Hierarchical clustering in higher education and its dynamic mechanisms: A Comparative Study of Higher Education in China and the United States

• In Event: Examining dynamics, pathways, and students' experiences: Chinese higher education in comparison

Proposal

Research Background and Significance:
Higher education in China has made great strides in the new century and has advanced by leaps and bounds. With the implementation of the higher education expansion policy, China has now surpassed the United States in terms of the total scale of its higher education system. However, the agglomeration of higher education in terms of its geographical and spatial scope will produce a spillover effect, i.e. an agglomeration advantage. The following three aspects reflect this. Firstly, in accordance with the actual state of education development and the economic and social development needs of each level and type of university, staggering development, and complementary improvements are conducive to improving the overall strength of higher education, effectively sharing disciplines between regions, and thus stimulating the development and improving the overall level of disciplines. Second, because cross-disciplinary crossover, integration, and penetration occur widely across many different disciplines, it can promote the innovation of knowledge and improve the research output. In addition, it can help stimulate the positive interaction between regional economic development and higher education development, and thereby enhance the economic and social development of the city and the region. In turn, the development of the region will inevitably feed the development of higher education, and in the process of the feedback cycle, the spiral will continue to achieve higher and higher goals.
After several reforms of higher education, under the interaction of the market, government, and colleges and universities, the hierarchy of higher education in the United States has evolved from a free market model with no government interventionism to a rational market model with government macro-regulation. The result has been a strong promotion of fairness and efficiency in higher education as well as the improvement of the higher education system in the United States as a whole. In order to identify the problems in the structure of higher education in China, the research of the hierarchical structure of higher education in the United States can provide new perspectives for the adjustment of the structure, as well as promote the coordinated development of equity and quality in higher education throughout the country.

Main research questions:
1. In the context of this research, what is the specific reference to the clustering change and the hierarchy of higher education? What are the elements and dimensions of this concept?
2. How did the hierarchical structure of higher education evolve in China and the United States? What are the main reasons for the change?
3. In China and the United States, what is the current status and level of development of higher education hierarchy clustering? What are the criteria for agglomeration? How can higher education agglomerations be evaluated comprehensively, systematically, and scientifically? What are the similarities and differences between higher education agglomeration in China and the United States? How do the differences and their continuity arise?

Research Design:

Literature Review and Interdiscipline Analysis
The first step was to search databases and web resources, including Google Scholar, Global Book Network Resource System, Web of Science, JSTOR, EBSCO, Springer, overview, China Knowledge Network CNKI, and school libraries, by topic and keyword, and conducted preliminary analysis and screening of the information to extract relevant information. Meanwhile, this thesis incorporates relevant concepts and theoretical foundations from multiple disciplines, including industrial agglomeration theory, higher education development theory, higher education agglomeration theory, and economics.

Theoretical Approach
The two main theories that are highly related to this research are industrial agglomeration theory and higher education development theory. Higher education agglomeration and industrial agglomeration both bring huge agglomeration effects, and education development theory provides factors that would constrain the development process. Therefore, combining the two theories would lead to the an analysis framework of the agglomeration dynamic mechanism of higher education which is composed of five main dimensions: economic resources, social resources, scientific and technological development level, economic scales and government regulation.

Statistical Method and Regression Analysis

Database: The data for this research will come from all 50 states in the United States as well as Washington, D.C., and 34 provinces and cities in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). I would select the research indicators and examine the main dynamic factors of higher education agglomeration change in China and the United States using time series panel data (2003-2022). The data is analyzed in order to construct a model of higher education agglomeration dynamics and then interpret the model.
Dependent variable: the number of doctoral, master's, bachelor's, and associate degree degrees awarded/graduated
Independent variable: enrollment size, higher education expenditure per capita, domestic GDP per capita , population size, and research development expenditure.

Designed model:
LnYit = a0 +β1Lnrdit +β2 Lnhedusi t +β3 Lnpergdpit+β4 Lnpopit+ β5 Lnhpergeit +ui+εit

For the purpose of establishing a scientific statistical basis for the deduction and conclusion of higher education in China and the United States, a statistical analysis is used to provide a general overview of the development of higher education hierarchical clusters in China and the United States. The corresponding relationships and patterns must also be identified and explained by analyzing the current situation and explaining the differences by comparing higher education agglomerations in China and the United States in order to grasp the regularities that higher education agglomerations should adhere to on both an internal and external level. Therefore, the comparative research method is the most appropriate method to conduct the empirical and normative research presented in this research. However, for the above indicators(variables), there is no unified database, and even some data may not be available on the Internet but must be obtained from the relevant departments.

Author

• qichuan jiang, New York University