Abstract
The Emerging Global Model is the blueprint for China’s leading research universities to become internationally respected institutions. Government leaders and campus administrators seek universities with the research intensity and global perspective of the best European and North American institutions. International ranking systems provide additional impetus for reform as they highlight the characteristics of institutions considered to be the best worldwide. In addition, China has shifted from an elite to a mass system of tertiary education, now enrolling more than 23 million students, diversified funding patterns and new relationships between government and individual institutions, moving away from top-down control toward greater state supervision using evaluation and accountability mechanisms from the West. China faces particular challenges in the demand for institutional autonomy and academic freedom in a system that has traditionally been controlled tightly by the central government.
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Notes
Many of the observations in this article are based on approximately 100 interviews at Chinese universities and government agencies conducted in 2005–2006 as part of the New Century Scholars program. Institutions visited were Beijing Normal, East China Normal, Fudan, Nanjing, Nankai, Peking, Shanghai Jiaotong, Sichuan, Tsinghua, Xiamen, and Zhanjiang universities. Most of the persons interviewed were administrators, although most of them held concurrent faculty positions. Ministry of Education officials included the Vice Minister in charge of higher education as well as department heads with responsibilities for important higher education functions. Semi-structured interviews focused on several broad themes — world-class universities, relationships between university and government agencies (which decisions are made at which levels?), university finances, and personnel policies. Interviews concentrated on the area of expertise of the individuals involved, so not every interview touched on every topic.
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Mohrman, K. The Emerging Global Model with Chinese Characteristics. High Educ Policy 21, 29–48 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300174
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300174