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A key feature in regionalization of higher education research, however, can be
seen in its strong comparative nature with the regionalization of European higher
education. The influence of European higher education developments can be seen in
Australia’s Brisbane Communiqué and SEAMEO-RIHED’s harmonization of
Southeast Asian higher education, which actually includes a number of East Asian
countries. During the period 2015–2018, AUN and its EU SHARE European part-
ners will be significantly contributing to research and evolution of the regionaliza-
tion of higher education in Asia. As such, it has a strong regional comparative nature
and a strong involvement of regional, interregional, and Asian higher education
scholars (including those based outside the region), and it supports the need for
empirical policy-related research required by the key drivers for the regionalization
of higher education in Asia.
Conclusion
Regionalization of higher education in Asia research is a relatively new research
area which started in the early to mid-2000s and evolved from simple to complex
interdisciplinary themes which evolved from higher education issues within Asia as
a geographic boundary to the process, power asymmetries, and policy borrowing,
transfer, and mobility within regionalization of higher education in Asia. Although
the establishment of global markets for goods and services and the commodification
of higher education formed the foundation, the regionalization of higher education
in Asia required the maturity of Asian regionalism and was deeply influenced by
developments in the regionalization of European higher education.
This chapter has presented and analyzed selected literature on Asian regionalism
and regionalization of higher education in Asia, and mapped the latter into Knight’s
functional, organizational and political approaches to regionalization of higher edu-
cation. In the process, it has shown and argued that there exists a regionalization of
higher education in Asia research community, which should be seen as a subgenre
of the higher education research community in Asia. Members of this community
include academic researchers/scholars, policy researchers, regional and interre-
gional organizations, and their affiliates located within and outside Asia. In spite of
its recent existence, the regionalization of higher education in Asia research com-
munity provides significant contribution to empirical research required by policy
makers and, at times, provides alternatives for Asian hybrid of regionalization of
higher education based on Asian values, culture, and practices.
A path dependency based on the region’s historical developments, the evolution
of Asian regionalism, and the negotiations between key actors is apparent in the
regionalization of higher education in Asia. Starting the mid-2000s, key actors
including SEAMEO-RIHED and Australia, through APEC, have significantly
pushed and influenced the regionalization project. In fact, the relevant themes in
regionalization of higher education in Asia research are influenced by contemporary
developments in regionalization of higher education in Asia and a number of other
R.Y. Chao Jr.