After massification : the quest for entrepreneurial universities and technological advancement in Taiwan

In order to enhance its national competitiveness in the global market place, the Taiwan government has followed the US model by expanding the higher education sector. One strategy is to expand new private universities to meet the pressing demand for higher education among secondary school graduates. In the last two decades, more than 160 universities (both national and private) have been established in Taiwan, resulting in a rate of enrolment increase of nearly 100 per cent. Although this strategy has increased the supply of higher education, people in Taiwan have begun to question both the quality of graduates and the ‘over supply’ of graduates entering the labour market. This article examines how universities in Taiwan have attempted to enhance their global and regional competitiveness through advancing research, development and innovation against the context of massification of higher education. The article also reflects upon the policy implications after higher education has massively expanded in Taiwan in the last few decades.