Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Chinese university governance: Tensions and reforms

Schwaag-Serger, Sylvia LU ; Benner, Mats LU and Liu, Li (2015) In Science and Public Policy 42(6). p.871-886
Abstract
Chinese universities have undergone a massive transformation in recent decades. In addition to a dramatic increase in the number of universities and students, universities have shifted from primarily providing education to emphasizing research. Omnipresent political control is to be replaced by stronger academic self-organization. The result so far is a growing stratification of Chinese universities, with a few select research universities receiving the bulk of government research funding and a large number of universities with very little public funding for research which focus primarily on education. The rapidly changing landscape, with growing numbers but also increasing stratification and with conflicting relations between political... (More)
Chinese universities have undergone a massive transformation in recent decades. In addition to a dramatic increase in the number of universities and students, universities have shifted from primarily providing education to emphasizing research. Omnipresent political control is to be replaced by stronger academic self-organization. The result so far is a growing stratification of Chinese universities, with a few select research universities receiving the bulk of government research funding and a large number of universities with very little public funding for research which focus primarily on education. The rapidly changing landscape, with growing numbers but also increasing stratification and with conflicting relations between political control and self-organization, has given rise to tensions within universities and within the higher education system. In this paper, we identify these tensions and discuss their implications for China’s quest to establish world-class universities and to achieve the transition to an innovation-oriented nation.

Key words (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Universities, Higher Education, Governance, China
in
Science and Public Policy
volume
42
issue
6
pages
871 - 886
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • wos:000368244000009
ISSN
1471-5430
DOI
10.1093/scipol/scv010
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5f210ff7-8820-4538-a08c-7471c450ccf9 (old id 8309874)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:53:17
date last changed
2018-11-21 19:52:10
@article{5f210ff7-8820-4538-a08c-7471c450ccf9,
  abstract     = {{Chinese universities have undergone a massive transformation in recent decades. In addition to a dramatic increase in the number of universities and students, universities have shifted from primarily providing education to emphasizing research. Omnipresent political control is to be replaced by stronger academic self-organization. The result so far is a growing stratification of Chinese universities, with a few select research universities receiving the bulk of government research funding and a large number of universities with very little public funding for research which focus primarily on education. The rapidly changing landscape, with growing numbers but also increasing stratification and with conflicting relations between political control and self-organization, has given rise to tensions within universities and within the higher education system. In this paper, we identify these tensions and discuss their implications for China’s quest to establish world-class universities and to achieve the transition to an innovation-oriented nation.<br/><br>
Key words}},
  author       = {{Schwaag-Serger, Sylvia and Benner, Mats and Liu, Li}},
  issn         = {{1471-5430}},
  keywords     = {{Universities; Higher Education; Governance; China}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{871--886}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Science and Public Policy}},
  title        = {{Chinese university governance: Tensions and reforms}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scv010}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/scipol/scv010}},
  volume       = {{42}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}