U.S. and Non-U.S. Scholars

Fulbright New Century Scholars Program
Overview • Previous NCS Programs • NCS Scholar List • NCS Brochure • 2007-2008

Welch, Anthony

• Professor
  
• University of Sydney
  
• Faculty of Education and Social Work
  
• Australia

Anthony Welch was, until recently, Head, School of Policy and Practice, within the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, but has also worked at other universities in Australia and abroad. He is both a policy specialist, researching both national and international educational reforms and practice, (mostly in Higher Education), and a specialist in cross-cultural analysis and research, with extensive experience in many countries, including the Asia Pacific region. His more than 100 publications include numerous works on practical reform and policy issues within the SE Asian region, as well as other parts of the world.

He holds an M.A., and Ph. D. from the University of London, has lectured widely and/or researched at universities in the USA, UK, Japan, Korea, France, China, Taiwan and Germany, and is the author and/or editor of numerous books, some of which have been translated into eight major European and Asian languages. Professor Welch has consulted to federal government departments in Australia, Japan, Korea, within Europe and the USA, and to UNDP and the Commonwealth of Learning. His significant project experience includes work in China, Taiwan and Viet Nam, as well as other parts of SE Asia.

He is currently the recipient of an Australian Research Council Grant for a project titled The ‘Chinese Knowledge Diaspora’, and has previously been a fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) [1993], a Visiting Professor at the University of Georgia (UGA) (1988), the University of London (1982), the Institut National de Recherche Pedagogie (2002) and the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (and DAAD Fellow) in 1997 and 2001.

Selected Publications

• Connell, R., Welch, A., (et al) 2006 Education, Change and Society. Oxford University Press.
• Welch, A., (2006) Konkurrennzkultur: Internationalisierung, Studentenströme, und Globalisierung des Australischen Hochschulsystem. Fuchs, E., und Drewek, P,. (Hg.), Internationalisierung von Bildung und Erziehung: Institutionen, Diskurse und Transfers (Ergon Verlag: Würzburg,).
• (Ed.) 2005 The Professoriate; Profile of a Profession. (Amsterdam, Springer/Kluwer)
• The Minnow and the Whale. Singapore China Relations in Higher Education in the GATS Era’, International Higher Education, Winter 2007.
• ‘L’Internationalisation des Universites Australienne, et de la Crise Mondiale’ Revue Francaise de Pedagogie, 146, (special issue on Internationalisation of H/Ed). 2004

The Implications for Access and Equity, of the Growth in Private Higher Education in SE Asia

My current research focuses on the implications for access and equity of current reforms in higher education in Southeast Asia, one of the most dynamic and diverse world regions. As indicated in the fuller proposal, each of the five nations to be studied faces a swiftly changing set of circumstances, both domestic and international, that on the one hand reinforce the importance of higher education reforms, while at the same time, making it difficult for each nation to achieve its goals (often quite ambitious). A key contemporary dilemma forms a major focus of my ongoing research: the changing balance and blurring borders of public and private higher education. This complex balancing act is a major issue for each of the five systems of higher education, with important implications for access and equity.  Inequalities have been a factor in access and equity in higher education in each of the five nations of SE Asia. For example, in Vietnam, rural-urban differences have long been significant, despite policies to mitigate their effects. Equally, poorer students in the Philippines have often been limited to either low-quality (but cheaper) private HEIs, with luckier ones gaining access to better quality public institutions. In several of the five systems, higher quality private HEIs have traditionally been particularly inaccessible to the poor, offering only a handful of scholarships.

My research objectives are to analyze in detail how key contemporary reforms of both public and private higher education, and associated national and institutional policies, impact access and equity. Relevant examples include the trend by public HEIs to become more entrepreneurial, in at least two ways. First, many have increased their fees, especially in high demand areas, such as technology, business and IT, and languages (particularly English). Secondly, pushed by increasing competition, and the gap between increasing demand for higher education, and the increasing inability of government budgets to cope with this demand, the introduction by public HEIs of ‘extension courses’ will be analyzed. Often of dubious quality, but with lower fees and entry standards, these are often not accepted for employment purposes by the important public sector. The implications for the professoriate, and for students, will also be treated within the analysis.