Expanding Higher Education: China's Precarious Balance. (14th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Postiglione, Gerard A.
• Editors: Bodenhorn, Terry; Burns, John P.; Palmer, Michael
• Is Part Of: China quarterly. Number 244(2020)
• Page Start: 920
• Page End: 941
• Publication Date: 2020-12-14
• Subjects: mass higher education, -- governance reforms, -- excellence initiatives, -- academic research enterprise, -- China; 高等教育大众化, -- 治理改革, -- 卓越举措, -- 学术研究事业, -- 中国; China -- History -- Periodicals; China -- Periodicals; 951
• DOI: 10.1017/S0305741020000995
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-7410

Abstract

Abstract: China implemented an unprecedented expansion of higher education along with excellence initiatives that propelled more universities into the global rankings. Yet, the international influence of the higher education system pales in comparison to its economy. This paper argues that governance reforms in higher education only partially address the increasingly complex social and geopolitical realities. With more institutional and professional autonomy, universities and the academic research enterprise would be better placed and more inclined to find innovative solutions to urgent problems of domestic and global sustainability.