Special Tea Break Session with Prof. Dr. Miki Sugimura, Sophia University, Japan

Abstract

Global Governance on Higher Education Networks and International Cooperation In the Asia-Pacific Region

Miki Sugimura
Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan

With the progress of internationalization and globalization in higher education, various higher education networks have been formed in multiple layers in the Asia-Pacific region. Such networks stimulate the movement of students, teachers, and researchers. Meanwhile, quality assurance has become a critical issue in the process. Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education came into effect in 2018 under the framework of UNESCO, and UNESCO's Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education (UNGCRQH) was adopted by the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference in 2019. This Global Convention is the first United Nations treaty on higher education. The Global Convention is designed to facilitate international academic mobility and promote the right of individuals to have their higher education qualifications evaluated through fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner. However, this trend raises the question of how global governance works in the presence of various higher education quality assurance networks. In other words, what is the relationship between the various stakeholders that support the network and the global governance?　In response to the above issues raised, this study examines how the global governance in higher education has taken a role in forming higher education networks by analyzing the documents of each network.