Vietnam is a dynamic member of the community of Southeast Asian nations. Consistent with aspirations across the region, it is seeking to develop its higher education system as rapidly as possible. Vietnam’s approach stands out, however, as being extremely ambitious. Indeed, it may be at risk of attempting to do too much too quickly. By 2020, for example, Vietnam expects its higher education system to be advanced by modern standards and highly competitive in international terms. This vision faces many challenges. The economy, though growing rapidly, remains reliant on the availability of unskilled labour and the exploitation of natural resources, and decision making in many areas of public life continues to be hamstrung by a legacy of over-regulation and centralised control. A large number of goals and objectives have been set for reform of the higher education system by 2020. The success of these reforms will have a major bearing on the future quality of the system. This sober assessment Vietnam’s global competitiveness forms a backdrop to the subject matter of this book, that is, the state of Vietnam’s higher education system. The book provides a comprehensive and scholarly review of various dimensions of the higher education system in Vietnam, including its recent history, its structure and governance, its teaching and learning culture, its research and research commercialisation environment, its socio-economic impact, its strategic planning processes, its progress with quality accreditation, and its experience of internationalisation and privatisation.

This book addresses the issue of graduate employability (GE) within the changing context of contemporary Vietnam. GE has become a highly topical and contested issue in Vietnam. Employers report that university students are not suitably prepared for work, and universities are often criticised for their poor commitment to developing student employability assets. However, it is suggested that enhancing GE in Vietnam involves many factors that are often underplayed in the general literature. In the Vietnamese context, both the education system and the economy remain relatively underdeveloped; students are schooled to be passive learners; and corrupt employment practices remain rife. Moreover, Confucian cultural features of face saving, hierarchical order in decision making, and the role of rumour and hearsay in a collectivist culture each play an important part in the different ways university graduates negotiate their transition to employment. Thus, in order to enhance the development of GE in Vietnam, all related stakeholders need opportunities to collaborate so that a mutual understanding of the problem is arrived at and feasible solutions are developed and implemented.

Located within the global changing contexts of higher education in the 21st century, this book examines the reform of the teaching and learning practices in Vietnamese universities under the Higher Education Reform Agenda and the influence of internationalization on the higher education sector. Specifically, it analyses the motives, current implementation, effectiveness, and challenges of these reforms, especially from student perspectives. Analyzing approximately 4300 survey responses and interviews with students, the book covers a range of key issues related to teaching and learning in higher education which have attracted attention in recent years, including: The learning environment Student support and first-year transition Student-centred teaching The use of credit-based curricula The use of information and communication technology At-home internationalization of higher education Assessment and feedback Work placements Informal learning via extra curricular activities Students’ perception of the values of university education.

Romania hosts the 2012 Bologna / European Higher Education Area Ministerial Conference and the Third Bologna Policy Forum. In preparation for these meetings, The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI) organised the Future of Higher Education - Bologna Process Researchers’ Conference (FOHE-BPRC) in Bucharest on 17-19 October 2011, with the support of the European University Association (EUA) and the Romanian National Committee for UNESCO. The conference brought the voices of researchers into international-level policy making in higher education. The results of the conference are presented in this book. Until now, empirical evidence supporting policies and reforms in higher education has often been a matter of local or regional focus. The development of a pan-European process in higher education policy drives a need to explore wider research topics on which to base policies. This book offers an unprecedented opportunity for higher education researchers to interact and contribute to the political process shaping the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and to national policy agendas in more than 100 participant countries for the 2012 ministerial events. The book collects more than 50 articles focusing on vital issues in European higher education. These are arranged in sections addressing the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) Principles; Teaching and Learning; Quality Assurance; Mobility; Higher Education Governance in the EHEA; Funding of Higher Education; Diversification of Higher Education Missions; Higher Education Futures and Foresight.

This book focuses on models, strengths, opportunities, constraints and tensions in internationalisation in Vietnamese higher education. It reflects on key concepts from contemporary theories and models of internationalisation and discusses the implications for innovation, flexibility and responsiveness to local needs in Vietnam. Based on empirical research, theoretical knowledge and the experiences of researchers from Vietnam and overseas, the book draws out the distinctiveness and complexity of internationalisation practices and charts a way forward. It examines the key drivers and dimensions of internationalising Vietnamese higher education, and compares internationalisation in Vietnam to that in other countries. It clarifies and discusses tensions related to the appropriation of ‘Western’ internationalisation practice and models, and neo-liberal ideologies, to the local context of Vietnam. It provides readers with insights into government policy, quality assurance and benchmarking strategies, curriculum, the impact of international organisations on higher education, international student mobility, transnational education, employability, brain drain and brain gain and brain circulation.

Optimizing leadership and governance in higher education creates an environment that promotes academic excellence, innovation, and inclusivity. As institutions face challenges from technological advancements, demographic shifts, and global competition, effective governance structures and leadership development becomes critical when navigating these challenges. By prioritizing transparency, collaboration, and adaptability, educational leaders develop a culture of shared responsibility and continuous improvement, empowering faculty, staff, and students to engage in their own educational experience. Exploration into the commitment to optimizing leadership and governance in higher education can lead to sustainable growth, improved student outcomes, and a more responsive educational landscape. Optimizing Leadership and Governance in Higher Education explores best practices and insights into higher education governance and leadership optimization. By sharing research, practical strategies, and personal experiences, the book offers solutions for education administrators to navigate complex challenges in the evolving educational landscape. This book covers topics such as educational technology, ethics and law, and social science, and is a useful resource for education professionals, administrators, policy makers, computer scientists, sociologists, academicians, and researchers.

Offering insights into the current and projected future state of the education system in Vietnam, this edited volume is an authoritative sourcebook for scholars, policy analysts, academic staff, and students. Vietnam is well on its way to joining the dress circle of high-achieving education nations in Asia. International surveys of the academic aptitude and ability of the nation’s youth consistently place it well above relevant regional and global averages. This accomplishment is remarkable for a country with a gross domestic product per capita of only US$2,785 in 2020. The dynamics of Vietnam’s national education system are comprehensively documented in the book. Each of the country’s education sectors is critically appraised as well as the culture of education in Vietnam. Specific issues concerning funding and equity, quality and accreditation, the teaching of curriculum areas, the internationalisation of the system, and the provision of educational opportunities for young people with disabilities are carefully analysed against a background of relevant global trends. With contributions from well-established and highly respected local experts with high aspirations for the future development of the national education system in Vietnam, this book will be a must-read for academics and students of Southeast Asian studies and comparative education.

This open access edited book attempts to break new ground in investigating multiple facets of Vietnamese language, education and change in global contexts, engaging with global Vietnam through complex lenses of language and education. Issues of language, globalization, and global identities have often been framed through the lens of hierarchical/binary power relations, and/or through a dichotomy between hyper-central languages, such as English, and revisualized or marginalized local language and cultures. In this book, this dichotomy is turned on its head by considering how Vietnam and Vietnamese are constructed in and outside Vietnam and enacted in global spaces of classrooms, textbooks, student mobility, community engagement, curriculum, and intercultural contacts. Vietnamese is among the worlds most spoken languages and is ranked in the top 20th in terms the number of speakers. Yet, at the same time, as a peripheral or southern global language as often seen in the Global North-Global South spectrum, the dynamics of multilingual and multicultural encounters involving Vietnamese generate distinctive dilemmas and tensions, as well as pointing to alternative ways of thinking about global phenomena from a fresh angle. Rather than being outside of the global, Vietnamese - like many other non-central global languages - is present in diasporas, commercial, and transnational structures of higher education, schooling, and in the more conventional settings of primary and secondary school, in which visions of culture and language also evoke notions of heritage and tradition as well as bring to the fore deep seated ideological conflicts across time, space, communities, and generations. Relevant to students and scholars researching language, education, identity, multiculturalism, and their intersections, particularly related to Vietnam, but also in Southeast Asia and beyond, this volume is a pioneering investigation into overlooked contexts and languages from a global, southern-oriented perspective.