Through being specially funded by the Ministry of Education and Science in 2008, the Research Institute for Higher Education (RIHE) in Hiroshima University has been able to implement a new research project on the reform of higher education in the knowledge-based society of the 21st century. Thus RIHE hosted the second International Workshop on Graduate Education under the theme of "Producing Qualified Graduates and Assuring Education Quality in the Knowledge-Based Society: Roles and Issues of Graduate Education," which was followed by the 37th Annual Study Meeting on Graduate Education in Japan. This publication contains the following papers: (1) Global Movements in Research Labour and Doctoral Students: Strategic Implications for National Systems and Universities (Simon W. Marginson); (2) Mission-Oriented Knowledge System in Graduate Schools: How Can We Ingrain It and Assure the Quality? (Ryo Hirasawa); (3) Reform in European Higher Education with a Focus on Quality Assurance and the Changing Nature of Doctoral Education (Lesley Wilson and Andree Sursock); (4) Recent Reform in University Education and Its Implications for Student Development in China (Xiangming Chen); (5) Pursuing Excellence in Graduate Education (Masuo Aizawa); and (6) Policies, Practice, and Implications Concerning Graduate Education and Its Quality Assurance: From the Global, Regional, National, and Institutional Perspectives (Futao Huang). Appended are: (1) Conference Program; and (2) List of Participants. Individual papers contain figures, references and footnotes.