Treading a careful path towards HE internationalisation

In the post-COVID period, international higher education is facing a rapid transformation when it comes to teaching, research and other forms of knowledge transmission. Meanwhile, the global higher education landscape is inevitably being reshaped by macro contexts as geopolitical tensions between countries escalate.

Under the ‘One China’ policy, Taiwan has been marginalised both globally and regionally in formal international diplomacy. This idiosyncratic geopolitical position affects the approach to internationalising higher education in Taiwan, with most initiatives being carried out by higher education institutions and informal ties rather than formal relations between governments.

However, government policy still plays a pivotal role in guiding the strategic direction of universities.

Internationalisation policies

Since 2016, the Taiwanese government has implemented the New Southbound Policy. Considering the extensive immigrant network and the substantial investment by Taiwanese businesses in Southeast Asia, this policy aims to strengthen bilateral relations between Taiwan and 18 target countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania through people-to-people exchanges.

In terms of higher education, recruiting international students from the New Southbound countries may compensate for a shortage of tertiary students.

Like other Asian countries, such as South Korea, Singapore and Japan, Taiwan faces complex challenges posed by low fertility rates.

According to the latest demographic projections, Taiwan will lose its demographic dividend by 2028, with its university-age population plummeting from 970,000 in 2022 to 460,000 in 2070, according to National Development Council of Taiwan projections published in August.

The recruitment of international students is, therefore, an imperative objective of this policy, with particular emphasis on practical and industrial skills training.

Meanwhile, amidst current geopolitical concerns related to mainland China, New Southbound students have replaced mainland students as the primary source of international students in Taiwan. Mainland student numbers fell sharply from 41,927 in 2015 to 6,033 in 2020, while New Southbound students increased from 27,645 to 51,901.

These New Southbound students accounted for 56% of the international students studying in Taiwan in 2020, with Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam being the leading source countries.

Language

Another internationalisation policy is the Program on Bilingual Education for Students in Colleges, introduced in 2021. For this programme, the Taiwanese government has selected four universities and 41 colleges in 25 higher education institutions as benchmark institutions and funded them to offer courses with English as a medium of instruction.

By doing so, they expect to optimise higher education institutions’ teaching practices, improve the English proficiency of domestic students and staff and ultimately “elevate national competitiveness”.

According to a government report, only 1% of programmes in Taiwanese universities are taught in English, which may be a hindrance for international students. Bilingualism is therefore regarded as a critical pathway to internationalising Taiwan’s higher education system, given its potential contribution to the recruitment of international students and the enhancement of local students’ English abilities.

In addition to the two programmes mentioned above, promoting Chinese language education is also a strategy for internationalisation. In recent years, due to international tensions and concerns over the spread of political ideologies, countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have gradually withdrawn their cooperation with China’s Confucius Institutes.

In this context, the Taiwanese government has been funding 18 universities since 2021 to foster Chinese language education overseas. This initiative has facilitated the internationalisation of Taiwan’s higher education by signing memoranda of understanding with overseas institutions, sending teachers to teach Chinese at foreign universities and luring international students to study Chinese in Taiwan.

Challenges for the future

The Taiwanese government regards higher education internationalisation as a solution to structural issues and it has seized the opportunities arising from global political trends to advance Chinese language education and raise Taiwan’s global visibility through institutional-level partnerships.

However, there are also several challenges.

Firstly, most programmes are delivered by higher education institutions rather than official government partnerships. The allocation of government grants may exacerbate structural inequalities, resulting in staff and students at different institutions benefiting disparately from the internationalisation process.

Moreover, in order to secure government funding, higher education institutions may homogenise by modelling themselves on a few flagship universities under each policy.

However, in the bilingual education programme, for instance, students’ English proficiency may vary across institutions. Universities should thus consider their students’ needs and institutional missions to choose a more adequate and contextualised internationalisation approach.

Secondly, the current policy emphasis on cooperation with the New Southbound countries may lead to fierce competition among Taiwanese higher education institutions in this region.

Furthermore, with less attention given to international students from other areas, the diversity of international students may become more limited and this could generate inequality issues among various sub-groups.

Opportunities

In the next decade, Africa will likely become a major international student source worldwide due to its rapid population growth. The Taiwanese government and higher education institutions need to be well prepared for this opportunity in their internationalisation initiatives.

Beyond recruiting international students, the government is also adjusting immigration measures to retain international students who wish to work in Taiwan after graduation, given its ageing society and low fertility rate. On the other hand, with the bilingual policy improving the English-language skills of local students, how to develop their cross-cultural competence and international experience is an issue that requires further attention.

While internationalisation of higher education may be a necessary pathway, Taiwan must consistently and carefully consider the implications of internationalisation for local society in order to address social issues and achieve a sustainable future.

Yi-Hsuan Irene Huang is a doctoral researcher at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.