Prof. Glen Jones (OISE)
“Relative Autonomy” and the Governance of Public Universities: A Canadian Perspective

Professor Glen Jones
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
May 12, 2023 (Friday)
4:00 – 5:15pm (HKT)
Room 408-410, Meng Wah Complex, HKU / by Zoom
Chair: Dr Jisun Jung
Online Registration:
https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_regform.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=87519
(The zoom link will be sent by e-mail upon registration)
Abstract:
Governance has become a key area of scholarship within the study of higher education, in part because major reforms in many jurisdictions have led to dramatic shifts in power and authority within higher education systems and institutions. One way of understanding governance reforms is through the lens of relative autonomy, that is, the frequently contested balance between the need for universities to retain elite decision structures that protect academic freedom and judgement while also, as public institutions, responding to external stakeholders in order to maintain the trust of governments and the society in which they function. Findings from two recent studies of university governance in Canada will be presented in order to illuminate the ways in which this relative autonomy has been maintained, but also the contemporary challenges and tensions associated with governance arrangements in this national context.
About the speaker:
Glen Jones is the Ontario Research Chair on Postsecondary Education Policy and Measurement, the Director of the Centre for the Study of Canadian and International Higher Education, Professor of Higher Education, and former Dean, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. His research focuses on higher education governance, policy and academic work, and he has published more than 100 papers in the field of higher education. His recent books include Governance of Higher Education: Global Perspectives, Theories and Practices (Routledge, 2016, with Ian Austin), Doctoral Education for the Knowledge Society (Springer, 2018, with J.C. Shin and Barbara Kehm), Professorial Pathways: Academic Careers in Global Perspective (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019, with Martin Finkelstein), International Education as Public Policy in Canada (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2020, with Merli Tamtik and Roopa Desai Trilokekar), Universities and the Knowledge Society: The Nexus of National Systems of Innovation and Higher Education (Springer, 2021, with Timo Aarrevaara, Martin Finkelstein, and Jisun Jung), University Governance in Canada: Navigating Complexity (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022, with Julia Eastman, Claude Trottier, and Olivier Bégin-Caouette) and Internationalization and the Academic Profession: Comparative Perspectives (Springer, 2023, with Alper Calikoglu and Yangson Kim).
~ All are welcome ~
For enquiries, please contact the Office of Research, Faculty of Education at hkchow@hku.hk
Prof. William Kirby (Harvard)
Empires of Ideas: Will China Overtake America in Higher Education? What may this mean for Hong Kong and HKU?
Time: 16:30 – 17:45, April 17, 2023 (Monday, HKT)
Venue: Room 206, Runme Shaw Building, HKU
Chair: Professor Gerard Postiglione (HKU)
Please, click here to start your registration
CERC & CHERA Joint Online Seminar
From a PhD experience to a PhD “publish or perish” experience in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau: a concerning trend for current PhD education and for future science and academia
Date: February 16, 2023 (Thursday) (Hong Kong Time)
Time: 17:00 – 18:30
Format: Zoom
Chair: Nutsa Kobakhidze Assistant Professor & Director of Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC), HKU
Speakers:
Hugo Horta Associate Professor & Director of the Consortium for Higher Education Research in Asia (CHERA), HKU
Huan Li PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong.
Publication pressure is perceived to be filtering down into doctoral education worldwide. We explore the causes and effects of the perceived centrality of publishing among doctoral students. We find that the credentialisation of publications in the increasingly competitive and publication-dominant academic labour market results in publishing-centred doctoral journeys. We emphasise the need for a more comprehensive evaluation of candidates’ abilities and honours in academic recruitment and call for policies to curtail the overemphasis on research output in academic evaluations.