Focus on: Vietnam
Opportunities and Challenges for UK Business Schools
Wednesday 26 September, University of Liverpool in London
Focus on: Vietnam examines the opportunities of the rapidly growing Vietnamese market for UK business schools.
Designed for senior business school staff considering starting or developing business Vietnam, this workshop will focus on:
- key requirements for working in Vietnam
- the options for partnership working
- international student recruitment
- pedagogy and learning styles
- culture and social differences and their impact
The sharing of detailed business school case studies of successful working in Vietnam will be an important part of the day. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the practical challenges they are facing of working in the country, and network with others hoping to work in the region.
Confirmed speakers include:
Danny Whitehead, Acting Country Director In Vietnam, British Council
Danny has worked in the fields of international education, development, and cultural relations for over twenty years in Asia and Africa, primarily in Southeast Asia. Danny’s academic interests are in education and culture for development, and sociolinguistics.
Lien Ta, Senior Education Services Manager, British Council Vietnam.
Lien leads the provision of education marketing services for UK institutions in Vietnam market. Lien has been working for British Council since 2006 in the position of Education Marketing Manager. Before joining the British Council, Lien worked for a trading joint-venture between Vietnam and Singapore, and then as Marketing Manager for an US-invested education project. Lien has a bachelor degree from Foreign Trade University Vietnam.
09:30 Registration and refreshments
10:00 Chair’s welcome
Professor Martin Broad, Head, Southampton Business School and Chair, Chartered ABS International Committee
10:10 Focus on Vietnam-UK education cooperation
Mrs Tran Huong Ly, First Secretary and Education Counsellor, Embassy of Vietnam
This session will give an overview of Vietnam education, Vietnamese strategy priorities in foreign investment in education, the opportunities the country offers to UK schools and the benefits UK institutions can bring to Vietnam. Also included will be some key points about the Vietnamese regulatory environment for transnational education, including legal frameworks.
10:50 Managing business school partnerships in Vietnam
Aisling Conboy, International Higher Education Specialist, Education Team, Department for International Trade
11:30 Coffee
11:55 Student recruitment and partnership opportunities in Vietnam
Danny Whitehead, Acting Country Director Vietnam, British Council
Lien Ta, Senior Education Services Manager, British Council Vietnam
This session will provide an overview on current education policy priorities and trends, the international education landscape, and UK recruitment and partnership development in Vietnam. Also included will be some examples of successful partnerships being seen on the ground by the British Council.
12:50 Lunch
13:50 Case studies
- Exploring different opportunities for a business school in Vietnam
Professor Martin Broad, Head, Southampton Business School
Whether one is looking for international students to study in the UK on taught or research programmes, a research partner is sought for funded projects or an option is being explored to join with a reputable HEI in Vietnam for programme delivery, some of the experiences of doing so will be explored in this session, for which an experiential reflection will be the focus.
- Lessons from Ha Long Bay: field research and cooperation in Vietnam
Dr Mark Hampton, Director of Internationalisation for Social Sciences, University of Kent and Reader in Tourism Management, Kent Business School
As a rapidly growing economy, Vietnam provides excellent opportunities for applied research. This session shares some lessons from a funded joint research project where the University of Kent partnered with a leading Vietnamese university, VNU Hanoi, to examine the impacts of international tourism in Ha Long Bay, the country’s premier destination.
- Partnership working with Vietnamese institutions
Odette Hutchinson, Director of International Programmes and Reader in Legal Education, Aston Business School
This case study session will provide an overview of Aston University’s current partnership initiatives working with Vietnamese institutions across the higher education sector. In particular it will consider some of the cultural and educational challenges presented by transnational education activity together with strategies for meeting those challenges.
15:00 Discussion in groups on business schools working in Vietnam and how to tackle the challenges and find solutions
15:40 Feedback session
15:50 Closing remarks
16:00 Close
This event is suitable for any business school staff with a professional interest in Vietnam, experience of the area, or interest in expanding their school's business or education offering abroad.
The event will also be particularly suitable for anyone who works in the following positions:
- Associate Deans (International);
- Directors of Internationalisation;
- Heads of International;
- Heads of Recruitment and Recruitment Managers;
- Marketing Directors and Managers
Other speakers include:
- Professor Martin Broad, Head, Southampton Business School and Chair, Chartered ABS International Committee
- Aisling Conboy, International Higher Education Specialist, Education Team, Department for International Trade
- Mrs Tran Huong Ly, First Secretary and Education Counsellor, Embassy of Vietnam
- Dr Mark Hampton, Director of Internationalisation for Social Sciences, University of Kent and Reader in Tourism and Management, Kent Business School
- Odette Hutchinson, Director of International Programmes, Aston Business School
If you have any questions about the event, wish to keep informed about our international workshops, or have any recommendations for our Focus On event series, just get in touch with Gail Norcliffe at gail.norcliffe@charteredabs.org
