Asia University Rankings 2022: a pause for reflection

View the THE Asia University Rankings 2022 results

Much commentary on Asian higher education is focused on its rise, and there have been some phenomenal developments, including extraordinary achievements in research and growing higher education enrolment rates.

But one area that perhaps has not yet lived up to high expectations in the short term is its progress on international student recruitment.

While experts had predicted that the pandemic might accelerate East Asia’s emergence as a regional higher education hub, lingering border restrictions and geopolitical tensions mean that it might be some time before the continent becomes a serious competitor to major English-speaking nations in the West. It is an issue we explore in our main analysis, with one scholar suggesting that it might be 20 years before we see any significant increase in intra-Asian higher education mobility.

Asia University Rankings 2022: results announced

One country that has long struggled with internationalisation is Japan. In an interview with Times Higher Education, the president of Tohoku University explains how he is trying to make his institution more friendly to foreign faculty.

Analysis of the data behind our Asia University Rankings suggests that his insights could be useful to leaders in many parts of the region. According to our figures, Chinese universities’ main weakness is international outlook, while India also struggles in this area – although the latter nation has a clear plan to improve this via its National Education Policy. Meanwhile, internationalisation is a relative strength for institutions in Saudi Arabia, a country that is also growing in research prominence.

Elsewhere, some nations are prioritising challenges that are closer to home. Choltis Dhirathiti, executive director of the Asean University Network, argues that universities in the region should double down on more fundamental issues relating to the quality of teaching and research in order to “catch up” with institutions in the West, while the president of Mahidol University is focusing on nurturing academic talent and introducing more flexible education in a bid to attract a wider pool of largely domestic students.

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com

Countries/regions represented in the Asia University Rankings 2022