Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8bljj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-07T00:34:55.709Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Expanding Higher Education: China's Precarious Balance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2020

Gerard A. Postiglione*
Affiliation:
The University ofHong Kong. Email: gerry@hku.hk.

Abstract

China implemented an unprecedented expansion of higher education along with excellence initiatives that propelled more universities into the global rankings. Yet, the international influence of the higher education system pales in comparison to its economy. This paper argues that governance reforms in higher education only partially address the increasingly complex social and geopolitical realities. With more institutional and professional autonomy, universities and the academic research enterprise would be better placed and more inclined to find innovative solutions to urgent problems of domestic and global sustainability.

摘要

摘要

中国经历了空前的高等教育扩张,并采取了诸多卓越举措,推动了更多的中国大学跻身全球排名前列。然而,与经济发展相比,中国高等教育体系的国际影响力显得黯然失色。本文认为,高等教育的治理改革能部分解决日益复杂的社会和地缘政治的现实问题。随着更加制度化和专业化的办学自主权的扩大,大学和学术研究界可以更好地寻找创新性的解决方案,以解决国内和国际可持续发展的紧迫问题。

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrami, Regina, Kirby, William C. and McFarlan, F. Warren. 2014. Can China Lead? Reaching the Limits of Power and Growth. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.Google Scholar
Altbach, Philip G. 2011. “The past, present, and future of the research university.” In Altbach, Philip G. and Salmi, Jamil (eds.), The Road to Academic Excellence. Washington, DC: World Bank, 1132.Google Scholar
Barton, Dominic, Woetzel, Jonathan, Seong, Jeongmin and Tian, Qinzhang. 2017. “Artificial intelligence: implications for China.” McKinsey Global Institute discussion paper, https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/China/Artificial%20intelligence%20Implications%20for%20China/MGI-Artificial-intelligence-implications-for-China.ashx. Accessed 30 June 2019.Google Scholar
Bastedo, Michael, and Bowman, Nicholas A.. 2011. “College rankings as an inter-organizational dependency: establishing the foundation for strategic and institutional accounts.Research in Higher Education 52, 323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beardson, Timothy. 2013. Stumbling Giant: The Threats to China's Future. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Berdahl, Robert O. 1990. “Academic freedom, autonomy, and accountability in British universities.Studies in Higher Education 15(2), 169180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bermingham, Finbarr, and Zhou, Cissy. 2020. “Coronavirus: China and US in ‘new Cold War’ as relations hit lowest point in ‘more than 40 years’, spurred on by pandemic.” South China Morning Post, 5 May, https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3082968/coronavirus-china-us-new-cold-war-relations-hit-lowest-point. Accessed 7 May 2020.Google Scholar
Cai, Yuzhou, and Yan, Fengqiao. 2015. “Supply and demand in Chinese higher education.” In Schwartzman, Simon, Pinheiro, Rómulo and Pillay, Pundy (eds.), Higher Education in the BRICS Countries: Investigating the Pact between Higher Education and Society. Dordrecht: Springer, 149169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cao, Yingxia, and Levy, Daniel. 2015. “China's private higher education: the impact of public-sector privatization.” International Higher Education (41). https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2005.41.7508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Capano, Giliberto, Regini, Marino and Turri, Matteo. 2016. Changing Governance in Universities. Italian Higher Education in Comparative Perspective. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carnoy, Martin, Loyalka, Prashant, Dobryakova, Maria, Dossani, Rafiq, Froumin, Isak, Kuhns, Katherine, Tilak, Jandhyala B.G. and Wang, Rong. 2013. University Expansion in a Changing Global Economy: Triumph of the BRICs? Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Cassidy, John. 2016. “Trump University: it's worse than you think.” The New Yorker, 2 June.Google Scholar
Chan, Wing Kit. 2015. “Higher education and graduate employment in China: challenges for sustainable development.Higher Education Policy 28(1), 3553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, Zhili. 2002. “The impact of WTO on China's educational enterprise and related policies.People's Education 3(2002), 47. Cited in Pan 2009, 90.Google Scholar
Crossley, Gabriel. 2020. “Coronavirus weakens job market for record number of Chinese graduates.” Reuters, 21 February, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-graduates/coronavirus-weakens-job-market-for-record-number-of-chinese-graduates-idUSKBN20F0MD. Accessed 12 June 2020.Google Scholar
Cummings, William K., and Teichler, Ulrich (eds.). 2015. The Relevance of Academic Work in Comparative Perspective. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publisher.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Du, Xiaoxin. 2018. “Role split phenomenon of academic staff in Chinese higher education: a case study of Fudan University.Higher Education 75(6), 9971013.Google Scholar
Gu, Mingyuan. 2014. Cultural Foundations of Chinese Education. Leiden: Brill Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Han, Shuangmiao, and Xu, Xin. 2019. “How far has the state ‘stepped back’: an exploratory study of the changing governance of higher education in China (1979–2018).Higher Education 78, 931946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, John, Jacob, William and Li, Wenli. 2009. “Higher education in China: access, equity and equality.” In Holsinger, Donald and Jacob, William (eds.), Inequality in Education. Dordrecht: Springer, 215229.Google Scholar
Hayhoe, Ruth. 1989. China's Universities and the Open Door. Armonk, NY: Sharpe.Google Scholar
Hayhoe, Ruth. 1996. China's Universities, 1895–1995: A Century of Cultural Conflict. New York: Garland Press.Google Scholar
Hazelkorn, Ellen. 2014. “The effects of ranking on student choice and institutional selection.” In Jongbloed, Ben and Vossensteyn, Hans (eds.), Access and Expansion Post-massification: Opportunities and Barriers to Further Growth in Higher Education Participation. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hennock, Mary. 2010. “With new survey, Chinese colleges ask students what they really think.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9 August, https://www.chronicle.com/article/With-New-Survey-Chinese/123858. Accessed 29 October 2018.Google Scholar
Horta, Hugo, and Shen, Wenqin. 2020. “Current and future challenges of the Chinese research system.Higher Education Policy and Management 42(2), 157177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, Futao. 2015. “Building the world class research universities: a case study of China.Higher Education 70(2), 203215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, Futao, Finkelstein, Martin and Rostan, Michele (eds.). 2014. The Internationalization of the Academy: Changes, Realities and Prospects. Dordrecht: Springer Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacques, Martin. 2009. When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World. London: Allen Lane.Google Scholar
Jarvis, Darry S.L., and Ho Mok, Joshua Ka. 2019. Transformations in Higher Education Governance in Asia: Policy, Politics and Progress. Dordrecht: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jia, Hepeng. 2017. “China's citations catching up: papers from China are growing in influence and volume, yet the US remains supreme.” Nature Index, 30 November, https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/chinas-citations-catching-up. Accessed 24 September 2018.Google Scholar
Kirby, William C. 2014. “The Chinese century? The challenges of higher education.Deadalus 143(2), 145156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levin, Richard. 2006. “Universities branch out.” Newsweek, 2128 August, http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Public_Affairs/PresidentLevinArticle.pdf. Accessed 30 June 2014.Google Scholar
Li, Mei, and Yang, Rui. 2013. “Governance reforms in higher education: a study of institutional autonomy in China.” In Varghese, N.V. and Martin, Michaela (eds.), Governance Reforms in Higher Education in Asia: A Study of Institutional Autonomy in Asian Countries. Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning, UNESCO, 6985.Google Scholar
Li, Raymond. 2013. “Seven subjects off limits for teaching, Chinese universities told.” South China Morning Post, 10 May, https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1234453/seven-subjects-limits-teaching-chinese-universities-told. Accessed 20 July 2019.Google Scholar
Li, Zhang 2009. “Policy direction and development trends for Sino-foreign partnership schools.Chinese Education and Society 42(4), 1933.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, Jinhui. 2014. Zhongwai hezuo banxue yu guojihua rencai peiyang (Chinese–Foreign Cooperation in the Running of Educational Institutions and the Training of Talent with International Views). Xiamen: Xiamen University Press.Google Scholar
Lloyd-Damnjanovic, Anastasya. 2018. A Preliminary Study of PRC Political Influence and Interference Activities in American Higher Education. Washington, DC: Wilson Center.Google Scholar
Lo, William Yat Wai. 2017. “The road to privatization of higher education in China: a new cultural revolution?Higher Education 74(2), 381–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marginson, Simon. 2013. “The impossibility of capitalist markets in higher education.Journal of Education Policy 28(3), 353370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MOE (Ministry of Education). 2017. “2017 nian pinkun diqu nongcun xuesheng shang zhongdian gaoxiao renshu zai zengzhang 9.3%” (The number of key college students from poverty-stricken rural areas increased by 9.3% in 2017), 29 August, https://www.edu.cn/edu//gao_deng/gao_jiao_news/201708/t20170829_1550331.shtml. Accessed 25 May 2020.Google Scholar
MOE. 2019. “2019 nian quanguo jiaoyu shiye fazhan tongji gongbao” (2019 Education development statistical report), http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_sjzl/sjzl_fztjgb/202005/t20200520_456751.html. Accessed 25 May 2020.Google Scholar
MOE, State Council Office of Redressing Malpractices, Ministry of Supervision, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, National Audit Office and Press and Publication Administration. 2005. “Jiaoyu bu deng qi bumen guanyu 2005 nian zhili jiaoyu luan shoufei gongzuo de shishi yijian” (Opinions of seven ministries including the Ministry of Education on regulating misbehaviours in fee collections in 2005), http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A25/s3144/200504/t20050401_81025.html. Accessed 25 May 2020.Google Scholar
MOE, State Council Office of Redressing Malpractices, Ministry of Supervision, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, National Audit Office and Press and Publication Administration. 2006. “Jiaoyu bu deng qi bumen guanyu 2006 nian zhili jiaoyu luan shoufei gongzuo de shishi yijian” (Opinions of seven ministries including the Ministry of Education on regulating misbehaviours in fee collections in 2006), http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A25/s3144/200604/t20060406_81023.html. Accessed 25 May 2020.Google Scholar
MOE, State Council Office of Redressing Malpractices, Ministry of Supervision, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, National Audit Office and Press and Publication Administration. 2012. “Jiaoyu bu deng qi bumen guanyu 2012 nian zhili jiaoyu luan shoufei gongzuo de shishi yijian” (Opinions of seven ministries including the Ministry of Education on regulating misbehaviours in fee collections in 2012), http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A01/s7048/201204/t20120428_171881.html. Accessed 25 May 2020.Google Scholar
Research, MyCOS. 2019. Zhongguo gaozhi gaozhuan jiuye lanpishu (Chinese College Graduates’ Bluebook of Employment). Beijing: Social Science Publishing House.Google Scholar
Normile, Dennis. 2018. “Biologist unveils China's first private research university.Science 359(6378), 856.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
OECD. 2013 “Asian countries top OECD's latest PISA survey on state of global education,” 3 December, http://www.oecd.org/education/asian-countries-top-oecd-s-latest-pisa-survey-on-state-of-global-education.htm. Accessed 20 March 2018.Google Scholar
Pan, Maoyuan. 2009. “An analytical differentiation of the relationship between education sovereignty and education rights.Chinese Education and Society 42(4), 8899.Google Scholar
Pepper, Suzanne. 2000. Radicalism and Education Reform in 20th Century China: The Search for an Ideal Development Model. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard A. 2002. “Chinese higher education at the turn of the century: expansion, consolidation, and globalization.” In Chapman, David and Austin, Ann (eds.), Higher Education in the Developing World: Changing Contexts and Institutional Responses. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 149166.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard A. 2005. “Higher education in China: perils and promises for a new century.” Harvard China Review 5(2), 138143.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard. A. 2009a. “Education of ethnic groups in China.” In Banks, James A. (ed.), The Routledge International Companion to Multicultural Education. New York: Routledge, 501511.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard A. 2009b. “Ethnic minorities in China.” In Cheng, Linsun (ed.), Berkshire Encyclopedia of China. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Company, 763770.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard A. 2010a. “Higher education since 1949.” In Pong, David (ed.), Encyclopedia of Modern China. New York: MacMillan.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard A. 2010b. “Ethnic identity and educational outcomes in China.” In Peterson, Penelope, Baker, Eva and McGaw, Barry (eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard A. 2011. “Education.” In Zang, Xiaowei (ed.), Understanding Chinese Society. London: Routledge Press.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard A. 2015. “Research universities for national rejuvenation and global influence: China's search for a balanced model.Higher Education 70(2), 235250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard A. 2016. “China's search for its liberal arts and sciences model.” In Kirby, William C. and van der Wende, Marijk C. (eds.), Global Dialogue on Liberal Arts and Science Education: Promises and Challenges for China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1731.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard A., and Wang, Shiru. 2011. “Governance of the academy in Hong Kong.” In Locke, William, Cummings, William K. and Fisher, Donald (eds.), Changing Governance and Management in Higher Education. Dordrecht: Springer, 343368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Project 211 Working Group. 2007. “211 gongcheng fazhan baogao 1995–2005” (211 development report 1995–2005), https://book.douban.com/subject/2288766/ongcheng. Accessed 15 June 2020.Google Scholar
Ramirez, Francisco, and Christensen, Tom. 2013. “The formalization of the university: rules, roots, and routes.Higher Education 65(6), 695708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redden, Elizabeth. 2014. “Bucking the branch campus.” Inside Higher Education, 12 March, http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/03/12/amid-branch-campus-building-boom-some-universities-reject-model#ixzz34fcVHp8L. Accessed 14 June 2017.Google Scholar
Redden, Elizabeth. 2018. “Closures of China–foreign programs.” Inside Higher Education, 11 July, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2918/07/11/chinas-ministry-education-approves-termination-more-200-chinese-foreign-cooperative. Accessed 12 January 2019.Google Scholar
Salmi, Jamil. 2009. The Challenge of Establishing World Class Universities. Washington, DC: The World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salmi, Jamil. 2016. “Excellence initiatives to create world-class universities.International Higher Education (87), 1718. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2016.87.9506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sautman, Barry. 1991. “Politicization, hyperpoliticization, and depoliticization of Chinese education.Comparative Education Review 13(4), 669689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartzman, Simon, Pinheiro, Rómulo and Pillay, Pundy (eds.). 2015. Higher Education in the BRICS Countries: Investigating the Pact between Higher Education and Society. Dordrecht: Springer Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shambaugh, David. 2016. China's Future. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Shambaugh, David. 2019. “When China and the US wage a visa war against each other's scholars, nobody wins.” South China Morning Post, 23 April, https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3007149/when-china-and-us-wage-visa-war-against-each-others. Accessed 2 May 2020.Google Scholar
Shin, Jung Cheol, Postiglione, Gerard A. and Huang, Futao. 2015. Mass Higher Education Development in East Asia: Strategy, Quality, and Challenges. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slaughter, Sheila, and Rhoades, Gary. 2009. Academic Capitalism and the New Economy: Markets, State, and Higher Education. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Council, State. 2007. “Guowuyuan guanyu jianli jianquan putong benke gaoxiao gaodeng zhiye xuexiao he zhongdeng zhiye xuexiao jiating jingji kunnan xuesheng zizhu zhengce tixi de yijian” (Opinions of the State Council on establishing and improving the financial aid policy system for students with financial difficulties in higher education institutions, higher and secondary vocational schools), http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2007-05/23/content_623615.htm. Accessed 12 May 2020.Google Scholar
Council, State. 2015. “State Council eyes world-class higher education,” 5 November, http://english.gov.cn/policies/latest_releases/2015/11/05/content_281475228417144.htm. Accessed 20 December 2018.Google Scholar
Sun, Weiyu. 2017. “China's higher education enrollment rate reaches 42.7% in 2016.” People's Daily, 11 July, http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0711/c90000-9240278.html. Accessed 25 May 2020.Google Scholar
Teichler, Ulrich, Cummings, William K. and Arimoto, Akira (eds.). 2013. The Changing Academic Profession: Major Findings of a Comparative Survey. Dordrecht: Springer Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trow, Martin. 2007. “Reflections on the transition from elite to mass to universal access: forms and phases of higher education in modern societies since WWII.” In Forest, James J.F. and Altbach, Philip G. (eds.), International Handbook of Higher Education. Dordrecht: Springer, 243280.Google Scholar
United States Government Accounting Office. 2016. “Report to Congressional requesters, US universities in China emphasize academic freedom but face internet censorship and other challenges,” https://www.gao.gov/assets/680/679322.pdf. Accessed 24 April 2020.Google Scholar
WEF (World Economic Forum). 2016. “The human capital report,” http://www3.weforum.org/docs/HCR2016_Main_Report.pdf. Accessed 25 March 2020.Google Scholar
Welch, Anthony R., and Zhang, Zhen. 2008. “Higher education and global talent flows: brain drain, overseas Chinese intellectuals, and diasporic knowledge networks.Higher Education Policy 21(4), 519537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wildavsky, Ben. 2012. The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities are Reshaping the World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woetzel, Jonathan, Chen, Yougang, Maniyika, James, Roth, Erik, Seong, Jeongmin and Lee, Jason. 2015. “The China effect on global innovation.” McKinsey Global Institute Bulletin, October 2015, http://www.mckinseychina.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/mckinsey-china-effect-on-global-innovation-2015.pdf. Accessed 14 February 2018.Google Scholar
Yang, Rui. 2017. “The cultural mission of China's elite universities: examples from Peking and Tsinghua.Studies in Higher Education 42(10), 1825–38. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2017.1376873.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeung, Linda. 2011. “China: ex-premier criticises higher education reform.” University World News, 1 May, https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20110429170813946. Accessed 12 September 2020.Google Scholar
Yu, Kai. 2018. “The consolidation of Chinese private higher education.International Higher Education 95, 2123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zha, Qiang. 2009. “Diversification or homogenization: how governments and markets have combined to (re)shape Chinese higher education in its recent massification process.Higher Education 58(1), 4158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zha, Qiang, and Hayhoe, Ruth. 2014. “The ‘Beijing consensus’ and the Chinese model of university autonomy.Frontiers of Education in China 9(1), 4262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Minxuan. 2009. “New era, new policy.Chinese Education and Society 42(4), 2340.Google Scholar
Zhao, Litao, and Zhu, Jinjing. 2000. “China's higher education reform: what has not been changed?East Asian Policy 2(4), 115125.Google Scholar
Zheng, Qiang. 2016. “Lianghui qijian fayan, Guizhou daxue xiaozhang: jiaoyu bushi quanguo suoyou daxue de jiaoyu bu bushi fada diqu de” (During the two sessions of 2016, the president of Guizhou University: “the Ministry of Education is the education department of all universities in the country”). CCTV, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZnEcjnIyGk. Accessed on 25 June 2019.Google Scholar
Zweig, David, and Kang, Siqin. 2020. “America challenges China's national talent programs.” Report No. 4, Center for Strategic and International Studies, https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/20505_zweig_AmericaChallenges_v6_FINAL.pdf?bTLm4WdtG93lAVmxLdlWsgkgeNQDQUAv. Accessed 2 June 2020.Google Scholar