Chinese Models of University Quality Assurance: Case Studies from China and Taiwan

Abstract

Universities in China and Taiwan have undergone drastic changes in the last two decades, including a series of new quality assurance efforts. The changes in China first started in an era of the Open Door policy in the early 1990s, which resulted in an unprecedented economic growth and social development. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s higher education has undergone a rapid political democratization and economic transformation, largely due to the processes of deregulation and de-centralization as a result of lifting martial law in 1987. In response to the pressure for global university ranking, many public universities in both Chinese societies have competed for bulk governmental funding to strive to become world-class institutions despite an increasing discrepancy in resources and development among universities. It is argued that both China and Taiwan’s quality assurance models have encountered similar challenges, and yet their origins and outcomes remain quite distinct. Though quality assurance has served as one of the driving forces for improving educational institutions, the whole evaluation process has reinforced the monopoly and hegemony of government over universities in both societies. The social costs are high and the benefits are subject to debate.