Institutional Perception on East Asian Regional Framework of Cross-Border Higher Education: Analysis of the JICA-RI Survey for Leading Universities

Abstract

Set against the backdrop of increasing economic interdependence in East Asian region, the idea of regional integration is now being discussed as a long-term political process in the region. As in the field of the international economy, de facto integration and interdependence exist with respect to the internationalization of the higher education system in East Asian region. In this context, East Asian region is still exploring the directions of the regional framework, including what countries and sub-regions should be within this framework. Based on the results of a comprehensive Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute (JICA-RI) survey of 300 leading universities in cross-border higher education, located in Southeast Asia (ASEAN member countries) and Northeast Asia (China, Japan, and Korea), this paper examines how East Asian leading universities perceive the different regions as the partners of their cross-border activities and how the universities prospect the degree activity with different partner regions for their cross-border activities. The objective is to contribute to the conceptual understanding of internationalization and regionalization of East Asian higher education from the perspective of partner regions, and to contribute to policy discussions for future regional framework of higher education. The finding indicates that in general Southeast Asian universities perceive its own region as the most active partner region, and Northeast Asian universities also perceive its own region as highly active partner region. Furthermore, Southeast Asian and Northeast Asian universities perceive each other as active partner regions.