Fast STEM education promotion: unpacking the glocalization of China's STEM education policies

• In Event: Roundtable Session 8
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Equity, Belonging, and Global Perspectives in STEM and Higher Education

Proposal

The promotion of STEM education in China has been remarkable. In 2023, the Ministry of Education launched the construction project of national primary and secondary school science education experimental zones and experimental schools, with 124 experimental zones and 994 experimental schools selected in the first batch. After various provinces and cities issued relevant policies, a large number of STEM education pilot schools and seed teachers have emerged. This study adopts Kingdon's multiple streams framework and policy borrowing theory to explore: how has China rapidly promoted the international concept of STEM education?
Using thematic analysis method, this study uncovers the reception and transformation paths of China’s STEM education policies during glocalization. Data sources cover both national and local levels, including national official documents like the Compulsory Education Science Curriculum Standards (2022), White Paper on STEM Education in China, and China STEM Education 2035 Action Plan, as well as local policies such as the Notice of Jiangsu Province on Carrying Out Pilot Projects of STEM Education.
The coding framework is based on the analytical dimensions of policy borrowing theory, validated and refined during text analysis. First, following the core logic of policy borrowing theory, the framework is divided into two levels: "policy reception" (covering policy streams, political streams, and problem streams) and "policy transformation" (encompassing training objectives, connotation expansion, organizational implementation, and resource allocation), clarifying the boundaries and directions of analysis. Second, during the paragraph-by-paragraph reading of national and local policies, relevant statements and clauses are mapped to existing themes, with some themes refined based on text content.
Findings show in the policy reception stage, three interwoven streams drive the introduction of international STEM concepts: the policy stream (international STEM as a reference), the political stream (demands from national development strategies such as innovation-driven growth), and the problem stream (gaps in China’s science and technology talent cultivation). For policy transformation, China achieves STEM localization through adaptive adjustments: aligning training goals with national needs (e.g., innovation-driven development); refining connotations to emphasize practice-oriented interdisciplinary learning; establishing an administratively led hierarchical promotion mechanism for implementation; and balancing equity with quality-oriented collaborative development in resource allocation.
The study’s innovation lies in using the Chinese case to systematically present the specific path of educational glocalization—from integrating three streams to promote idea introduction to four-dimensional adjustments for localized implementation—filling the research gap in the specific mechanisms of glocalization for global STEM education policies. This finding not only answers the key question of how China’s STEM policies balance international borrowing and local needs but also holds significance in the context of global education transformation.

Author

• Dingli Zhang, East China Normal University