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Meritocracy and the Making of the Chinese Academe, 1912–1952

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2021

Bamboo Yunzhu Ren ,
Chen Liang  and
James Z. Lee Open the ORCID record for James Z. Lee [Opens in a new window]
Bamboo Yunzhu Ren
Affiliation:
School of Humanities and Social Science, HKUST, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China. Email: yrenae@connect.ust.hk.
Chen Liang
Affiliation:
College of History, Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China. Email: liangchen@nju.edu.cn.
James Z. Lee*
Affiliation:
School of Humanities and Social Science, HKUST, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China.
*
Email: jqljzl@ust.hk (corresponding author).
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Abstract

This article takes advantage of three new big historical datasets to identify four salient features of the Chinese academe during the Republic of China. First, it was highly international in terms of training. Second, the proportion of female students was unexpectedly large. Third, there was a heavy emphasis on STEM subjects. Finally, the social and spatial origins of China's university students and university faculty members changed from a national population of civil servant families to business and professional families largely from Jiangnan and the Pearl River Delta. The datasets are the China University Student Dataset – Republic of China, which includes almost half of all students to graduate from a Chinese university during the first half of the 20th century; the China University Student Dataset – Overseas, which includes the vast majority of all Chinese students to graduate from a North American, European or Japanese university during this same period; and the China University Employee Dataset, which includes almost all university faculty members in China, 1941–1950.

摘要

摘要

本文旨在利用三个新建的量化历史数据库，探索民国时期中国学界知识群体的特征。三个新建的量化历史数据库分别是：1）涵盖民国时期大学毕业生人数一半以上的民国大学生量化数据库、2）包含绝大多数留欧、美、日学生的民国留学生量化数据库和 3）囊括 40 年代大学教授及教员的民国大学教师数据库。分析表明，民国知识群体存在着四方面的显著特征：高度国际化的训练模式、极高的女性参与程度、对科技地持续重视、社会与地理来源的结构性转变，即从帝国时期全国性的科举家庭到民国时期地区性的商人及专业人士家庭，并以长三角和珠三角地区为主。当代中国高等教育很多重要的特征，如国际化、偏重理工科、城市化和区域集中等，都可以追溯到这一时期和这一群体。

Keywords

higher educationoverseas studentsgenderSTEMsocial and spatial originsChina高等教育留学生社会性别科技教育社会及地理来源中国
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 244: Change, Contradiction and the State: Higher Education in Greater China , December 2020 , pp. 942 - 968
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Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2021

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