What it is like and what needs to be done: A status report on higher education in Macau and its research

Abstract

This paper examines what is happening in higher education in Macau, what has been done in its research, and what more needs to be done in the future. We find that higher education research in and about Macau is resembling its history: Short, atomized, dispersed, and sketchy. There are few in-depth studies in the form of well-developed papers and books, and they tend to be in English; most are short introductory papers published in Chinese venues in mainland China. And most researchers are from outside Macau. Nonetheless, available research does point to some very important issues such as the problem of vocationalization, the academic and political roles of the professoriate, the professionalization, or the de- and re-professionalization of faculty, among other things. We believe that future research should deal with not only the above issues, but other issues as well such as the mission of higher education, the role of the government in higher education assessment and quality control, student learning experiences, and the postcolonial mentality in higher education development in Macau especially regarding the pursuit of world-class statuses. Research on such issues is very much lacking. We hope that this paper will shed light on the future development of higher education and its research in Macau.