160
The findings of this study reveal that HER in Hong Kong is partially able to con-
nect with a larger research community without losing touch with the local commu-
nity. This “walking on two legs” approach may demonstrate the idea of “anchoring
globalization” (Postiglione 2013 ) and provides a conceptual framework for concur-
rent engagement at the local, national, and global levels. Importantly, although HER
in Hong Kong cannot become fundamentally translocal or transnational in the cur-
rent phase, the special historical background of the city-state allows it to be more
easily relaxed from the state-centric perspective.^6 This constitutes an argument that
a cosmopolitan turn can exist in the dynamics and transformations of the research
community on higher education in Hong Kong and in turn develop a cosmopolitan
vision in the higher education sector.
Notes
- According to Tight ( 2004 ), two major approaches are used in HER: the policy
approach and the teaching and learning approach (also see Horta and Jung 2014 ). - An increasing integration and interdependence of socioeconomic domains is
found between Hong Kong and mainland China during the post-1997 era. - The authors wish to thank Anatoly Oleksiyenko, Lina Vyas, and Shuangye Chen
for the information on the recent developments of HER at their universities. - In this study, local researchers on higher education refer to higher education
researchers who have affiliations with HEIs or other organizations in Hong
Kong. - These eight public HEIs, which are funded by the government through the UGC,
form the core part of the higher education system in Hong Kong. - Beck ( 2003 ) noted that cosmopolitanization refers to a transformation process
with which all social development would become fundamentally transnational.
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