A philosophical evaluation of the internationalization of higher education: A case study on the public universities in Vietnam

Abstract

The internationalization of higher education is a common development trend of universities in the world. For Vietnam, the globalization of education, the most important of which is higher education, is an essential and vital issue in the country's development strategy. However, at the same time, the international context is also posing many challenges for Vietnam when it comes to the competitiveness of highly-qualified workers in relation to other countries in the region, the existing skill gap of good post-graduates, the brain drain phenomenon, etc. Besides analyzing current trends and their corresponding philosophical underpinning, this article focuses on ways of coping with these challenges. In addition to existing guidelines and policies of the state and universities in Vietnam, primarily concerning public universities (which account for over 70% of the universities in Vietnam), our study critically evaluates the following four groups of solutions: (1) improvement of university governance and enhancement of university autonomy; (2) strengthening joint training programs and quality assurance, while regularly updating and renovating training programs in line with general regional and world trends; (3) enhancing learners’ exchange; and (4) strengthening cooperation in scientific research and international publications.