Professor Anthony Welch

Professor of Education
Phone
+61 2 9351 3175
Fax
+61 2 9351 4580
Building/Room
Education Building A35 / 307
The University of Sydney
Tony specialises in national and international policy and practice, principally in education, and cross-cultural analysis and research. He has extensive experience in many countries, including in the Asia Pacific, and has published widely, contributing numerous analyses of issues such as cross-cultural interactions; rural education, comparative research methods in education; and practical reform affecting multiculturalism, indigenous minorities, international students, higher education reforms, internationalisation of higher education in the Asia Pacific, and changes to the academic profession.

After working as a school teacher in Australia and the UK, Tony completed both his M.A. and Ph. D. at the University of London. He has been Visiting Professor at universities and think tanks in the US, UK, France, Japan, China and Germany. His work has appeared in numerous languages, including German, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Extensive international contacts with organisations such as the OECD, UNDP, UNESCO, World Bank, ADB, CEDEFOP (Europe), BIBB (Germany), IREDU (France), the Fulbright Commission, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT), has allowed Tony to contribute to major projects and reforms in various parts of the world. He has consulted to governments in Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, and Europe, to foundations in the USA, and to international agencies, principally in the area of higher education reform.

Among other projects, Tony was part of an international team engaged on a major 14-nation study of the academic profession (published in 1996 as The Academic Profession. Portraits from Fourteen Countries). He was recently involved in a multinational study of Academic Salaries, and a major Higher Education project focused on Asia, for the ADB.

Tony was a Fulbright New Century Scholar for 2007–8, in a year devoted to higher education research. He is on the Editorial Board of 10 international journals, and reviews for many more, as well as reviewing book manuscripts for several international publishers, and research proposals for several governments.
Visiting Expert, Zhejiang University, 2019-2020
Visiting Professor, and Tübitak Scholar, COMU and METU, Turkey 2019
Visiting Professor, IPPTN, USM, Malaysia, 2015
Adjunct Professor, Yanbian University, Jilin, China
Australian Research Council (REC) 2012
Fulbright New Century Scholar (2007-8)
DAAD Scholar 1997, 2001, 2009
Visiting Professor, Institut National de Recherche Pedagogie (2002)
Visiting Professor, INRP, Paris, 2001
Visiting Professor, Waseda University, 1997
Visiting Research Fellow, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of TEaching (1997)
Visiting Professor, RIHE, Hiroshima University (2003-4)
Visiting Professor, University of Hong Kong 2010-11, 2012.
National Award for Undergraduate Teaching (1993)
Adjunct Professor, PhD Supervisor, Tianjin University, China.
  • Member of Editorial Board, Higher Education Governance and Policy
  • Associate Editor, Journal of International Education
  • Member of International Advisory Board, Comparative Education (UK)
  • Member of International Editorial Board, Syngritike kai Diethnes Ekpaideftike Epitheorise (Comparative and International Education Review) [Greek-bi-lingual journal]
  • Member of Editorial Board, World Studies in Education
  • Member of Editorial Board, Policy Futures in Education (on-line journal)
  • Member of Editorial Board, Research in Comparative and International Education
  • International Editorial Board Member, Orbis Scholae (Czech Journal of Comparative Education)
  • International Editorial Board Member, (Revista Española de Educación Comparada-R.E.E.C.- (Spanish Journal of Comparative Education). http://www.sc.ehu.es/sfwseec/reec_en.htm
  • Editorial Board Member, Asian Education and Development Studies
  • Member, International Advisory Board, International and Development Education Book Series, Palgrave
  • Board Member, Pittsburgh Studies in Comparative and International Education, Sense Publishers
  • International Editorial Review Board, International Journal of Bias, Identity and Diversities in Education
  • International Advisory Board, Book Series, Education and Development. London, Bloomsbury
Selected Books
  • Welch, A. (2011). Higher Education in Southeast Asia: Blurring borders, changing balance. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis. [More Information].
  • Welch, A., Bagnall, N., Burns, K., Cuervo, H., Foley, D., Groundwater-Smith, S., Harwood, V., Low, R., Mockler, N., Proctor, H., Rawlings, V., Wood, J., et al (2022). Education, change and society (5th edition). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
  • Huang, F., Welch, A. (2021). International Faculty in Asia: In Comparative Global Perspective. Singapore: Springer. [More Information]
  • Welch, A., Li, J. (2021). Measuring Up in Higher Education: How University Rankings and League Tables are Re-shaping Knowledge Production in the Global Era. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Burns, R., Welch, A. (2018). Contemporary perspectives in comparative education (originally published by Garland Publishing in 1992). New York & London: Routledge.
  • Welch, A., Connell, R., Mockler, N., Sriprakash, A., Proctor, H., Hayes, D., Foley, D., Vickers, M., Bagnall, N., Burns, K., Low, R., Groundwater-Smith, S. (2018). Education, Change and Society: Fourth Edition. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
  • Connell, R., Welch, A., Vickers, M., Foley, D., Bagnall, N., Hayes, D., Proctor, H., Sriprakash, A., Campbell, C. (2013). Education, Change and Society: Third Edition. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.
  • Jarvis, D., Welch, A. (2011). ASEAN Industries and the Challenge from China. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
  • Connell, R., Campbell, C., Welch, A., Bagnall, N., Hayes, D., Vickers, M., Foley, D. (2010). Education, Change and Society 2nd Ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia.
  • Connell, R., Campbell, C., Vickers, M., Welch, A., Foley, D., Bagnall, N. (2007). Education, Change and Society. Sydney: University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press.
  • Welch, A. (2005). The Professoriate: Profile of a Profession. Dordrecht: Springer.
  • Mok, K., Welch, A. (2003). Globalization And Educational Restructuring In The Asia Pacific Region. UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Tipton, F., Jarvis, D., Welch, A. (2003). Re-defining the Borders Between Public and Private in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Sydney: The Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific (RIAP).
  • Welch, A. (2000). Third world education: Quality and equality. NY: Routledge.

Selected Book Chapters
  • Welch, A. (2023). Education in South-East Asia: Much achieved, much still to do. In R. Tierney, F. Rizvi & K. Ercikan (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (4th edition), (pp. 419-424). UK: Elsevier. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2023). The China challenge; China's challenges. In R. Tierney, F. Rizvi & K. Ercikan (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (4th edition), (pp. 658-665). UK: Elsevier. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2022). Australia: History versus geography in an evolving national system. In D. Kapur, L. Kong, F. Lo & D. M. Malone (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of higher education in the Asia-Pacific Region, (pp. 735-754). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Hawkins, J., Welch, A. (2022). Education in the Asia-Pacific region: Achievements and challenges. In C. A. Torres, R. F. Arnove & L. I. Misiaszek (Eds.), Comparative education: The dialectic of the global and the local (5th edition), (pp. 395-432). Maryland, USA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  • Welch, A., Aziz, A. (2022). Higher education in Indonesia. In L. P. Symaco & M. Hayden (Eds.), International Handbook on Education in South East Asia. Singapore: Springer.
  • Welch, A. (2022). Technocracy, uncertainty, ethics: Contemporary challenges facing comparative education. In C. A. Torres, R. F. Arnove & L. I. Misiaszek (Eds.), Comparative education: The dialectic of the global and the local (5th edition), (pp. 499-526). Maryland, USA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  • Welch, A. (2021). Audit culture and academic production: Re-shaping Australian social science research output (1993-2013). In A. R. Welch & J. Li (Eds.), Measuring Up in Higher Education: How University Rankings and League Tables are Re-shaping Knowledge Production in the Global Era, (pp. 295-316). Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2021). Conclusion: The Shift to the East, and the Changing Face of Internationalization. In J. Thondhlana et al. (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South, (pp. 148-160). London: Bloomsbury Academic. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2021). In League? The Brave New World of Higher Education: Conclusion. In A. R. Welch & J. Li (Eds.), Measuring Up in Higher Education: How University Rankings and League Tables are Re-shaping Knowledge Production in the Global Era, (pp. 375-386). Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2021). International Academics in Australian Higher Education: People, Process, Paradox. In F. Huang, A. R. Welch (Eds.), International Faculty in Asia: In Comparative Global Perspective, (pp. 115-134). Singapore: Springer. [More Information]
  • Welch, A., Huang, F. (2021). International faculty in higher education - Here to stay? In F. Huang, A. R. Welch (Eds.), International Faculty in Asia: In Comparative Global Perspective. Singapore: Springer.
  • Huang, F., Welch, A. (2021). Introduction to Asia Pacific Chapters. In J. Thondhlana et al. (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South, (pp. 41-47). London: Bloomsbury Academic. [More Information]
  • Huang, F., Welch, A. (2021). Introduction: The international faculty: Changes and realities. In F. Huang, A. R. Welch (Eds.), International Faculty in Asia: In Comparative Global Perspective. Singapore: Springer. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2021). Neoliberalism in Comparative and International Education: Theory, Practice, Paradox. In T. D. Jules, R. Shields, M. A. M. Thomas (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education, (pp. 201-216). London: Bloomsbury. [More Information]

Selected Journal Articles
  • Welch, A. (2022). A plague on higher education? COVID, Camus and Culture Wars in Australian universities. Higher Education Quarterly, 76(2), 213-229. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2022). Australia's China challenge. International Higher Education, 109(Winter), 44-45. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2022). COVID Crisis, Culture Wars and Australian Higher Education. Higher Education Policy, 35(3), 673-691. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2022). Sojourn or stay: International academics and researchers in Australia. International Higher Education, 111(Summer).
  • Welch, A. (2021). Australia-ASEAN relations in higher education: Progress and paradox. Revue Diplomatique, 14, 87-92.
  • Welch, A. (2021). Challenging times for Sino-foreign sci-tech relations. International Higher Education, 105(Winter), 15-17.
  • Post, D., Chou, C., Ishikawa, M., Li, J., Soudien, C., Welch, A. (2021). World class university publication pressure across different systems. International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 10(10), 71-86. [More Information]
  • Welch, A. (2020). Australia's Asia engagement in higher education and research must do better. East Asia Forum: Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific. [More Information]
  • Mok, K., Welch, A., Kang, Y. (2020). Government innovation policy and higher education: The case of Shenzhen, China. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 42(2), 194-212. [More Information]
  • Huang, F., Welch, A. (2020). Introduction (Special issue on university governance and leadership). Studies in Higher Education, 45(10), 2033-2035. [More Information]
The Chinese Knowledge Diaspora (ARC Discovery) International study of the scientific communication networks of mainland Chinese intellectuals who work in universities abroad, Internationalisation of Chinese Universities (U. Sydney, CCK Project)Analysis of dimensions of internationalisation of selected universities in different regions of China, including Cross Straights relations (with Taiwan). Includes background of the Chinese professoriate, the Chinese higher education system, and several case studies.

Public and Private Higher Education in SE Asia (Fulbright New Century Scholar Project)Examination of the changing balance between public and private higher education in SE Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam), including privatisation of public sector universities, and including issues such as governance, transparency, brain drain / brain circulation, and the role of higher education in national innovation systems.

Costs and Financing of HIgher Education in Dynamic Asia (Asian Development Bank [ADB])Examination of costs and financing issues of higher education in Asia, with a focus on SE Asia. Analysis includes comparison of public and private higher education proportions in different states of SE Asia, transparency issues, the contribution of higher education to national innovation systems, the costs of brain drain / circulation, the relative costs of public and private higher education, both domestically and internationally, costs and finance of religious higher education systems, and student loans schemes.

International Study of Academic Salaries. (Australian Representative). Coordinated by Boston College Centre for International Higher Education (CIHE) and Russian School of Higher Economics, Moscow
  • Sashika Jayewardene – Thesis title: Funding models and legal mechanisms to lift university participation in relation to the human right to higher education under public international law. Role: Joint Supervisor
  • Suren Ladd – Thesis title: The contribution of higher education curriculum to sustainable peace building a case from Sri Lanka. Role: Joint Supervisor
  • Zhenhua Wang – Thesis title:  Comparative Study of Chinese-Australian Cooperation in Running Schools at the Undergraduate Level Based on Institutional Stakeholders PerspectivesTwo Case Studies from Henan Province. Role: Joint Supervisor
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