Privatization
Privatization in higher education extends beyond the growth of private institutions. This theme examines privatization as a spectrum, from the expansion and diversification of private institutions to the "privatization" of public universities and the increasingly blurred boundary between the two sectors.
1.
Growth and emerging institutional models: How has private higher education evolved in Vietnam and across Asia? What typologies help us understand institutional diversity? What new institutional forms are emerging? How does Vietnam’s non-public sector compare with developments elsewhere in the region?
2.
Public-private dynamics and policies: How do public and private sectors interact - through competition, complementarity, or convergence? In what ways are public universities in Vietnam and across Asia adopting market-oriented practices, and how do private universities also make social contributions? How "private" have public universities become in terms of funding, governance, and operations? Where does the meaningful boundary between public and private higher education now lie? Do funding mechanisms, regulatory requirements, and accreditation processes treat public and private institutions equitably? In Vietnam, how has the recent regulatory environment shaped the conditions for private higher education?
3.
Profit, ownership, and quality: What are the implications of different ownership and revenue models for institutional mission and sustainability? How do different ownership models shape student outcomes? How do regulatory frameworks address the tension between profit and quality?
4.
Quality, accountability, and accreditation: How do private institutions demonstrate and assure quality? How do accreditation systems function across different Asian contexts? What tensions arise between regulatory compliance and institutional autonomy? How are Vietnam's evolving quality assurance frameworks shaping private institutions?
5.
Equity and access: Does private higher education expand or constrain access for underserved populations, and what are its implications for social (in)equality, particularly in contexts like Vietnam? What role do scholarships, financial aid, and government subsidies play? How does privatization intersect with socioeconomic stratification across Asian countries?
Internationalization
Internationalization has moved well beyond student mobility to encompass an increasingly diverse array of forms - transnational programs, English-medium instruction, international branch campuses, international joint/binational universities, and the cross-border circulation of academic norms, curricula, and quality frameworks. Asia is at the center of these developments, both as the world’s largest source region for internationally mobile students and as a rapidly growing destination and host. This theme examines the strategies, patterns, and consequences of internationalization across Asian higher education systems, and the ways in which it intersects with privatization and local institutional contexts.
1.
Strategies, motivations, and the role of private higher education: How do internationalization strategies - including student mobility patterns - differ between public and private institutions in Vietnam and across Asia? How do private institutions leverage international partnerships, foreign curricula, or global branding as competitive strategies? How are Vietnamese universities (re)positioning themselves in regional and global higher education markets?
2.
Language policies and English-medium instruction: The expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI) has become one of the most visible dimensions of internationalization across Asia. Vietnam's recent policy to position English as a second language marks a significant shift, while other ASEAN countries navigate their own approaches to multilingualism and English adoption in higher education. How does EMI reshape access, pedagogy, and student experience — and for whom? How do national language policies interact with internationalization strategies, and what can comparative perspectives across ASEAN and broader Asia reveal about effective and equitable approaches?
3.
Internationalization of curriculum and pedagogy: Beyond mobility, how are teaching, learning, and curriculum being internationalized? What does “internationalization at home” look like in Vietnam and across Asia? How are institutions adapting program design and pedagogical approaches to integrate international perspectives, knowledge, and competencies into their curricula? What are the equity implications of these reforms — who benefits, who might be left behind, and under what conditions?
4.
Regional dynamics and emerging models: How do regional frameworks (ASEAN, bilateral agreements) and geopolitical considerations shape internationalization patterns, cross-border education, and student mobility across Asia? Is there an emerging “Asian” model of internationalization distinct from Western paradigms? How do regional cooperation and competition coexist in shaping cross-border academic exchange? What role does Vietnam play as both a traditional sending country and an emerging destination for international students and transnational programs?
5.
Internationalization policies: How do national and institutional policies facilitate or constrain internationalization? How do regulatory environments shape the conditions under which institutions - public and private - pursue internationalization? How do current geopolitical complexities affect internationalization strategies, and how might institutions and systems navigate these challenges?
Graduate Employability
Graduate employability serves as the lens through which the consequences of privatization and internationalization come into focus. But employability itself is being redefined. The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is reshaping labor markets, displacing certain occupations, and calling into question the value of certain fields of study. At the same time, competencies such as creativity, critical thinking, digital and AI literacy, and the broad capacities cultivated through liberal arts education are increasingly emphasized as essential for navigating an uncertain and automated future. This theme invites contributions that examine graduate employability not only as a product of institutional type and internationalization strategy, but also in light of evolving labor market demands, technological disruption, and shifting conceptions of what higher education should prepare graduates to do and to be.
1.
Private higher education and labor market outcomes: How do privatization and internationalization shape what is taught and whether it aligns with labor market demands? Are private and/or internationalized institutions more responsive to employer needs, or do they reproduce existing mismatches? Do graduates of private institutions face different employment prospects than their public-sector counterparts? How do employers perceive private higher education credentials? What strategies do private institutions adopt to enhance their graduates’ competitiveness?
2.
Internationalization and employability: Does international experience - study abroad, transnational programs, English-medium instruction - translate into better employment outcomes, and for whom, and in which labor markets? How do internationally oriented graduates navigate both local and global employment landscapes?
3.
Quality assurance and accreditation as tools for graduate outcomes: How do quality assurance frameworks and accreditation systems track and ensure graduate outcomes? To what extent are outcome-based approaches to education embedded in quality assurance processes across Asian higher education systems? How effective are these mechanisms in holding institutions - public and private - accountable for what their graduates know and can do?
4.
Creativity, digital and AI literacy, and future-ready competencies: How are higher education institutions in Vietnam and across Asia responding to the growing demand for creativity, critical thinking, and digital and AI literacy? As AI increasingly affects occupations and transforms labor markets, how should curricula evolve? What role do liberal arts education and interdisciplinary approaches play in cultivating competencies that remain difficult to automate?
5.
Rethinking employability beyond employment rates: What broader conceptions of employability - including career readiness, entrepreneurship, civic engagement, and lifelong learning - are relevant in the context of privatized, internationalized, and increasingly AI-disrupted higher education systems? How should we move beyond conventional metrics to capture the full range of outcomes that higher education enables? How do credential value, social perception, and prestige hierarchies shape graduate opportunities across Asian labor markets?
