The purpose of this study is to explore how neoliberal ideas have been institutionally contextualized in Korean and Japanese higher education. As Japan and Korea are both located in Northeast Asia, they have long influenced each other’s society and economics, and higher education is no exception. Since 1990, the governments and universities in Korea and Japan have focused on responding to neoliberalism based on their interpretations of the concept. This study poses the following two research questions, taking the comparative perspective of selective isomorphism. 1) Which phenomena in higher education in Korea and Japan have been affected by neoliberalism? 2) How have neoliberal ideas been institutionalized in higher education institutions in Korea and Japan? This study uses macroscopic and mesoscopic approaches to explain the organizational changes that neoliberalism has triggered, particularly in the management and evaluation of higher education institutions.

This article is modified and revised some parts of the researcher’s Ph.D. dissertation, which is “An Analysis of Academic Profession Activities in the Institutional Context.”