An Overview of Vietnam He

An Overview of Vietnamese Higher Education in the Era of Globalization: Opportunities and Challenges Luu Nguyen Quoc Hung Can Tho University, Vietnam Abstracts Globalization is a multifaceted process with economic, social, political and cultural implications for higher education. In Viet Nam, the phenomenon of globalization has both brought out opportunities and posed the country numerous challenges for the past few years. This article reviews major concepts of globalization with the focus on opportunities and challenges posed by this process for the current Vietnamese higher education system. Introduction Viet Nam has entered the new millennium with the emergence of a new era: the era of globalization, which has dramatically transformed world trade, communications and economic relations since the late twentieth century, and is increasingly having profound influence on education at the start of the twenty-first century. This new phenomenon of globalization has both provided great opportunities and posed new challenges for school leaders and their staff in different aspects of education. To survive and succeed in the new era, educational administrators in general and higher education leaders in particular are required to recognize their institutional strengths and weaknesses, to identify vital changes in the new environment, and most importantly, to manage these changes strategically and effectively. Globalization: A glimpse of the process The phenomenon of globalization can be interpreted differently in different situations. From an economic viewpoint, globalization means ‘a process of increasing involvement in international business operations’ (Saee 2005). From a sociological perspective, globalization is conceived as ‘a more pervasive force throughout the world’ (Saee 2005). Saee (2005) also commented, ‘globalization occurs when the constraints of geography on social and cultural arrangements recede as people around the world become increasingly aware that they

References: Altbach, P. G. (2004). Globalization and the University: Myths and Realities in an Unequal World. Boston, Boston College. Atkinson, R. C. (2001). The Globalization of the University, viewed 30 July 2006, . Bloom, D. E. (2002). Mastering Globalization: From Ideas to Action on Higher Education Reform. Harvard, Harvard University. Egron-Polak (2002). Universities in the New Global Economy - Actors or Spectators?, viewed 30 July 2006, Fullan, M. (1993). Change Forces: Probing the Depths of Educational Reform. Levittown: The Farmer Press. Ginkel, H. v. (2002). What does Globalization mean for Higher Education, viewed 01 July 2006, . Hallinger, P. (1998). Educational change in Southeast Asia: The challenge of creating learning systems. Journal of Educational Administration, 36(5), 492-509. King, R. (1995). What is higher education for? Strategic dilemmas for the twenty-first century university. Quality Assurance in Education, 3(4), 14-20. Marquardt, M. and N. O. Berger (2003). The Future: Globalization and New Roles for HRD. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 5(3), 283-295. Montez, J. (2004). Pursuing Excellence in Higher Education: Eight Fundamental Challenges. Review of Higher Education, 27(4), 586-587 Nguyen, V. T. (2000). Recent Reform in Vietnamese Higher Education. Journal of the Faculty of Education, 28(2). Saee, J. (2005). Managing Organizations in a Global Economy: An Intercultural Perspective. Ohio: Thomson-South-Western. Uvalic-Trumbic, S. (2003). Higher Education in a Globalized Society: UNESCO Education Position Paper, viewed 25 July 2006, . VNEconomy (2004). Higher education reform crucial if VN to progress: Deputy PM, viewed 25 July 2006, .