Abstract
In the last few decades, China has recorded unprecedented growth in higher education (HE) in terms of enrolment (system capacity) and enrolment rate (enrolment relative to age cohort). In light of Trow’s definition of three-stage HE development (Trow 1973), China’s HE system has experienced a transformation from an elite to a mass form within a short period. The growing opportunities in HE may improve the employability of the population and life chances. However, the same process has also created challenges for the continued development of HE, particularly when such a rapid expansion outstrips the ability of higher education institutions (HEIs) to maintain the quality of their teaching. Set against the policy context of Chinese HE’s experience of the process of massification, this chapter examines critically the strategies adopted by the Chinese government to assert its global leadership in HE. With particular reference to changes in university governance, this chapter focuses on the major measures that the Chinese government has adopted in order to (a) develop a “world-class university” and (b) recruit/attract overseas talent for employment in the country. The discussion begins with the transformation of governance strategies of universities management in the context of intensified global competition, followed by an examination of major schemes for building world-class universities and attracting global talent to assert global leadership in HE. The final part of the chapter discusses the changes in university governance and implications for educational development as well as the strategies/measures recently adopted by the Chinese government to transform its universities.
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Notes
- 1.
Tenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China, retrieved 12 September 2016 http://www.sdpc.gov.cn/fzgggz/fzgh/ghwb/gjjh/200709/P020070912638588995806.pdf (in Chinese).
- 2.
The annual statistics on the size of age cohorts are not publicly available. The number of students enrolled in primary schools is used as a proxy, as China implemented compulsory education in 1986.
- 3.
Ninth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China, retrieved 12 September 2016 http://www.sdpc.gov.cn/fzgggz/fzgh/ghwb/gjjh/200709/P020070912638573307712.pdf (in Chinese).
- 4.
Eleventh Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China, retrieved 12 September 2016 http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2006/content_268766.htm (in Chinese).
- 5.
For more details, refer to Xinhua Net: “Six Decades: The National Strategies for World-class University Initiative” (in Chinese). Retrieved on 1 February 2016, from http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2009-09/28/content_12121612_1.htm.
- 6.
We recognized other widely cited league tables, such as the Times Higher Education and Quacquerelli Symonds World University Rankings. However, the rising trend of Chinese universities cannot be fully demonstrated in the past few decades given that the open-access information is limited (the Times Higher Education ranking is only available for 2011–2016 and QS ranking for 2016).
- 7.
The programme is also known as the Cheung Kong Scholars Programme and the Yangtze River Scholars Programme.
- 8.
For details, see http://www.1000plan.org/qrjh/channel/5.
- 9.
For more details, see the official website of Chinese talent programme: http://www.1000plan.org/qrjh/channel/5 and the website of LKSF http://www.lksf.org/20081205-2/.
- 10.
See “Mainland’s HE reform, academic leaders nurtured as ‘Cheung Kong Scholars Programme’ Celebrates 10th Anniversary”, http://www.lksf.org/20081205-2/.
- 11.
The Ninth Press Conference of the MOE in 2005, the introduction of the Chang Jiang Scholar Achievement Award. http://www.moe.edu.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/moe_2233/200506/10019.html (in Chinese).
- 12.
See the previous footnote for the source.
- 13.
All the statistics for the Chang Jiang Scholars programme (unless otherwise stated) are calculated by the author based on the information extracted from the MOE.
- 14.
The programme started in 1998 and awarded the first batch of scholars in 1999. The number of scholars in 2013–2014 was a lump sum of the scholars for 2013 and 2014.
- 15.
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Jiang, J., Mok, K.H. (2019). Asserting Global Leadership in Higher Education: Governance with Strong Government in China. In: Jarvis, D., Mok, K. (eds) Transformations in Higher Education Governance in Asia. Higher Education in Asia: Quality, Excellence and Governance. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9294-8_5
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