Vice-President, Lingnan University
Professor Joshua Mok Ka Ho is the Vice-President and concurrently Lam Man Tsan Chair Professor of Comparative Policy of Lingnan University. Professor Mok is no narrow disciplinary specialist but has worked creatively across the academic worlds of sociology, political science, and public and social policy while building up his wide knowledge of China and the region. In addition, Professor Mok has published extensively in the fields of comparative education policy, comparative development and policy studies, and social development in contemporary China and East Asia. In particular, he has contributed to the field of social change and education policy in a variety of ways, not the least of which has been his leadership and entrepreneurial approach to the organisation of the field.
In recent decades, higher education institutions around the globe have been under pressure for performance evaluations. One major performance review is closely related to graduate employment, higher education management is under intensified pressure for preparing their graduates for the highly competitive labour markets. Meanwhile, higher education institutions have confronted with the growing pressure for global rankings, which have adversely affected student learning when academics are chasing rankings and citations without caring student learning. This keynote presentation critically reflects upon the role of higher education against the context of the growing influences of neo-liberalism and geo-politics on higher education management. The importance of higher education is not only for job preparation for university graduates but nurturing young generation with cross-cultural understanding, empowering them to become caring citizens adaptive to the uncertain futures. This keynote presentation will share Lingnan University experiences with highlights of the importance of comparative and international perspectives for student learning.