Beyond neo-liberalism: Higher education diploma inflation in Taiwan.

Abstract

This paper asserts that neo-liberalist thought has played a profound role in explaining the expansion of higher educational institutions in recent years in Taiwan, and Taiwan has encountered resulting challenges, with an oversupply of diplomas compared to demand. By adopting neo-liberalism as a theoretical approach, this study examines the discourse and legitimization underlying higher education evolution in Taiwan. The rise of neo-liberal thought has accelerated the expansion of a number of universities, but neither neo-liberal thought nor neo-liberalism itself can satisfy the need to explain the changes taking place in the higher education market, especially the value of obtaining a higher education degree in a modernizing society. Therefore, this paper argues that alternative ideologies, for example Post-Fordism and state commercialism should become influential ideologies for managing higher education institutions.