Reflecting globalization effects on local policy: higher education reform in Taiwan

Recent comparative education policy studies show that even though there see ms to be similar patterns and trends in higher education reforms in East As ian societies, the recently initiated higher education reforms have had ver y diverse agendas. Thus. the considerable convergence of policy rhetoric an d general policy objectives may not satisfactorily explain the complicated processes of changes and the dynamic interactions between global, regional and local forces that shape education policy-making in individual countries . This article discusses globalization effects on national policy, with par ticular reference to how the higher education sector in Taiwan has transfor med itself under the global tide of marketization and decentralization. The re are a lot of changes similar to both higher education in Taiwan and that of elsewhere, which suggests that Taiwan's higher education has been affec ted by the trends of globalization. But before we jump to this conclusion, maybe we should also bear in mind an alternative hypothesis that local fact ors are crucial and determining factors for change. The core of the article is to examine the ways and strategies the Taiwan Government has adopted to reform its higher education systems in response to the changing local soci o-economic political context and regional-global environments, with a parti cular focus on provision, regulation and financing.