The influence of the market on curricular provision by higher education institutions in Mongolia

This thesis examines the changes in Mongolian higher education in the context of the market and to assess their influence on institutions of higher education, in particular on curricular provision at undergraduate level. There is a sufficient number of theoretical as well as empirical research studies and publications on market-oriented or marketised higher education systems, but the literature reveals that there has been little research specifically addressing the effect of the market on undergraduate curricular provision. In the context of post-communist countries, there is also scant research that addressed the issues that arose in undergraduate provision during the transition period. Employing a multiple case study as a methodological approach, this thesis engages with Clark’s (1983:142) concept of ‘the triangle of coordination’ with, the three elements of coordination - state, market and academe -, and Jongbloed’s (2003) model of ‘the eight conditions for a market’ for higher education institutions. It shows what the nature of changes in Mongolian HE is since the first new democratic Education Law that set the foundation of market practices in higher education, how they came about and what the causes were, in order to understand the influence of this context on the provision. Through the thematic analysis of interviews and document review, the study shows how the higher education reform policy has been interpreted and implemented at the institutional level, and how this context has influenced undergraduate curricular provision. The study finds that, for Mongolian universities, academic programmes were the core factor in the increase of financial resources, consumer attraction and an institution’s reputation. There were two distinctive phenomena in terms of curricular responsiveness. One was the emergence of a wide range of new courses and new fields. The other was conceptual changes in delivering knowledge. The findings of causes for opening new fields were important as these illustrated the strength of the influence over undergraduate provision by either state or market.