Tram Ninh

“I have the research interest in the politics of education, in which I pay much attention to education governance, policies, and reforms – especially in higher education.

My current dissertation topic is on ”Ideology and transformation in higher education governance in Vietnam: Path dependency and path transformation.” The research investigates the institutional autonomy policy thread in Vietnam to give an insight into the interplay and complex influences of three institutional logics of Confucianism, socialism, and neoliberalism in the transformation of higher education governance in the country. In following this policy thread, I take into account the impacts of path dependency that Confucianism and socialism create, which limit and lead to uncertainty in further institutional changes. At the same time, I track continuous politicization and gradual modification in implementing institutional autonomy. The aim is to realize the forming of auxiliary motives and transformative agency, which helps to break path dependency and enable fundamental transformation.”