Comparing student engagement in higher education governance in Japan, Korea and Taiwan

• In Event: Governance and Leadership in Higher Education: Research on Engagement, Autonomy, and Diversity

Proposal

Student voices have become a critical component of management and governance in higher education. On the one hand, the increasingly marketized forces are part of the broader discourse steering the higher education system. On the other hand, relevant stakeholders are key collaborators for higher education leaders. Students, often regarded as customers in a competitive market, are also key stakeholders within universities. How they are included or accepted as co-creator is an increasingly crucial issue for higher education governance and management.

While there are several notable articles and research on this topic in Western contexts, publications focusing on East Asia remain limited. To fill this knowledge gap and explore the institutional contexts of student engagement, this study selects six universities in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan (two cases from each society) for a comparative analysis of their respective approaches. By systematically collecting reliable data and information, we review national legal documents, institutional publications, and information from student associations/unions to ensure triangulation.

Matthews & Dollinger (2023) identify two types of student voices in higher education, distinguishing between student partnership and student representation. Furthermore, Naylor, Dollinger, Mahat & Khawaja (2020) conceptualize students as either customers or active agents, positioning student engagement into different modalities for both conceptual and contextual purposes. They argue that a broader movement toward viewing students as partners and co-creators of their educational experiences is growing and should be welcomed.

This paper uses these frameworks to pinpoint the relative positions of the case universities. According to the empirical evidence, it is surprising that Japanese universities demonstrate a limited presence of student engagement in higher education governance. Students are not regarded as core collaborators in decision-making. In contrast, Korea has adopted a more welcoming pattern, with student representation in high-level meetings (such as board meetings) and student partnerships in areas like curriculum structure, accommodation, and campus policies. Taiwan has taken a more democratic approach, with legal support for formal student engagement at the institutional level. The selected Taiwanese universities show a more prevalent involvement of students in governance, positioning them as active agents within the internal decision-making process. Japan, on the other hand, seems hesitant to expand student representation in university management. In fostering the notion of co-creating meaningful learning experiences, these three countries could consider more progressive strategies and measures for greater student engagement.

Authors

• Sheng-Ju Chan, National Chung Cheng University

• Hung-Chang Chen, National Taiwan Normal University