A way of policy bricolage or translation: The case of Taiwan's higher education reform of quality assurance

Abstract

This paper focuses on the process and mechanism of higher education policy change related to quality assurance in a globalized world. In particular, the purpose of the study was to identify the impact of globalization on domestic policy change in Taiwan, characterized as a peripheral country. Taiwan's experience in terms of developing a national quality assurance system for higher education (1975-2013) was analyzed as a case study, based on the theories of new institutionalism. The analysis showed that in the whole process of policy change, the government retained significance through playing the role of policy entrepreneur. Regarding the mechanism of policy change, both bricolage and translation were identified in the process. However, translation tended to appear in the most recent period, which saw quality assurance schemes that spread from other places adopted in the local context, albeit with considerable modification. This would imply that, even in the global context, higher education policy change could come in different forms.