Putting Higher Education to Work

Putting Higher
Education to Work
Skills and Research for Growth in East Asia
WORLD BANK EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC
REGIONAL REPORTPutting Higher Education to Work
Skills and Research for Growth in East Asia WORLD BANK EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC REGIONAL REPORT
Well known for their economic success and dynamism, countries in the East Asia and Pacif c region must
tackle an increasingly complex set of challenges to continue on a path of sustainable development. Learning
from others within the region and beyond can help identify what works, what doesn’t, and why, in the search
for practical solutions to these challenges. This regional report series presents analyses of issues relevant to
the region, drawing on the global knowledge and experience of the World Bank and its partners. The series
aims to inform public discussion, policy formulation, and development practitioners’ actions to turn chal-
lenges into opportunities. WORLD BANK EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC REGIONAL REPORT iii
World Bank East Asia and Pacif c Regional Report
Putting Higher
Education to Work
Skills and Research for Growth in East Asia © 2012 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
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ISBN: 978-0-8213-8490-9
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DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-8490-9
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Cover photo: Graduates attend the 2009 bachelor’s degree commencement ceremony at the Huazhong
University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei province, China. © Feature China / European
Pressphoto Agency.
Cover design: Naylor Design, Inc.Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Despite impressive gains, higher education could contribute even more to
East Asia’s development agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Five disconnects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Public policy and its three pillars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Country priorities, policies, and reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1 Higher Education for Growth through Skills and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
East Asia’s economic landscape6
Role and impact of higher education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
From higher education to growth: Skills and research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Notes. . . . . 34
2 Is Higher Education Meeting Its Promises? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Higher education and skills for growth: The main issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Quantity of higher education graduates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Quality of higher education graduates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Research and innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3 Disconnects in Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The fi rst disconnect: Between higher education and employers (skill users) . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The second disconnect: Between higher education and companies (research users) . . . . . . 77
vvi CONTENTS
The third disconnect: Between higher education and research institutions
(research providers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
The fourth disconnect: Among higher education institutions themselves and
between these institutions and training providers (horizontal disconnect
across skill providers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
The fi fth disconnect: Between higher education and earlier education (schools)
(vertical disconnect across skill providers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Conclusion and moving forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4 Financing Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Financing needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
How to fund priority activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Summary of policy priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Notes. . . . 125
5 Managing Public Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Global moves to autonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Autonomy for low- and middle-income East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Two fundamental issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Moving forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
6 Providing Stewardship for Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Providing effective coordination among government bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Steering private delivery149
Encouraging effective university-industry links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Stewardship of the internationalization of higher education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Notes. . . . 170
Appendixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
A Number and Type of Higher Education Institutions in East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
B Economic Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .