In the context of globalization, the
emerged need in establishing world-class universities reflect the national
policies of competitiveness increase in the knowledge economy era.
Consequently, every ambitious country sets a goal to establish a world-class
university in order to create a critical mass of talented students and faculty
members who will be able to foster socio-economic and industrial-innovative
development of the country. World-class universities also can be considered as
the promoters of country’s prestige and status on the global level. However,
despite the fact that the concept is commonly used in many research papers and
articles, there is no clear and explicit definition of the nature of
world-class universities, which provokes debates regarding of what it means to
be a world-class institution (Altbach, 2004).
According to Salmi (2009) there are three
main components of world-class institution, such as concentration of talents
(local and international students, faculty and researchers), sufficient funding
(public and private budgets), and favorable governance (autonomy and academic
freedom). Those three elements like important screws of a giant mechanism; they
are interconnected and all together can embody the idea of world-class
university.
World-class university is a
cherished dream of many countries all over the world. Some of them are trying
to upgrade existing institutions, others merge universities in order to create
a strong comprehensive institution, yet others decide to establish a world-class
university from the scratch. In the case of China, the government introduced
two main initiatives in upgrading existing universities to the “world-class”
level. Project 985 and Project 211 aimed to provide Chinese society with high
quality education and research and promote the prestige of the country on
international higher education arena. As the result of financial support and
favorable governance, 9 Chinese universities are became the leading
institutions in the country with high qualified faculty, excellence in research
and internationally recognized status. One of them, Tsinghua University is the
most internationalized university in China, which takes leading positions in Chinese
and global university rankings and accumulates talents from all over the world (Yang, 2011).
Meanwhile, the European countries
are more focusing on institutional merger, as the possibility to create a
strong and comprehensive university. Merger is one of the ways of establishing
world-class universities, as it gives the opportunity to unite leading profile
institutions and create a new university which possesses strengths of previous
institutions, and able to provide high level professional education and
excellent research. The costs are also insufficiently high, which makes this
approach more favorable for governmental budgets. However, the main weakness
can be considered, as the class of institutional cultures and disorganization
at the beginning stage. Thus, it seems to be crucial to ensure the internal
coherence of newly emerged institution. Aalto University is a Finish initiative
to create a world-class university resulted from the merger of Helsinki School
of Economics, University of Art and Design Helsinki and Helsinki University of
Technology. This institution aims to accumulate the knowledge and experience of
leading profile universities and bring radical changes to the Finish system of
higher education, consequently, facilitate the process of educational reform and
promote finish education on the global arena (Cremonini, Westerheijden, Benneworth, & Dauncey, 2014)
Alternative way, which is chosen by
many developing countries, is to establish a world-class university from the
scratch. It is probably the most expansive approach, but the same time the most
convenient from the reformation point of view. Nazarbayev University is an
excellent example of governmental initiative to create a new and unique university
for Kazakhstani higher education system, which aims to become a world-class
institution and facilitate the process of socio-economic development of the
country (Abazov, 2011). Nazarbayev University is established as the benchmark,
which aims to achieve excellence in research and concentrate knowledge and
experience, which then can be transferred to the mainstream higher education
institutions in Kazakhstan. As the result, the possible “domino effect” is
highly emphasized by institutional and governmental authorities.
So far, it is hard to evaluate the
necessity and outcomes of the world-class universities, due to the relative
novelty and differences in national contexts. However, it is vital to assess the
value of those institutions for overall education system development, as the main raison d’être of world-class universities can be considered as being the agents of educational reforms and facilitators of overall socio-economic and innovative-industrial development of the country. In this regard, the question, which is commonly
raised both by opponents and proponents of the “world-class” concept - “What is the real added value of world-class universities?
Whether they are pursuing their own institutional benefits or able to produce
greater public benefits?” remains unanswered.
References
Abazov, R. (2011, April 13). Kazakhstan Takes
Universities Global (13 April 2011). Central
Asia-Caucasus Institute Analyst.
Retrieved May 01, 2015 from <http://cacianalyst.org/?q=node/5534>.
Altbach, P. (2004). Costs and benefits of world-class universities. Academe, 90(1), 20-23.
Cremonini,
L., Westerheijden, D. F., Benneworth, P., & Dauncey, H. (2014). In the
Shadow of Celebrity? World-Class
University Policies and Public Value in Higher Education. Higher education policy, 27(3), 341-361.
Salmi, J. (2009). The
challenge of establishing world-class universities. Washington: World Bank Publications.
Yang, R.
(2011). Advanced global strategy in China: The case of Tsinghua. In S.
Marginson, S. Kaur,
& E. Sawir (Eds.), Higher
education in the Asia-Pacific: Strategic responses to globalization (pp.
143-159). Dordrecht: Springer.
