Citizenship and the Shifting Values of Vietnam's Higher Education: Perspectives of Vietnamese Overseas-Educated Academics and University Leaders

Introduction

Vietnam’s shift to market-based economies have led to dynamic economic growth in the last four decades. Along with this shift, the state aims to reform higher education in order to improve quality of education and equip students to participate in the local and global labour markets (Pham & Fry 2004). In 2005, Education Law and Higher Education Reform Agenda (HERA) was implemented alongside the Strategies for Socio-Economic Development (2010-2020) in order to support socioeconomic development and facilitate international trades (Hayden & Lam 2010). The focus on integration into the global economy, a key element of Vietnam’s Doi Moi (Renovation) economic reform, has also resulted in strategies of international integration in HERA. The parallel higher education reform with market-based economic reform and international integration led to a regulatory framework for foreign cooperation and investment in Vietnam’s education and training.¹ Subsequent to gaining membership with the World Trade Organisation in 2007, and compliance with the General Agreement on Trade in Services, numerous Western universities were able to enter Vietnam to provide educational services for profit (Fry, 2009; MOET, 2013). HERA also created incentives for sending students and academics abroad ², which has resulted in significant increase of students studying abroad in the last two decades (from 1,139 students in 1999 to 130,000 in 2016 (VIED 2017)).

The assumptions underpinning this shift in Vietnamese higher education are threefold. First, there are shared values among students, parents, universities, employers, and the state about universities’ role in knowledge production and transfer for the economy. Second, university leaders, staff, and students have the capacity to engage in the reformed teaching and learning processes and acquire necessary knowledge and skills to meet the demands of this new knowledge economy. Third, universities can foster an enabling culture for transformative practices that HERA envisions. However, literature on Vietnamese higher education reform and internationalisation has consistently pointed out numerous challenges relating to these assumptions. There are issues of the quality control of transnational programs as a result of institutional issues including lack of funding, lack of autonomy, lack of staff capacity, lack of infrastructure, lack of commitment to international partnerships, and a lack of knowledge about international networks (Vi, 2004; Nguyen et al., 2016; Vi, 2004). Other issues relate to foreign programs’ effectiveness due to lack of consideration for local, historical, social, and cultural dimensions in Vietnamese educational context (Nguyen & Tran, 2018). Brain drain remains a pertinent issue (Tran, 2014; Nguyen, 2011; Tran, 2014). Although increased employability has been reported as impact of studying abroad for returnees (Mellors-Bournes et al., 2014; Pham, 2014), studies also point to cultural shocks and lack of opportunities to apply research or technical knowledge and skills (Pham, 2019).

This chapter aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of Vietnamese overseas-educated academics about HERA through the lens of citizenship. Citizenship is defined by Marshall (1950) as equality of membership, participation, and status or standing of individuals with a bounded realm. It is a useful concept since responsibilities and citizenry underpins the mission of HERA in development of human resources for the knowledge economy. Citizenship has application to individuals and the institutions because the latter is the community in which the individuals operate, create and maintain. In the context of Vietnam’s higher educational reform, or for any higher education system with similar trajectory of development, to understand whether universities are serving the needs of the people and the country, we must ask the question about how university academics see themselves as part of that reform.