16
Introduction
The volume of both national and international higher-education research published
in international journals is increasing (Tight 2004 ). The growing interest in higher
education as a subject of enquiry has arisen from the central role played by higher
education in knowledge, social, economic and cultural systems in today’s knowl-
edge society (David 2011 ; Shin and Harman 2009 ). Higher-education researchers
have sought answers to a plethora of questions related to higher education that many
governments, families and other stakeholders around the world are interested in
tackling (Altbach et al. 2006 ). In so doing, higher-education researchers are required
to deal with increasingly diverse and complex issues arising from the development
of higher-education systems in the twenty-first century. As a result, a great range of
research themes and topics has been addressed, although a strong emphasis remains
on policy issues, theory and practice and pedagogy (David 2011 ; Tight 2004 ).
Concurrently, higher-education research worldwide has been augmented by the
views and expertise of researchers from various backgrounds, such as scientists,
educators and administrators (Ashwin et al. 2015 ).
Nevertheless, higher-education research remains under-researched (Tight 2004 ).
Dennison ( 1992 ) pointed out with some irony that although higher education has
become a major area of government expenditure and public interest, higher-
education research has received relatively little investment from public sources (i.e.
the government). The development of higher-education research has progressed at
different speeds in different regions of the world, but this variation has also received
limited attention from researchers, international organisations and other stakehold-
ers (Jones 2012 ). Higher-education research communities tend to emerge and
develop when higher-education systems are expanded. In North American and
Western European countries, relatively recognised, competent and engaged higher-
education research communities have been established following the early develop-
ment of higher-education systems. However, in Asia and other regions, researchers
are less engaged with higher education from an international standpoint (Jung and
Horta 2013 ), in part due to the later development of most higher-education systems
in these regions (Jung and Horta 2015 ; Chen and Hu 2012 ).
It is important to assess the development of higher-education research in Asia
for several reasons, of which two are acknowledged to be the most relevant. (1)
Most higher-education systems in Asia are undergoing accelerated massification,
with a speed, breadth and scope never previously attained in any other part of the
world (Shin et al. 2015 ). This process carries with it many of the usual challenges
facing the development of higher-education systems, but also brings to the fore
new challenges created by uncertain, complex and multifaceted trends of globalisa-
tion. (2) In the years to come, higher-education systems in Asia are expected to
account for the largest share of students worldwide. However, Asian governments
are also investing substantially in activities at the top of the higher-education
knowledge pyramid, in Heitor and Horta’s ( 2016 ) words, that is, the academic-
research component of higher-education systems. To increase their countries’ vis-
H. Horta