1, No one evaluate
your research activities=0

Fe ature o f the re spo nd e nts' car e e r⑧Age of obtaining their doctorate
DocAge2032

Under 32 years old=1, Others=0

DocAge3399

Over 33 years old=1, Others=0⑨Years for which worked at the places except thehigher education institutions or research
institutions

actual number⑩Frequency of changing their universities

Actual number

Note1) Case of China, Project 985 Higher Education Institutions are TypeI, and Project 211
Higher Education Institutions are TypeII.

Tsukasa Daizen Page
169
Table 3. The frequency distribution of the variables used for analysis
D e p e nd e nt variables
R e se ar c h
Pr o d uc tivity(the logarithm ofnumbers of articles
published in an
academic book orjournal)AverageCambodia

China

TaiwanJapan

Malaysia Vietnam

Total

0.61480.19761.61211.75291.53810.9117

0.9429Minimum value

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Maximum value

3.93

6.57

3.93

5.02

4.26

3.83

6.57

Number of respondents

140

1916

330

977

548

432

4343

Male

85.0%

53.0%

63.0%

85.0%

62.0%

52.0%

63.0%

Female

15.0%

47.0%

37.0%

15.0%

38.0%

48.0%

37.0%

***

Ind e p e nd e nt var iable s
Pe rso nal attributio ns and ac tivitie s①GenderNumber of respondents②Age③Academic discipline

Over 20 years and under 39
years of age
Over 40 years and under 49
years of age
Over 50 years and under 59
years of age
Over 60 years

381

2373

363

1028

610

742

5497

65.5%

60.1%

12.0%

25.1%

45.2%

68.5%

50.3%

23.3%

31.1%

39.2%

29.2%

23.5%

18.6%

28.3%

10.3%

8.3%

35.6%

25.4%

23.7%

11.9%

15.6%
5.8%

0.8%

0.4%

13.2%

20.2%

7.5%

1.0%

Number of respondents

377

2350

357

1010

599

724

5417

Humanities&Social sciences

32.2%

43.6%

39.3%

23.3%

32.6%

47.4%

37.9%

Natural sciences

15.6%

14.9%

10.2%

19.9%

9.9%

15.4%

15.1%

Engineering＆Agriculture

25.7%

27.1%

12.0%

33.3%

31.0%

5.5%

25.0%

Others

26.4%

14.3%

38.5%

23.6%

26.5%

31.7%

22.1%

Number of respondents

397

2422

384

1040

635

671

5549

④Research funding in
the previous threeyears

More than an average

10.0%

16.0%

35.0%

22.0%

11.0%

7.0%

17.0%

Less than an average

90.0%

84.0%

65.0%

78.0%

89.0%

93.0%

83.0%

Number of respondents

385

1512

243

956

428

200

3724

⑤Hours per week
spend on research
activity

Average

13.8

18.4

20.2

21.8

11.6

15.6

18.3

Number of respondents

51

902

281

809

437

66

2546

***

***

***

***

Fe atur e o f unive r sity to w hic h r esp o nd e nts be lo ng⑥Institutional typeResearch university

12.3%

63.5%

51.7%

69.3%

83.1%

24.7%

55.4%

Non-research university

87.7%

36.5%

48.3%

30.7%

16.9%

75.3%

44.6%

Number of respondents⑦Research evaluation

Someone at or outside yourinstitution evaluate yourresearch activities
No one evaluate your research
activities
Number of respondents

43

563

150

717

506

181

2160

33.0%

40.0%

31.0%

29.0%

36.0%

46.0%

37.0%

67.0%

60.0%

69.0%

71.0%

64.0%

54.0%

63.0%

182

2143

365

842

610

609

4751

4.7%

21.7%

29.1%

49.2%

24.8%

5.7%

24.3%

1.9%

14.5%

43.4%

21.8%

31.5%

12.4%

18.5%

Fe atur e o f the re sp o nd e nts' c ar e e r⑧Age of obtaining
their doctorate

Under 33 years old
Over 33 years old and under
40 years old
Over 40 years old
Don't have doctorate
Number of respondents⑨Years for which
Averageworked at the places
except the higher
education institutions Number of respondents
or research institutions⑩Frequency of
Averagechanging their
universities
Number of respondents
Note: *** p<0.001

2.5%

6.1%

16.6%

10.7%

19.9%

10.2%

9.5%

90.9%

57.7%

10.9%

18.3%

23.8%

71.7%

47.6%

364

2228

350

973

584

707

5206

2.50

1.96

1.73

1.89

2.30

2.73

2.10

288

2084

337

915

521

598

4743

1.11

0.23

1.10

0.58

0.70

1.20

0.55

305

2422

369

1034

589

453

5172

***

***

***

170 University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research Productivity

Page

4. Results of analysis
To clarify which of the explanatory variables presented in Table 2
significantly determine the LNRP, a multi-regression analysis was performed.
The results are displayed in Table 4.
Table 4. Result of multiple linear regression analysis (Japan)
Analysis framework I

Var iable s

stand ard ize dsignificancecoe ffic ients t value
probability
βAnalysis framework Ⅱ

stand ard ize dsignificancecoe ffic ients t value
probabilityβDepe ndent var iable s
Research Productivity
Ind ependent variables
Per sonal attr ibutions and activities①Gender

0.130

3.130 **

0.114

2.684 **

②Age
Age40
Age50

0.032 0.677-0.036 -0.754

0.030 0.600-0.019 -0.349-0.139 -2.568 **-0.060 -1.111
0.038 0.668
0.369 8.665 ***0.087 2.150 *-0.120 -2.060 *-0.079 -1.375
0.028 0.467
0.357 8.173 ***0.085 2.068 *0.087 1.832 +
0.089 1.923 +-0.036 -0.907

0.072 1.457
0.083 1.749 +-0.022 -0.537③Academic discipline
Humanities & Social sciences
Natural sciences
Engineering & Agriculture④Research funding in the previous three years⑤Hours per week spend on research activities
Featur e of unive rsity to whic h respond ents belong⑥Institutional type
TypeI
TypeII⑦Research evaluation
Featur e of the respond ents' c are er⑧Age of obtaining their doctorate

0.176
0.161

DocAge2032
DocAge3399⑨Years for which worked at the places except thehigher education institutions or research institutions-0.012 -0.293
0.007⑩Frequency of changing their universities

Note: + p<0.10, * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

2.421 *
2.608 **

R^2=0.258

0.180

R^2=0.268

4.1 Overall trend
The significant variables which determined research productivity were “④Research funding in the previous three years” and “①Gender” at the 0.1% levelof significance and “⑤Hours per week spend on research activities” at the 5%
level of significance.

Tsukasa Daizen Page
171
Judging from the standardized regression coefficient, male faculty havehigher LNRP scores and research funding and hours spent per week on research
activities become higher so that the LNRP score became higher. This result
was approximately the same as that clarified in Daizen and Kimoto (2013).
As a result of re-analyzing the determinants of research productivity byadding three career variables, the significant career variable which determinedresearch productivity was “⑧Age of obtaining their doctorate” at the level ofsignificance of 0.01. Judging from the standardized regression coefficient, if
university professors didn’t have a doctorate, their LNRP score became lower.
4.2 Comparison according to the country
Table 5 contains the result of analysis per country based on Analysis
Framework 1. As in Japan, the number of research hours in Taiwan weremeaningful variables of the productivity study and in Malaysia, the number of
research hours and research funds were meaningful variables as well.
Furthermore, in Malaysia research productivity of the university professor who
worked in a Type I university and whose research activities are evaluated, washigher. Additionally in Cambodia and Vietnam, no variable significantly
explained study productivity.
Table 5. The determinants of LNRP (By Country)
Variables

Cambodia

China

Taiwan

Malaysia

VietnamD ep e nd ent var iable s
Research Productivity
Inde pe nd ent variables
Per so nal attr ibutio ns and activitie s①Gender
②Age
Age40
Age50
③Academic discipline
Humanities & Social sciences
Natural sciences
Engineering & Agriculture④Research funding in the previous three years⑤Hours per week spend on research activities
Featur e of unive rsity to whic h r esp onde nts be lo ng⑥Institutional type
TypeI
TypeII⑦Research evaluation
Featur e of the r e sp onde nts' c are er⑧Age of obtaining their doctorate
DocAge2032
DocAge3399⑨Years for which worked at the places except
the higher education institutions or research
institutions⑩Frequency of changing their universities
Note + p<0.10, * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

.423

.015

.139

.009

.897

.617
.162

-.017
.037

-.119
-.148

-.102
.092

.425
.114

.056
-.136
-.319

.208 **.037.136 +
-.022
.057

.176
.292
.078
.106
.280 **

-.074
.083
-.160
.138 *.202 **

-.722
-.262
-1.064
-.248

.253
-.057

-.040
-.035
-.038

.064
-.124
.107

.388 ***.152.221 ***

-.104
.140

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

adjusted R^2= -.104 adjusted R^2= .011

adjusted R^2= .050

adjusted R^2= .268

adjusted R^2= -1.300

172 University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research Productivity

Page

For Taiwanese and Malaysian university academic staffs, we analyzed
determinants of research productivity by using the Analysis Framework 2 which
added three carrier variables to Analysis framework 1. Table 6 is the result of
the analysis. In both countries, the university academic staff who possessed adoctorate published research articles more than those who did not possess adoctorate. The same can be seen in Japan. In Taiwan, the person who
acquired a doctorate at 32 years old or younger published more research papers,
but, in Malaysia, the person who acquired a doctorate at 33 years old or more
published more research papers.
Furthermore, in Malaysia, university
academic staff who had a long experience in a place other than a higher
education system published more research papers.
Table 6. The determinants of LNRP (Malaysia)
Variable s ／ Nati on

Malaysi a

D epe ndent var iabl es
Research Productivity
Inde pende nt vari able s
Pe rso nal attr ibuti ons and activiti es①Gender
②Age
Age40
Age50
③Academic discipline
Humanities & Social sciences
Natural sciences
Engineering & Agriculture④Research funding in the previous three years⑤Hours per week spend on research activities.047-.146 *
-.050
-.050
.091
-.170
.157 **.159 **

Fe atur e o f unive rsity to whic h responde nts belong⑥Institutional type
TypeI
TypeII⑦Research evaluation.335 ***.114.189 **

Fe atur e o f the re sponde nts' caree r⑧Age of obtaining their doctorate
DocAge2032
DocAge3399.165 +.367 ***⑨Years for which worked at the places except thehigher education institutions or research institutions⑩Frequency of changing their universities
Note + p<0.10, * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001.192 **-.099
adjusted R^2= .381

4.3 Results by age
Table 7 presents the result that clarified the determinants of LNRP
according to the generation. The significant variable which was common in a

Tsukasa Daizen Page
173
university academic staff under 44 years old and a university academic staff over
45 years old was “④Research funding in the previous three years”. In addition,
the significant variable which determined the LNRP was “⑧Age of obtaining
their doctorate” which were only in a university academic staff and were over 45
years old.
Table 7. Result of multiple linear regression analysis (Japan・By age)
Under 44 years old

Variabl es

standardized
significancecoefficients t value
probabilityβOver 45 years oldstandardized
significancecoefficie nts t value
probabilityβ

Dependent variabl es
Research Productivity
Independe nt vari ables
Personal attr ibuti o ns and activi tie s

0.107

1.870 +

-0.058-1.034-0.6710.303
2.381 *
3.505 ***
0.909

-0.205-0.174-0.1520.425
0.109-2.388-2.243-1.899
7.344
2.043

0.039
0.108
0.007

0.491
1.436
0.121

0.128
0.061
-0.0281.973 *
0.961
-0.532

0.100
0.083

0.981
0.879

0.185
0.213

1.853 +
2.607 **

⑨Years for which worked at the places except thehigher education institutions or research
institutions-0.051-0.828

0.028

0.489

⑩Frequency of changing their universities-0.013-0.207

0.030①Gender

0.110

1.682 +

0.044

0.644

-0.055
0.027
0.218
0.233
0.058

②Age
Age40
Age50
③Academic discipline
Humanities & Social sciences
Natural sciences
Engineering & Agriculture④Research funding in the previous three years⑤Hours per week spend on research activities

*
*
+
***
*

Fe ature o f university to which respondents belong⑥Institutional type
TypeI
TypeII⑦Research evaluation
Fe ature o f the re spo nde nts' career⑧Age of obtaining their doctorate
DocAge2032
DocAge3399

Note: + p<0.10, * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

R2=0.182

0.538
R2=0.349

Figure 4 shows the average of the LNRP by generation and doctorate
acquisition age. There was no significant difference in the average LNRP of
University academic staff between 44 years or younger and 45 years or older at
5% level of significance. The university academic staff who acquired adoctorate at 32 years old or younger published significantly more research
papers than university academic staff who acquired a doctorate at 33 years old or
more or the university academic staff who did not acquire a doctorate.

174 University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research Productivity

Page

Among university academic staff who acquired a doctorate at 32 years oldor younger, the average LNRP of the university academic staff 45 years or older
was significantly larger than the average LNRP of those 44 years or younger.
Perhaps this shows that the quality of university academic staff who acquired adoctorate dropped by conferring a doctorate on so many students.
Figure 4. Average of the LNRP according to the doctoral degree acquisition age
2.50
2.00

2.18

1.50

***

1.00
0.50

1.76

1.15

0.98

***

1.74

**

1.54

1.94

***

**
***

0.00

Acquired aAcquired adoctorate over 33 doctorate under 32
years oldyears old

Don't have adoctorate

Under 44 years old

1.78

Total

Over 45 years old

Note: * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

Figure 5. Average of the LNRP according to the doctoral degree acquisition age(Engineering & Agriculture)
2.35

2.50

**

1.50
1.00
0.50

2.06

1.99

2.00

***

2.02

1.81

2.20

2.15

***

0.22

0.00
Don't have adoctorate

Acquired a doctorate Acquired a doctorate
over 33 years oldunder 32 years old
Under 44 years old

Total

Over 45 years old

Note: * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

Tsukasa Daizen Page
175
Figure 5 shows the average LNRP for engineering and agriculture by
generation and doctorate acquisition age. From this figure, two points became
clear. First, the average number of research papers of university academic staff
who did not have a doctorate was significantly smaller than the average numberof research papers of those who had a doctorate in a group over 45 years old.
Second, among the university academic staff who did not have a doctorate, thoseunder 44 years old published significantly more research papers than those over
45 years.
Because the doctorate acquisition rate of young university academic staff
became approximately 100% in the field of engineering and agriculture, theuniversity academic staff who do not have a doctorate and are under 44 years old
may become eager to earn a doctor degree which requires thesis writing.

Conclusion
Based on the Japanese data analysis, three points became clear.
(1) The significant variables which determined research productivity were“①Gender” and “④Research funding in the previous three years” at the 1%
level of significance (Table 3).
(2) As a result of re-analyzing the determinants of research productivity byadding three career variables, the significant career variable which hassignificantly determined research productivity was “⑧Age of obtaining theirdoctorate” at the 1% level of significance (Table 3).
(3) But, only in the case of university academic staff over 45 years, “⑧Ageof obtaining their doctorate” significantly determined the research productivity at
the 1% level of significance (Table 6).
Next, based on the five Asian countries’ data analysis, two points became
clear.
(4) In Malaysia, “⑤Hours per week” was a significant meaningful variableof the research productivity at the 1% level of significance (Table 5).
Furthermore, in Malaysia, research productivity of university professors
who worked in a Type I university and whose research activities are evaluated,
was higher.
In addition, in Cambodia and Vietnam, no variable significantly explained
research productivity.
(5) For Taiwanese and Malaysian university academic staffs determinants of
the research productivity were analyzed by using the Analysis Fame II, “⑧Ageof obtaining their doctorate” significantly determined the research productivity

176 University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research Productivity

Page(Table 5).
In both countries, university academic staff who possessed a doctorate
published research articles more than university academic staff who did notpossess a doctorate like Japan.
Furthermore, in Malaysia, university academic staff who had a longexperience at any place other than a higher education system published more
research papers.
From the aforementioned results, the determinants of research productivity
may be considered as follows.
Research productivity is basically determined by the amount of researchfunds and the hours of research activities. It means that the quantity of research
papers increases by investing significant research funds and many hours inresearch activities.
Furthermore, acquiring a doctoral degree at a younger age or not is asignificant determinants of research productivity. Acquiring a doctoral degree
at younger age shows others research ability is high and raises self-awareness as
an excellent researcher. In addition, in Japan, male university academic staffs
publish more research papers than female counterparts. Why this is so is asubject for future research.
In Malaysia, research productivity of university academic staffs become
higher if the prestige of the university to which they belong is higher or theirresearch activities are evaluated more strictly or the number of years that they
worked at a university is longer. The higher prestige of the university to which
they belong shows that their research ability is high and raises theirself-awareness as an excellent researcher. In addition, more university
academic staffs engage in research activities if their work is evaluated.
Particularly in fields of applied study such as the social science, engineering,
agriculture, medicine, university academic staffs recognize many research theme
clearly by having worked for many years at a university and they raised research
productivity. Malaysian university academic staffs have the highest ratio tobelong to applied disciplines than the university academic staffs of the other fivecountries.
Finally, in neither Japan nor Malaysia, the extent of movement of university
academic staffs was the significant explanation variable of research productivity.
Instead of the number of movements of university academic staffs or teachers,
the way of the movement of them is an important factor of their research
productivity. It is a future examination topic.
The following two problems are recognized from this analysis. Firstly, theTsukasa Daizen Page
177
explanatory framework of research productivity which was set for Japanese
university academic staff, is of value in explaining Malaysian academics’
research productivity only. However, it is not so for explanation of research
productivity of Taiwanese, Cambodian, Chinese and Vietnamese university
academic staff.
Secondly, it is necessary to reexamine the significant explanation variables
by using the new explanation framework of research productivity which was
based on the new explanation variable treated in recent studies. For example,
as a new variable, Academic inbreeding (Smyth & Mishra, 2014); Career stage(Jung, 2014); Graduate training (Eloy et al., 2012; Su, 2011); Size (Abramo,2012); Foreign-born faculty (Webber, 2012); Research ranking or Department
prestige (Aminpour, 2012; Su, 2011) are assumed. Future studies on research
productivity of university academic staff is expected on the basis of these
problems.

References
Abramo, G., Cicero, T., & Andrea, C. (2012). Revisiting size effects in higher education
research productivity. Higher Education, 63(6), 701-717.
Aminpour, F. (2012). National medical research ranking and scientific productivity: Where do
we stand? Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 17(4), 393-395.
Bellas, M.L., & Toutkoushian, R.K. (1999). Faculty Time Allocations and Research
Productivity: Gender, Race, and Family Effects. The Review of Higher Education, 22(4),367-390.
Bland, C.J., Center, B.A., Finstad, D.A., Risbey, K.R., & Staples, J. (2006). The Impact of
Appointment Type on the Productivity and Commitment of Full-Time Faculty in
Research and Doctoral Institutions. The Journal of Higher Education, 77(1), 89-123.
Bonzi, S., & Day, D.L. (1991). Faculty Productivity as a Function of Cohort Group, Discipline,
and Academic Age. Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting, 28, 267-275.
Daizen, T. (1996a). A Comparative Study on the Determinants of Academic Achievements
between USA and Japan-on the field of physics. Human Sciences, 207-237.
Daizen, T. (1996b). The International Comparison of Research Productivity. In A. Arimoto &T. Ehara (Eds.), The International Comparison of the Academic Profession (pp.166-183).
Tokyo: Tamagawa University Press.
Daizen, T. (2008). Research Productivity. In A. Arimoto (Ed.), The Changing Academic
Profession in Japan (pp. 245-262). Tokyo: Tamagawa University Press.
Daizen, T. (2011). International comparison of research achievements. In A. Arimoto (Ed.),178 University Academic Staffs’ Career and Research Productivity

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The Changing Academic Profession in the World (pp. 222-238). Tokyo: Tamagawa
University Press.
Daizen, T. & Kimoto, N. (2013). Educational and Research Activities of the Academic
Profession in Japan. RIHE International Seminar Report, 20, 89-129.
Eloy, J., et al. (2012). Impact of fellowship training on research productivity in academic
otolaryngology. The Laryngoscope, 122(12), 2690-2694.
Jung, J. (2014). Research Productivity by Career Stage among Korean Academics. Tertiary
Education and Management, 20(2), 85-105.
Kotrlik, J.W., Bartlett, J.E., Higgins, C.C., & Williams, H.A. (2002). Factors Associated with
Research Productivity of Agricultural Education Faculty. Journal of Agricultural
Education, 43(3), 1-10.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Sciences and Technology (MEXT). (1950-2007).
School basic survey. Tokyo: Printing Bureau, Ministry of Finance.
MEXT. (2010). School teacher statistical survey. Tokyo: Printing Bureau, Ministry of Finance.
Smyth, R., & Mishra, V. (2014). Academic inbreeding and research productivity and impact inAustralian law schools. Scientometrics, 98(1), 583-618.
Stack, S. (2004). Gender, Children and Research Productivity. Research in Higher Education,
45(8), 891-920.
Su, X. (2011). Postdoctoral training, departmental prestige and scientists’ research productivity.
Journal of Technology Transfer, 36(3), 275-291.
Technology and Science Council (2005). Science policy to support the variety of research –about the building of academic research promotion strategy in the university and the
support by the country. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/gijyutu/gijyutu4/toushin/1213892.htm
Webber, K.L. (2012). Research productivity of foreign- and US-born faculty: differences bytime on task. Higher Education, 64(5), 709-729.

Conclusion

RIHE International Seminar Reports, No.22, 2015 Page
179

What is a Mature University in this Competitive
World?

Yumiko Hada

Professor Cummings, in his keynote address, focused on the strength of thestate and the university academic system, which is a key element in forecasting
the future of our universities and how they should stand in relation to futuresociety. As Pham Nghi of Vietnam stated, the state should be the guardian andhave a steering role for universities, by setting the general aims and providing
funding to stimulate good performance. In previous times, Humboldt also
thought our educational system should be free from government control to allow
it to pursue the ultimate power of human beings. Nowadays, the environmentof all universities has greatly changed (Figure 1).
Taking all these thoughts together, the maturity of the academic system canbe regarded as the final stage of a university and one of the most democratic
stages. And the mature and democratic university should exist in a system thatexhibits openness and moderate governance.
The APA project was a follow-up study to the previous CAP project: theChanging Academic Profession project. Although five countries, China, Japan,
Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, were included in the CAP survey and somesimilar questions were derived from the CAP questionnaire in the APA survey,
we still believe that it would be more relevant and important for the Asian
academics to form a research team and to launch a project focused on Asia’s
academy. For the past four years, we have explored issues concerning Asia’s
academy from our own perspective by incorporating numerous new questions in
the APA survey. However, as noted earlier, the legacy and impact of the CAP isso considerable and so significant in our APA project, more time is devoted toProfessor, RIHE, Hiroshima University, e-mail: hada@hiroshima-u.ac.jp

180 What is a Mature University in this Competitive World?

Page

the presentation and discussion of major findings and observations from the CAP
survey. These findings may provide an in-depth understanding of what has
been achieved in the APA study and what issues to be addressed in future.
Therefore, this summary of the CAP 19 countries is based on theperspective of the maturity of the academic system, judged by “Openness” andthe “Moderate Governance System”. In terms of openness, one has to consider
gender and mobility. For moderate governance, one considers a system that is
not purely top-down, upholds academic freedom, and has communication
between administrators and faculty members. That is, if a university is mature,
the system in the university will be open and the governance will be moderate;
academic freedom will be high, and collegiality will be good.

Source: Created by the author (2012)

Figure 1. World universities in environmental changes

1. Hypotheses I ⇒ Openness
As can be seen in Figure 2, Professor Arimoto stated that, in a modern
university, there is movement from a closed system to an open one, from
Quadrant III to Quadrant I. This process of modernization will be fundamental

Yumiko Hada Page
181
for our universities in the future.
To judge the openness of universities in a country, we think the following
two indexes are very useful: Gender and Mobility. In an open society, theacademic profession generally moves toward dealing equally with all academics,
male and female. The gender balance in our academic world is very important.

Open society

Source: Akira Arimoto (2011, p.24)

Figure 2. Pattern of modernization from closed to open society

1-1. Gender
In Australia, Finland, Malaysia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom thepercentage of male and female academics is almost equal. On the other hand,in Japan the treatment of female academics as seen in their small number andlow status compared to their male counterparts tells a different story. As Figure
3 reveals, among the CAP respondents the proportion of female academics inJapan (9.0) is the smallest, followed by Korea (18.4), Germany (27.5), Hong
Kong (32.7), and Italy (33.2).
1-2. Mobility
Although one must always think about balance, in an open society,academic mobility is relatively high. Phenomena such as lack of mobility,
inbreeding, and unchangeable status in the institutional hierarchy are more likely
to occur in a closed society.
As for mobility, academics, on average, over the whole CAP sample, havebeen employed in approximately two institutions (1.94) during their academic

182 What is a Mature University in this Competitive World?

Page

careers. Those in the United States (2.62) have the highest average followed by
Argentina (2.57) and Canada (2.49); China (1.28) has the lowest followed by
Malaysia (1.48) and Portugal (1.55).

Source: Akira Arimoto (2011, p.25)

Figure 3. Gender by country

2. Hypotheses II ⇒ Moderate GovernanceFollowing various environmental changes, globalization, marketization,worldwide competition, and especially market mechanisms have spreadworldwide and as a result the rationalization and bureaucratization of academia
and top-down administration and management structures have become
increasingly widespread.
However, in the United Kingdom there are three general societal beliefs:
government intervention in education as dangerous; government power should
be limited; and people will support the voluntary spirit of education. Then the
power of both central and local governments is strictly limited in the educational
system.
Therefore, more moderate governance, the opposite of rigorous governance,
is considered to be an element of the maturity of an academic system. As

Yumiko Hada Page
183
demonstrated in Table 1, maturity can be seen in the six items: Mobility,
Top-down Management, Communication, Collegiality, Cooperation with staff,
and Academic freedom and in Gender balance, which is kept in Australia,
Finland, Malaysia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
① As for Mobility, Argentina, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom andthe United States are high.
② As for Management, Hong Kong and Norway are the typical top-down
type, as are Argentina and Brazil, while China, Japan, Malaysia, South
Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States are rather bottom-up
type or shared governance type, and Australia is the most anti-top-downstyle.
③ As for Communication, Malaysia is in the best condition, and Argentina,
Brazil, and Mexico are also in good condition, while Australia, Germany,
Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom seem not to have achieved mutual
understanding.
④ As for Collegiality, Mexico is the highest and Argentina, Canada, Japan,
and Malaysia are comparatively high, while Italy is the lowest andAustralia, Korea, and South Africa are also low.
⑤ As for Cooperation with staff, Japan is the highest and Canada, China,
and the United States are high, while again Italy is the lowest.
⑥ As for Academic freedom, Mexico, Argentina, Canada, Japan and theUnited States are high in comparison to Finland, Germany, etc.
Now, two points are assigned to the top positions (◎), 1 point to upper
level positions (○), 0 point to intermediate level positions (no mark), ̶ 1 point
to lower level positions (×), and ̶ 2 points to the lowest positions (●) by orderof ranking. As a result, Table 1 was calculated as follows (Table 2).
Figure 3 contains the proportion of female academics in individual
countries. While the difference between the highest proportion of female
academics in Finland (50.4%) and the lowest proportion of female academics inJapan (-9.0%) is calculated, the result is 41.4%. Namely, 50.4 (Finland)－9.0(Japan)＝41.4. The result is divided into several equal parts － -3, -2, -1, 0, 1,
2, 3, and 7. The proportion of seven equally-divided parts amounts to 5.9.
Therefore, the proportion of female academics in each country is divided into
several groups by 5.9 from -3 to 3. These are shown in Table 2. Because nodata of the proportion of female academics is provided in Argentina, it is 0.

184 What is a Mature University in this Competitive World?

Page

Table 1. Traits of the AP in 18 countries
Country
Item

Moderate Governance

Openness

Mobility

AR AU BR CA CH FI DE HK IT JP KR MY MX NO PT ZA UK US

○ ◎

○ ×

Desire to transfer ● ○ ○Student-teacher
ratio

○

Contract system◎ ○ ●Top-down type

○ ● ○

×

Cooperation
with staff
Academic
freedom

○ ×

○

× ×

◎

○ ×

×

◎ ●

○

○ ○ ○
×

Communication ○ × ○Collegiality

○ × ×

◎
×

×

×

● ◎ ×
○

○

○ × ×

× × ◎ ○

○ ○ × ×● ×○◎

● ○ × ○ ◎○ ○○ ○× ○ × ×

○

○

×

◎ ×

× × ×
● ×
×
× ×

○

×

○

Note1: AR: Argentina, AU: Australia, BR: Brazil, CA: Canada, CH: China, Fl: Finland, DE:
Germany, HK: Hong Kong, IT: Italy, JP: Japan, KR: Korea, MY: Malaysia, MX:
Mexico, NO: Norway, PT: Portugal, ZA: South Africa, UK: United Kingdom, US:
United States
Note2: ◎ ranked at top, ○ ranked at upper level, × ranked at lower level, ● ranked at bottom
Source: Created by the Author based on A. Arimoto (2011)

Table 2. Calculation of points

Source: Created by the Author (2012)

Yumiko Hada Page
185
And when these points are placed in order in the graph, the result is shownin Figure 4. The vertical line is Moderate Governance, and the horizontal line
is Openness.
moderategovernance
Malaysia

Mexico
Japan

US

China

South Africa

CanadaArgentina

UK

closedness
Portugal

BrazilAustralia
opennessHK

GermanySouth Korea

NorwayFinland

Italy

North America
Asia
EuropeSouth America
AfricaAustralia

rigorous
governanceSource: Created by the Author (2012)

Figure 4. Maturity of the academic system

As stated in the beginning, the maturity of the academic system is judged as
the final stage of a university and one of the most democratic stages for all
universities. This maturity of the academic system is assessed by “Openness”
and “Moderate Governance System”.
It is sad to say, however, an ideal system cannot be found in any country. It
was believed that the United Kingdom could stay in an ideal position in Figure 4
because of the three general beliefs that:
Government intervention in education is dangerous;
Government power should be limited; andPeople will support the voluntary spirit of education.
However, the United Kingdom stays rather under rigorous governance. On
the contrary, almost all European countries tend to be under rigorous governance,
and almost all Asian countries display moderate governance comparatively. It186 What is a Mature University in this Competitive World?

Page

is important to know where each university stands, then one can determine how
to form a strong university and from that position one can move on. And
furthermore the important viewpoint should be made that these observations arenational frameworks and national averages, while what really counts for
institutions and for students is the position of their own university.
Finally, it will be important to know how much variety is possible withineach national system, and which strategies are most effective to make one’s own
university excellent within that national framework. In the international scene,
as universities are increasingly active globally, and moving beyond the nationalframework.

References
Arimoto, A. (2011). International Trends in the Academic Profession from a Japanese
Perspective. The Changing Academic Profession in Asia: Contexts, realities and trends(RIHE International Seminar Reports No.17), 15-55. Hiroshima: RIHE, Hiroshima
University.
Huang, F. (2011). Changes in and Issues of Academic Profession in Asia. The Changing
Academic Profession in Asia: Contexts, realities and trends (RIHE International Seminar
Reports No.17), 245-248. Hiroshima: RIHE, Hiroshima University.

Appendices187

Appendix 1: Conference Program*
The Changing Academic Profession in Asia
The Formation, Work, Academic Productivity, andInternationalization of the Academy
Date: January 24-25, 2014
Venue: Hiroshima Garden Palace

Friday, January 24
8:30 -

Registration*** Opening Ceremony ***9:00 - 9:15

9:15 - 9:25

Opening Remarks
Fusahito Yoshida, Executive and Vice President (Research),
Hiroshima University, Japan
Masashi Fujimura, Director & Professor, Research Institute forHigher Education, Hiroshima University, Japan
Akira Arimoto, President’s Adviser, Director and Professor of
Research Institute of Higher Education, Kurashiki Sakuyo
University / Professor Emeritus of Hiroshima University, Japan
Orientation
Futao Huang, Professor, Research Institute for Higher Education,
Hiroshima University, Japan*** Keynote Speeches ***9:25 - 10:05

10:05 - 10:45*

Chairs:Shinichi Yamamoto, Professor, Graduate school of Higher
Education Administration J. F. Oberlin University / Professor
Emeritus of Hiroshima University, Japan
Fumihiro Maruyama, Professor, Research Institute for Higher
Education, Hiroshima University, Japan
Keynote Speech 1“Institutionalization of R-T-S Nexus in the Academic Profession:
From an International Comparative Perspective”
Akira Arimoto, President’s Adviser, Director & Professor of
Research Institute for Higher Education, Kurashiki Sakuyo
University / Professor Emeritus of Hiroshima University, Japan
Keynote Speech 2“Strong States, Strong Systems”
William K. Cummings, Professor of International Education, The

As of January, 2014

188
Graduate School of Education and Human Development and The
Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington
University, USA
10:45 - 11:00

Coffee Break*** Session 1: Rewards & Internationalization of the Academy ***11:00 - 11:30

11:30 - 12:00

Presentation 1: Cambodia“Quality of Teaching and Research at Higher Education Institutions
in Cambodia”
Yuto Kitamura, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education,
The University of Tokyo, Japan
Naoki Umemiya, JICA Expert (University Administrative
Management), Malaysia-Japan International Institute ofTechnology(MJIIT), Malaysia / Japan
Presentation 2: Japan“The Internationalization of the Academy in Asia: Major Findings
from the International Survey”
Futao Huang, Professor, Research Institute for Higher Education,
Hiroshima University, Japan

12:00 - 12:30

Discussion

12:30 - 13:30

Lunch*** Session 2: Formation of the Academy ***13:30 - 14:00

14:00 - 14:30

Chairs:Keiichiro Yoshinaga, Associate Professor, Center for Higher
Educational Development, Tokyo University of Agriculture andTechnology, Japan
Satoshi P. Watanabe, Professor, Research Institute for Higher
Education, Hiroshima University, Japan
Presentation 3: China“The Formation of the Academy in China”
Fengqiao Yan, Associate Dean & Professor, Graduate School of
Education, Peking University, China
Lu Li, Doctoral Student, Graduate School of Education, Peking
University, China
Presentation 4: Malaysia“Career Prospects of Malaysian Academics”
Aida Suraya Md. Yunus, Professor, Director of Centre for

189
Academic Development, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang,Selangor, Malaysia / Fellow, National Higher Education ResearchInstitute, Penang, Malaysia
14:30 - 15:00

Discussion

15:00 - 15:15

Coffee Break

15:15 - 15:45

15:45 - 16:15

Presentation 5: Vietnam“Academic Career Development in Vietnam”
Thanh Nghi Pham, Professor, Institute of Psychology, Vietnam
Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam
Presentation 6: Japan“Formation of Academic Profession in A Matured Higher
Education System”
Akiyoshi Yonezawa, Associate Professor, Graduate School ofInternational Development, Nagoya University, Japan

16:15 - 17:00

Discussion

18:00 - 20:00

Reception at Hiroshima Garden Palace

Saturday, January 25
8:30 -

Registration*** Session 3: Work & Academic Productivity of the Academy ***9:00 - 9:30

9:30 - 10:00

Chairs:Reiko Yamada, Professor, Faculty of Social Studies Department of
Education and Culture, Doshisha University, Japan
Khieu Vicheanon, Deputy Secretary General, Cambodian
Accreditation Committee, Cambodia
Presentation 7: Singapore“The Global City and Singaporean Universities: The making ofacademic lives”
Kong Chong Ho, Assosiate Professor, National University ofSingapore
Presentation 8: Taiwan“The Impact of Research Productivity on Higher Education in
Taiwan”
Robin Jung-Cheng Chen, Assistant Professor, National Chengchi
University, Department of Education, Taiwan
Ching-Shan Wu, Director-General, K-12 Education Administration,
Taiwan190
10:00 - 10:30

Presentation 9: Japan“The Career and Academic Productivity of the Academic
Profession: The Similarity and Difference of Six Nations in Asia”
Tsukasa Daizen, Professor, Research Institute for Higher Education,
Hiroshima University, Japan

10:30 - 10:45

Coffee Break

10:45 - 11:30

Discussion

11:30 - 11:50

Concluding Remarks
Yumiko Hada, Professor, Research Institute for Higher Education,
Hiroshima University, Japan
Closing Speech
Akira Arimoto, President’s Adviser, Director and Professor of
Research Institute for Higher Education, Kurashiki Sakuyo
University / Professor Emeritus of Hiroshima University, Japan

10:50 - 11:00

191

Appendix 2: List of Participants
OVERSEAS PARTICIPANTS
Invited Experts
Cambodia

Khieu Vicheanon

China

Fengqiao Yan
Lu Li

Malaysia

Aida Suraya Md. Yunus

Singapore

Kong Chong Ho

TaiwanChing-Shan Wu
Ling-Yi Wang
Robin J. Chen

VietnamThanh Nghi Pham

USA

William K. Cummings

Deputy Secretary General, Cambodian Accreditation
Committee
Associate Dean & Professor, Graduate School of
Education, Peking University
Doctoral Student, Graduate School of Education, Peking
University
Professor, Director of Centre for Academic Development,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor / Fellow,
National Higher Education Research Institute, Penang
Associate Professor, National University of Singapore
Director-General, K-12 Education Administration
Assistant Research Fellow, National Academy for
Educational Research
Assistant Professor, National Chengchi University,
Department of Education
Professor, Institute of Psychology, Vietnam Academy ofSocial Sciences
Professor of International Education, The Graduate Schoolof Education and Human Development and The Elliott
School of International Affairs, The George Washington
University
and another 5 overseas participants

As of January, 2014

192

JAPANESE PARTICIPANTS
Vice-President
Fusahito Yoshida

Executive and Vice President (Research), Hiroshima
University, Japan

Invited Experts
Akira Arimoto

President’s Adviser, Director and Professor of ResearchInstitute of Higher Education, Kurashiki Sakuyo
University / Professor Emeritus of Hiroshima University

Akiyoshi Yonezawa

Associate Professor, Graduate School of International
Development, Nagoya University

Keiichiro Yoshinaga

Associate Professor, Center for Higher Educational
Development, Tokyo University of Agriculture andTechnology

Naoki Umemiya

JICA Expert (University Administrative Management),
Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology(MJIIT)

Reiko Yamada

Professor, Faculty of Social Studies Department of
Education and Culture, Doshisha University

Shinichi Yamamoto

Professor, Graduate school of Higher Education
Administration J. F. Oberlin University / Professor
Emeritus of Hiroshima University

Yuto Kitamura

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, The
University of Tokyo

Research Institute for Higher Education（RIHE）
Masashi Fujimura
Tsukasa Daizen
Futao Huang
Fumihiro Maruyama
Yumiko Hada
Satoshi P. Watanabe
Jun ObaMasataka Murasawa
Kazunori Shima

Director and Professor
Professor
Professor
Professor
Professor
Professor
Associate Professor
Associate Professor
Associate Professor
and another 24 Japanese participants

193

R.I.H.E. PUBLICATION IN ENGLISH
RIHE International Publication SeriesNo. 1: Kaneko, M. (1987). Enrollment Expansion in Postwar Japan.
No. 2: Guocai, Z. (1989). Higher Education Research in China: An Annotated Bibliography.
No. 3: Abe, Y. (1989). Non-University Sector Higher Education in Japan.
No. 4: Kaneko, M. (1989). Financing Higher Education in Japan: Trends and Issues.
No. 5: Kaneko, M. (1992). Higher Education and Employment in Japan: Trends and Issues.
No. 6: Morgan, J. Keith (1999). Universities and the Community: Use of Time in Universities
in Japan.
No. 7: Arimoto, A. (ed.) (2001). University Reforms and Academic Governance: Reports ofthe 2000 Three-Nation Workshop on Academic Governance.
No. 8: Arimoto, A. (ed.) (2002). University Reforms and Academic Governance
Reconsidered: Report of the Six-Nation Higher Education Research Project.
No. 9: Arimoto, A., Huang, F., and Yokoyama, K. (eds.) (2005). Globalization and Higher
Education.
No.10: Huang, F. (ed.) (2006). Transnational Higher education in Asia and the PacificRegion.

Higher Education Forum
Higher Education Forum Vol. 1 (2003).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 2 (2005).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 3 (2006).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 4 (2007).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 5 (2008).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 6 (2009).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 7 (2010).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 8 (2011).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 9 (2012).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 10 (2013).
Higher Education Forum Vol. 11 (2014).

Higher Education Research in Japan
Higher Education Research in Japan Vol. 1 (2003).
Higher Education Research in Japan Vol. 2 (2005).
Higher Education Research in Japan Vol. 3 (2006).
Higher Education Research in Japan Vol. 4 (2007).
Higher Education Research in Japan Vol. 5 (2008).

194
COE Publication Series
No. 6: Construction and Quality Assurance of 21st Century Higher Education (Reports of the2003 COE International Symposium) (2003).
No. 7: Mergers and Cooperation among Higher Education Institutions: Australia, Japan andEurope (Reports of the 2003 COE International Seminar on Mergers and Cooperation)(2004).
No.11: Organization Reforms and University Governance: Autonomy and Accountability(Reports of COE International Seminar) (2004).
No.12: Enhancing Quality and Building the 21st Century Higher Education System (Reports
of COE International Seminar/Eight-Nation Conference) (2004).
No.20: Quality, Relevance, and Governance in the Changing Academia: International
Perspectives (Reports of Changing Academic Profession Project Workshop) (2006).
No.21: A Cross-National Analysis of Undergraduate Curriculum Models: Focusing on
Research-Intensive Universities (2006).
No.22: Gender Inequity in Academic Profession and Higher Education Access: Japan, theUnited Kingdom, and the United States (2006).
No.23: Constructing University Visions and the Mission of Academic Profession in AsianCountries: A Comparative Perspective (Reports of COE International Seminar) (2007).
No.29: Changing Governance in Higher Education: Incorporation, marketisation, and otherreforms  A Comparative study  (2007).

RIHE International Seminar Reports
No. 1: Perspectives for the Future System of Higher Education (Report of the Hiroshima
International Seminar on Higher Education) (1977).
No. 2: Higher Education for the 1980s: Challenges and Responses (Report of the Second
Hiroshima International Seminar on Higher Education) (1980).
No. 3: Innovations in Higher Education: Exchange of Experiences and Ideas in International
Perspective (Reports of the Hiroshima/OECD Meeting of Experts on Higher Educationand the Seminar on Innovations in Higher Education) (1981).
No. 4: Comparative Approach to Higher Education: Curriculum, Teaching and Innovations in
an Age of Financial Difficulties (Reports of the Hiroshima/OECD Meetings ofExperts) (1983).
No. 5: The Changing Functions of Higher Education: Implications for Innovation (Reports
from the 1984 OECD/JAPAN Seminar on Higher Education), (1985).
No. 6: Higher Education Expansion in Asia (Reports from the 1985 International Seminar on
Asian Higher Education) (1985).
No. 7: Public and Private in Asian Higher Education Systems: Issues and Prospects (Reports
from the Third International Seminar on Higher Education in Asia) (1987).
No. 8: The Role of Government in Asian Higher Education Systems: Issues and Prospects

195(Report from the Fourth International Seminar on Higher Education in Asia) (1988).
No. 9: Foreign Students and Internationalizaion of Higher Education (Proceedings of
OECD/JAPAN Seminar on Higher Education and the Flow of Foreign Students)(1989).
No.10: Academic Reforms in the World: Situation and Perspective in the Massification Stageof Higher Education (Reports of the 1997 Six-Nation Higher Education Project
Seminar) (1997).
No.11: Higher Education Reform for Quality Higher Education Management in the 21stCentury: Economic, Technological, Social and Political Forces Affecting Higher
Education (Proceedings of the 1999 Six-Nation Presidents’ Summit in Hiroshima)(2000).
No.12: The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative and Quantitative
Perspectives (Report of the International Conference on the Changing Academic
Profession Project, 2008) (2008).
No.13: The Changing Academic Profession over 1992-2007: International, Comparative, andQuantitative Perspectives (Report of the International Conference on the Changing
Academic Profession Project, 2009) (2009).
No.14: Producing Qualified Graduates and Assuring Education Quality in the
Knowledge-Based Society: Roles and Issues of Graduate Education (Report of theInternational Workshop on Graduate Education, 2009) (2010).
No.15: The Changing Academic Profession in International and Quantitative Perspectives: A
Focus on Teaching & Research Activities (Report of the International Conference on
the Changing Academic Profession Project, 2010) (2010).
No.16: Diversifying Higher Education Systems in the International and Comparative
Perspectives (Report of the International Workshop on University Reform, 2010)(2011).
No.17: The Changing Academic Profession in Asia: Contexts, Realities and Trends (Report of
the International Conference on the Changing Academic Profession Project, 2011)(2011).
No.18: University Management, Present and Future: How and by whom? (Report of theInternational Workshop on University Reform, 2011) (2012).
No.19: Comparison of University Governance: USA, UK, France and Japan (Report of theInternational Seminar on University Governance, 2012) (2013).
No.20: The Changing Academic Profession in Asia: Teaching, Research, Governance andManagement (Report of the International Conference on the Changing Academic
Profession Project, 2013) (2013).
No.21: The Internationalization of Higher Education: Realities and Implications (Report of
the International Workshop on University Reform, 2013) (2014).

RIHE International
Seminar Reports

No.22, February 2015

ISBN978-4-902808-89-6