Skip to main content
Log in

Openness and reform as dynamics for development: A case study of internationalisation at South China University of Technology

  • Published:
Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Universities worldwide now encounter fargreater challenges, and are subjected to anunprecedented level of external scrutiny. Thechange in governance ideology in the highereducation sector has altered the way in whichuniversities are managed, a phenomenonidentified by Slaughter and Leslie as academiccapitalism. This article examines how Chineseuniversities are responding to this phenomenonin their cultural complexity and socialcontexts, using South China University ofTechnology as an example. At the same time, theconcepts of globalisation andinternationalisation are taken as salientfeatures of our times, and are often mistakenlyused interchangeably. This article argues thatthey are fundamentally different, reflectingphenomena with different rationales, objectivesand effects. By presenting an analysis ofChina's internationalisation of highereducation through an in-depth case study thefindings of this study shed light on thegeneral current state of internationalisationin the mainstream of China's higher education,and underscores the idea that changesattributed to globalisation are modified andfashioned by the particular circumstances andchoices of local institutions. The studyvividly reveals how local circumstancescan be used to manage the global within thelocal. It reports how the selected casecontinues to develop in the context of markettransition and globalisation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altbach, P.G. and Peterson, P.M. (eds.) (1999). Higher Education in the 21st Century: Global Challenge and National Response. Institute of International Education and Boston College Centre for International Higher Education.

  • Bastid, M. (1988). Educational Reform in Early Twentieth Century China (English version translated by P. Bailey). Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan.

  • Bray, M. (1999). 'Comparative education research in Hong Kong: A decade of development, and an agenda for the future', The 10th Anniversary Conference of Hong Kong Comparative Education Society.

  • Burbach, R., Núñez, O. and Kagarlitsky, B. (1997). Globalisation and Its Discontents: The Rise of Post-modern Socialism. London: Pluto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao, Xiao-nan (1998). 'The strategic role of faculty development and measurement', in Agelasto, M. and Adamson, B. (eds.), Higher Education in Post-Mao China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Xue-xun (1986). Teaching Reference Materials on Chinese Modern History of Education. Beijing: People's Education Publishing House (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, Kai-ming (1998). 'Reforms in the administration and financing of higher education', in Agelasto, M. and Adamson, B. (eds.), Higher Education in Post-Mao China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christiansen, F. (1996). 'Devolution in Chinese higher education policy in the 1990s: Common establishment and the “211 Program” '. Department of East Asian Studies, University of Leeds.

  • Clark, B. (1998). Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organizational Pathways of Transformation. Oxford and New York: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coady, T. (ed.) (2000). Why Universities Matter. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Currie, J. and Newson, J. (eds.) (1998). Universities and Globalisation: Critical Perspectives. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, L. (1997). 'Interviews and the study of school management: A international perspective', in Crossley, M. and Vulliamy, G. (eds.), Qualitative Educational Research in Developing Countries: Current Perspectives. New York: Garland Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, M. (1998). 'Higher education relevance in the 21st century'. Presented at the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, Paris, France, 5-9 October.

  • Giddens, A. (1990). The Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gu, Min-yuan (ed.) (1991). Encyclopaedia of Education. Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Guangzhou Education Commission (1992). History of Educational Development in Guangzhou 1949-1991. Guangzhou: Guangzhou People's Press (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayhoe, R. (ed.) (1984). Contemporary Chinese Education. London: Croom Helm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayhoe, R. (1989). China's Universities and the Open Door. New York: Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayhoe, R. (1996). China's Universities 1895-1995: A Century of Cultural Conflict. New York: Garland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D. and Perraton, J. (1999). Global Transformations. Stanford: Stanford University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kishun, R. (1998). 'Internationalisation in South Africa', in Scott, P. (ed.), The Globalisation of Higher Education. Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klich, Z. (1999). Universities and Regional Engagement. Lismore: Southern Cross University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy, M. (1966). Modernisation and the Structure of Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Zhan (1989). 'Reform and openness brings South China University of Technology vitality', Studies in Higher Education 1, 30-32 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Zhan (1994). History of South China University of Technology 1952-1992. Guangzhou: South China University of Technology Press (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • MacEwan, A. (1994). 'Notes on US foreign investment in Latin America', Monthly Review 45, 4-16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marginson, S. and Considine, M. (2000). The Enterprise University: Power, Governance and Reinvention in Australia. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittelman, J.H. (ed.) (1996). Globalisation: Critical Reflections. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Postiglione, G.A. (1998). 'Maintaining global engagement in the face of national integration in Hong Kong', Comparative Education Review 42(1), 30-45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Punch, K. (1998). Introduction to Social Research. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, L.A. (1988). Education in the People's Republic of China and U.S.-China Educational Exchanges. Washington, DC: National Association for Foreign Student Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, R. (1992). Globalization. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sassen, S. (2000). 'Spatialities and temporalities of the global: Elements for a theorization', in Appadurai, A. (ed.), Globalisation Special Edition of Public Culture 12(1), 215-232.

  • Shils, E. (1997). The Calling of Education: The Academic Ethic and Other Essays on Higher Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shinn, E. (1995). 'Emigration from Hong Kong before 1941: General trends', in Sheldon, R. (ed.), Emigration from Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sklair, L. (1998). 'Competing conceptions of globalisation', World Congress of Sociology. Montreal, July-August.

  • Slaughter, S. and Leslie, L.L. (1997). Academic Capitalism: Politics, Policies and the Entrepreneurial University. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • South China University of Technology (1992). 'Strengthening personnel training and research to serve local economic construction', Studies in Higher Education 3, 39-45 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • South China University of Technology (1997). South China University of Technology Yearbook 1996. Guangzhou: South China University of Technology Press (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Spradley, J.P. (1979). The Ethnographic Interview. New York: Holt, Rinhart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spybey, T. (1996). Globalisation and World Society. Cambridge, MA: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teather, D., Tsang, H. and Chan, W. (1997). 'Internationalisation of higher education in Hong Kong', in Knight, J. and De Wit, H. (eds.), Internationalisation of Higher Education in Asia Pacific Countries. Amsterdam: The EAIE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teichler, U. (1996). 'Comparative higher education: Potentials and limits', Higher Education 32(4), 431-465.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Development Programme (1999). Human Development Report 1999. New York: Oxford University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogel, E. (1989). One Step Ahead in China: Guangdong under Reform. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallerstein, I. (1990). 'Culture as the ideological battleground of the modern world-system', in Featherstone, M. (ed.), Global Culture. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welch, A.R. (1998). 'Going global? Internationalising Australian universities in a time of global crisis', The Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society Conference. University of Auckland.

  • World Bank (1997). China: Higher Education Reform. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Rui (1995). 'Educational development in the Pearl River Delta and its implication for China', International Education 24(2), 18-27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang Rui (1998). 'Ranking universities in China: Same game, different contexts', International Higher Education 13, 15-16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Rui (2000). 'Tensions between the global and the local: A comparative illustration of the reorganisation of China's higher education in the 1950s and 1990s', Higher Education 39(3), 319-337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Rui (2002a). 'University internationalisation: Itsmeanings, rationales and implications', Intercultural Education 13(1), 81-96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Rui (2002b). Third Delight: The Internationalisation of Higher Education in China. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Rui (2003a). 'Contemporary higher education studies in the People's Republic of China', Asian Research Trends: A Humanities and Social Science Review 13, 61-78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Rui (2003b). 'The China-Hong Kong connection: A key to internationalising Chinese universities', Asia Pacific Journal of Education 23, 121-133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Rui and Welch, A.R. (2001). 'Internationalising Chinese universities: A study of Guangzhou', World Studies in Education 2(1), 21-51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zweig, D. and Chen, Chang-gui (1998). 'The open-door policy and Chinese universities', Journal of Higher Education 1, 50-56 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yang, R. Openness and reform as dynamics for development: A case study of internationalisation at South China University of Technology. Higher Education 47, 473–500 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000020871.50897.ae

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000020871.50897.ae

Navigation