Macau higher education expansion in flux: a critical spatial perspective

ABSTRACT

In the former Portuguese colony, Macau, higher education is gaining more importance in the post-1999 era in local talent-building and regional integration to safeguard its socioeconomic sustainability. This paper is based on a recent and ‘innovative’ development in the arena of higher education in the territory, a creation of new space in mainland China for a local public university. By adopting a critical spatial perspective, we examine this idiosyncratic Macau model in three aspects: (1) What kind of power/knowledge production occurs in this new creation of space? (2) How does this new space (re)configure Macau higher education development in both local and global contexts? (3) In what ways does this emergent space re-order the relations between the state, society and school? In employing this spatial stance, we aim to open up understanding of how spatiality affects diverse possibilities in the case of Macau, in global higher education movement more broadly.

KEYWORDS:

• Macau
• higher education
• space
• knowledge/power
• governmentality
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The Pearl River Delta Region includes Macau, Hong Kong, and several cities in the Guangdong Province including Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing. 

2 Liang, Q. (2011, 28 March). Early dropouts among macau students. Retrieved from http://mpaper.org/Story.aspx?ID=152857

3 ‘Macau boom poses boon or bane dilemma’, The Straits Times, 30 August 2007, cited in Liu (2008, p. 122).

4 The growth of Hengqin has been slated in the 12th Five-Year Plan of the State Council, which designated the island as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with preferential policies and envisioned it to become a hub for Asian tourism and a number of industries, including education, hi-tech, cultural innovation, healthcare, and financial services. The relocation of the UM new campus onto Hengqin, together with other development initiatives (such as the opening of the marine theme park ‘Chimelong Ocean Kingdom’ in 2014 and the expected completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in 2017), has given the market an extra push, attracting more home buyers from Macau and Hong Kong and driving up housing prices aggressively on the island. See China Insight: Hengqin Home Prices on the Rise. Retrieved from http://www.squarefoot.com.hk/news/400/hengqin-home-prices-on-the-rise/

5 Xi Jinping Visits the University of Macau, Re-emphasizes the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ Model. China News Agency, December 21, 2014. Retrieved from https://tw.news.yahoo.com/習近平訪澳門大學-重申-國兩制-073045666.html

6 UM ranked among world-top 300 universities in Times Higher Education World University Rankings. UM Press Release, October 2, 2014. Retrieved from http://news.umac.mo/nrs/faces/pub/viewItem.jspx?id=29849

7 See the Outlines for the Reform and Development Plan of the Pearl River Delta Region issued by the State Council in 2008. Retrieved from http://www.hengqin.gov.cn/en/index.php/page/dsj

8 Personal correspondence with university staff by the corresponding author.

9 For instance, on 14 January 2016, Times Higher Education (THE) announced the most international universities in the world in 2015–2016, and the University of Macau occupied the sixth on the list. The news received enthusiastic support by the higher administration of UM. See https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/200-most-international-universities-world-2016

10 A radio program broadcast on June 24, 2013 can be accessed through https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evhw9DtWXXg

11 The Residential College System is part of UM's unique 4-in-1 education model, namely the integration of discipline-based education, peer and community education, research and internship education, and general education.

12 Academic staff in the teaching track are given heavier teaching loads and are assessed in terms of lighter researcher assessment criteria, whereas those in the research tracks are required to primarily focus on research publication and to teach fewer courses. Faculty members in the balance track are situated in between the other two tracks, according to the university's internal guidelines.