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Expanding Higher Education: China's Precarious Balance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2020

Gerard A. Postiglione
Gerard A. Postiglione*
Affiliation:
The University ofHong Kong. Email: [email protected].
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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.

摘要

摘要

中国经历了空前的高等教育扩张，并采取了诸多卓越举措，推动了更多的中国大学跻身全球排名前列。然而，与经济发展相比，中国高等教育体系的国际影响力显得黯然失色。本文认为，高等教育的治理改革能部分解决日益复杂的社会和地缘政治的现实问题。随着更加制度化和专业化的办学自主权的扩大，大学和学术研究界可以更好地寻找创新性的解决方案，以解决国内和国际可持续发展的紧迫问题。

Keywords

mass higher educationgovernance reformsexcellence initiativesacademic research enterpriseChina高等教育大众化治理改革卓越举措学术研究事业中国
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 244: Change, Contradiction and the State: Higher Education in Greater China , December 2020 , pp. 920 - 941
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Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2020

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