Abstract
In China, the central government has released a series of key policy initiatives over the last twenty years to foster decentralisation of control over higher education, giving prominence to discourses of increased autonomy for both universities and academics. This article reports findings of an empirical study of changing autonomy in Chinese higher education and it focuses on the effects of these key policy developments in two case study universities. This research was part of a larger study of new power relationships emerging from changing policies on accountability and autonomy in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore, located within a broader context of the impact of globalisation on higher education. The focus on the three regions was selected to begin to redress a Western hegemony in such research. The larger study is premised on the principle that globalisation is characterised by ongoing tensions between global commonalities and context-specific differences, and that it is important not to gloss over the complex and often contradictory national and local mediations of “global” policy trends.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amit, V. (2000). The university as panoptican. In M. Strathern (Eds.), Audit cultures (pp. 215–235). London and New York: Routledge.
Ball, S. J. (1998). Big politics/small world: An introduction to international perspectives in education policy. Comparative Education, 34(2), 119–130.
Ball, S. J. (2000). Performativity and fragmentation in ȁ8postmodern schoolingȁ9. In J. Carter (Eds.) Postmodernity and fragmentation of welfare (pp. 187–203). London and New York: Routledge.
Bastid, M. (1988). Educational reform in early twentieth-century China (English edition translated by P.␣Bailey). Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan.
Berdahl, R. O., Graham, J., & Piper, D. R. (1971). Statewide coordination of higher education. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.
Bok, D. (2003). Universities in the market place: The commercialization of higher education. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Braun, D., & Merrien, F. (Eds.), (1999). Towards a new governance for universities? A comparative view. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Bray, M. (1999). Control of education: Issues and tensions in centralisation and decentralization. In R.␣F.␣Arnove, & T. Torres (Eds.), Comparative education: The dialectic of the global and the loca (pp. 204–228). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Chen X. X. (1986). Teaching reference materials on Chinese modern history of education. Beijing: Peopleȁ9s Education Publishing House (in Chinese).
Cheng, K. M. (1998). Reforms in the administration and financing of higher education. In M. Agelasto, & B.␣Adamson (Eds.), Higher Education in Post-Mao China (pp. 11–27). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Clark, B. R. (1983). The higher education system. Academic organisation in cross-national perspective. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Coaldrake, P. (2000). Reflections on the repositioning of the governmentȁ9s approach to higher education, or Iȁ9m dreaming of a White Paper. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Measurement, 22(1), 10–21.
Currie J., & Newson, J. (Eds.) (1998). Universities and Globalisation: Critical Perspectives. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Currie, J., & Vidovich, L. (1998). The ascent of corporate managerialism in American and Australian universities. In R. Martin (Eds.), Chalk lines: The politics of work in the managed university (pp. 113–144). Duke University Press.
Davies, L. (1997). Interviews and the study of school management: An international perspective. In M.␣Crossley, & G. Vulliamy (Eds.), Qualitative educational research in developing countries: Current perspectives (pp. 133–159). New York: Garland Publishing.
Dong, Y. C. (2003). Trinity: the relationship between the university, government and society. Fudan Education Forum, 1(6), 6–9 (in Chinese).
Flynn, N. (1997). Public sector management. Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Goedegeburre, L. (Ed.) (1994). Higher education policy: An international comparative perspective. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Gumport, P., & Pusser, B. (1995). A case of bureaucratic accretion: context and consequences. Journal of Higher Education, 66(5), 493–520.
Guo, Q. J. (Ed.) (1995). A collection of education laws in the Peopleȁ9s Republic of China. Beijing: Beijing Broadcasting Institute Press (in Chinese).
Hardy, C. (1996). The politics of collegiality: Retrenchment strategies in Canadian universities. Montreal: McGill-Queenȁ9s University Press.
Hayhoe, R. (Ed.) (1984). Contemporary Chinese education. London: Croom Helm.
Hayhoe, R. (1989). Chinaȁ9s universities and the open door. New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc.
Hayhoe, R. (1996). Chinaȁ9s universities 1895–1995: A century of cultural conflict. New York: Garland.
Hu, J. H. (2003). Shifting from state control to state supervision. Fudan Education Forum, 1(6), 3–5 (in␣Chinese).
Kennedy, K. J. (2003). Higher education governance as a key policy issue in the 21st century. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 2, 55–70.
Levy, D. C. (1980). University and government in Mexico: Autonomy in an authoritarian system. New York: Praeger.
Liu, N. C., & Lui, L. (2005). University rankings in China. Higher Education in Europe, 30(2, July), 217–227.
Marginson, S., & Considine, M. (2000). The enterprise university. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mok, K. H. (1999). Education and the market place in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Higher Education, 37(2), 133–158.
Neave, G., & van Vught, F. (1994). Government and higher education relationship across three continents: The winds of change. Exeter: BPC Wheaton Ltd.
Olssen, M., Codd, J., & Oȁ9Neil, A. (2004). Education policy. London: Sage.
Ordorika, I. (2003). The limits of university autonomy: Power and politics at the Universidad National Autonoma de México. Higher Education, 46, 361–388.
Price R. F. (1997). Social justice and education in China. In T. J. Scrase (Eds.), Social justice and third world education (pp. 163–180). New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc.
Punch, K. (1998). Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. London: Sage.
Reed, L. A. (1988). Education in the Peopleȁ9s Republic of China and U.S.—China educational exchanges. Washington, D.C.: National Association for Foreign Student Affairs.
Scott, P. (2000). A tale of three revolutions? Science, society and the university. In P. Scott (Eds.), Higher education re-formed (pp. 190–206). London: Falmer Press.
Slaughter, S. (1993). Retrenchment in the 1980s: The politics of prestige and gender. Journal of Higher Education, 64(3), 250–282.
Slaughter, S., & Leslie, L. L. (1997). Academic capitalism: Politics, policies and the entrepreneurial university. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Snyder, M. D. (2002). A question of autonomy: The view from Salzburg. Academe, retrieved from http://www.aaup.org/publications/Academe/2002/02mj/02mjsny.htm on 23 November 2004.
Sun, C. C. (1999). An introduction to educational administration in China. Hefei: Anhui Education Press (in Chinese).
Wang S. M. (Ed.) (2000). Reports on Chinaȁ9s educational development. Beijing: Beijing Normal University (in Chinese).
Yang, R. (2002). Third delight: The internationalisation of higher education in China. New York and London: Routledge.
Yang, R. (2003). Globalisation and higher education development: A critical analysis. International Review of Education, 49(3–4), 269–291.
Acknowledgements
Financial support by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project is gratefully acknowledged. We thank the reviewers for their valuable insights. We also want to thank the participants in the two Chinese universities that gave us their time to be interviewed. Finally, we are particularly grateful for the assistance and the hospitality provided by Professor Gong Fang and Assistant Professor Qu Mingfeng at the Institute of Higher Education Research, University of Nanjing, and Director Zhao Min of the Higher Education Research Institute at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, R., Vidovich, L. & Currie, J. “Dancing in a cage”: Changing autonomy in Chinese higher education. High Educ 54, 575–592 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-006-9009-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-006-9009-5