Urbanization as a Predictor of Faculty Qualifications in Vietnam’s Higher Education Institutions

• In Event: Reforming Higher Education Systems in Southeast Asia: Cooperation, Capacity, and Equity

Proposal

The human capital theory posits that investments in education and skill development are key drivers of national economic growth (Becker, 1964). This framework is particularly relevant in the Vietnamese context, where the Vietnamese government views human capital as its most critical asset for sustainable development and global competitiveness (Nguyen, 2020). Enhancing the quality of the higher education system has become a national strategy to meet the growing demand for high-quality human resources essential for industrialization, modernization, and sustainable development (Parajuli et al., 2020). Central to this strategy is the improvement of academic faculty qualifications, especially the proportion of doctoral-degree holders in universities. To obtain this achievement, Vietnam implemented various projects to train university lecturers at both national and provincial levels (Nguyen, 2024). For instance, the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (Vietnam MOET) launched Project 89 in 2019, which provides financial resources for university lecturers to advance their qualifications (Vietnam MOET, 2019). Such an initiative aims at strengthening the global competitiveness of Vietnam’s higher education system, meeting the growing demand for high-quality human resources essential for industrialization, modernization, and sustainable development (Nguyen, 2016; Phuong & Chai, 2018).
Building on these national efforts, Vietnam has also established formal standards for faculty qualifications to institutionalize its human capital development goals. Beginning in 2030, institutions without doctoral programs must ensure that at least 30% of their full-time faculty hold a doctoral degree, while institutions offering doctoral training must meet a minimum threshold of 50% (Vietnam MOET, 2024). However, Vietnamese universities, particularly those located in less urbanized areas, face significant challenges when hiring and retaining PhD-holding faculty to meet the MOET's standards (Giao Duc Viet Nam, 2024). Although these challenges have been covered in educational media, there is an absence of empirical studies examining the relationship between institutional locations and university faculty’s qualifications. This study addresses this gap by adding the urbanization level into linear regression models to predict the proportion of faculty holding a doctoral degree, using institutional-level data collected from universities’ annual reports.
Current literature indicates several institutional factors shaping the landscape of university faculty in Vietnam: institution types (public versus private, and research-focused versus teaching-intensive), financial resources, and human resource management practices. These factors reflect the ability of universities to attract, develop, and retain highly qualified faculty. Broadly, Vietnam MOET sets more stringent requirements for institutions offering doctoral programs, mandating a higher proportion of PhD-holding faculty compared to non-doctoral institutions (MOET, 2024). This regulatory distinction contributes to disparities in faculty qualifications across institutional types. Financial strength further amplifies these differences. Universities with strong financial resources have an advantage in attracting highly qualified faculty (Dinh, 2025). Specifically, low salaries are a major demotivator for faculty members across Vietnamese universities (Ai et al., 2019; Duong, 2014). A growing number of lecturers are leaving public universities for the private sector or other jobs due to uncompetitive remuneration mechanisms, inflexible working environments, high pressure on teaching and research, and limited promotion opportunities in public institutions (Dinh, 2025). Geographic preferences also play a role in faculty distribution. Many qualified lecturers prefer to work in major cities, resulting in a shortage of high-quality academic staff in less urbanized regions (Bich, 2025). In addition, a high student-to-faculty ratio increases teaching loads, potentially limiting the time and energy faculty can dedicate to pursuing advanced degrees (Nguyen, 2023).
To empirically examine these disparities, this study uses data from the 2024 annual reports of Vietnamese universities. Of the 246 institutions nationwide (MOET, 2024), 202 were included after excluding foreign-invested universities and those without publicly available reports to ensure consistency and data reliability.
The purpose of this study is to examine whether the proportion of PhD-holding faculty differs depending on the level of urbanization where institutions are located. To address this, I built two linear regression models. Model 1 includes both 202 doctoral and non-doctoral degree institutions, with urbanization as the primary predictor. Control variables include revenue, ownership type (public as the reference group), degree-offering status (doctoral degree as the reference group), and student-to-faculty ratio. Model 2 focuses only on 123 institutions offering doctoral degrees. Given the growing number of such institutions in recent years (Giao Duc Viet Nam, 2024), this model allows for a more focused analysis of whether urbanization continues to influence faculty qualifications within this specific group. By separating the samples, this study accounts for structural differences and avoids conflating effects between institutions with distinct academic missions.
Both models in this study are statistically significant. Model 1, which includes all institutions, explains 26% of the variation in the proportion of PhD-holding faculty (R² = 0.26, p < 0.001). Model 2, which focuses only on doctoral degree-granting institutions, explains 13% of the variation (R² = 0.13, p < 0.001). The variance inflation factor (VIF) scores were sufficiently low in both models, ranging from 1.09 to 1.35, indicating no significant multicollinearity among the predictors (Long, 1997). The key predictor, urbanization level, is statistically significant in both models. In Model 1, institutions located in emerging urbanization areas have a 6.8 percentage point lower proportion of PhD-holding faculty compared to those in highly urbanized areas (b = -0.068, SE = 0.028, p < 0.05). In Model 2, this gap increases to 11.8 percentage points among doctoral degree-granting institutions (b = -0.118, SE = 0.049, p < 0.05).
These results align with broader patterns of urbanization in Vietnam, where urban areas receive preferential investment and policy support, leading to higher living standards and income levels compared to rural regions (Pham & Cu, 2024). While salary and welfare are known to influence lecturers’ motivation and job satisfaction (Duong, 2014), this study highlights the need for targeted policies and strategic interventions to address the unique disadvantages faced by institutions in less urbanized areas. Strengthening faculty capacity in these regions is essential for achieving national goals in higher education and sustainable development.

Author

• Man Phan, University of Iowa