Academic Capitalism in Chinese Local Contexts: A Qualitative Examination Across Five Social Sciences and Humanities Disciplines

• In Event: Faculty, Curriculum, and Teaching in an International Context

Abstract

The objectives of this qualitative study are twofold, to examine faculty meaning attributions of academic capitalist activities and to assess the pattern of academic capitalism in social sciences and humanities disciplines vis-à-vis the outward-looking, globally-driven higher education reform and development policies in China. Data analyses on faculty meaning attributions suggest that local professional, organizational and cultural contexts, bestowing faculty behaviors with meanings, play a significant role in shaping the pattern of academic capitalism. To fit the more locally-based faculty entrepreneurialism into the outward-looking, globally-driven higher education and development policies in the “globally ambitious stage,” one viable solution is for policymakers to take a step back while faculty members a step forward to meet in the middle ground.

Author

• Jingning Zhang, Southeast University