Navigating and negotiating the global higher education internationalization: pathways and tensions in Chinese higher education system

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

In recent years, many global and local scholars in the field of international higher education have conducted studies on internationalization practices in China that include, the experiences of international student studying in China (e.g. Wen and Hu, 2016, 2017, 2019; Lu, 2020; Ma and Kai, 2018), international mobility of scholars and students (e.g. Shen 2018, 2019，Lu，2020), paths and forms of internationalization (e.g. Yang, 2011, 2019, 2021; Li, 2016；Marginson，2011), higher education policies on internationalization (e.g. Wen, 2017; Xu, 2019; Yang, 2019), international network of scientific research (e.g. Marginson & Wen, 2018; Lee & Haupt, 2020; Wen et al., 2022; Wang & Wen, 2021; Xie, 2022), and the university alliances and global satellites campuses (e.g. Lu, 2013; Qin, 2016, 2020；Lin, 2021); global rankings and internationalization of world-class universities (Han & Zhong, 2014; Liu, 2016, Liu &Shen, 2021; Liu & Jiang, 2012;) ; internationalization at home in China (Zhang & Jiang, 2020; Lan & Ma, 2021; Cai, 2021). These studies contribute to the scholarship of international higher education. By capturing the evolving national policy discourses, institutional practices, and the experience of students, staff, and faculty in China, these studies draw a general picture of internationalization of Chinese universities in almost every aspect for global audience and document China’s navigation and negotiation as it is moving towards the “center” of the global scientific and educational system from the “periphery”.

However, there are still several gaps in the studies of internationalization of Chinese higher education that our panel and related studies aim to fill in. First, the theoretical basis still needs to be strengthened (Lee & Stensaker, 2021). It is imperative to verify or falsify, and more importantly, to enrich the prevailing theories in the field -- such as Rhoades and Marginson’s (2002) “glonacal” model, Brandenburg, de Wit, and colleagues’ IHES framework (Internationalisation in Higher Education for Society) (2010) -- by applying them to study the local internationalization practices in China.

Second, most research topics are too broad to be able to investigate the nuances behind the phenomenon. For example, past research often regard international students studying in China as a homogeneous group, thus we know limited about the nuanced experience of international students. Research also miss the fact that Chinese universities are not homogeneous as well. Universities in different regions vary in their paths and forms of internationalization strategies, and thus more localized and classified research is needed.

Third, western approaches and research agendas were prevalent in studies on international student mobility. However, the development logic within internationalization practices in Chinese higher education differs greatly from the western one. Internationalization agenda in China has been strongly driven by the government-state goals operated by the political logic. Current research tends to uncritically follow western discourses and research topics (such as cross-cultural adaptation and satisfaction), thus failing to navigate challenges and problems in Chinese internationalization of higher education. Lastly, generally speaking, most research nowadays remains descriptive without any theoretical framework and analytic insights, failing to dialogue with existing literature and contribute to theories, practice and policy.

This panel serves as a discussion on the internationalization of Chinese higher education from both retrospective and critical perspectives. This panel invites six young scholars in the field of international higher education from research universities in mainland China and Hong Kong. Born and grew up in 1980s and 1990s after China opened its door to the West, our panelists received good undergraduate education and were trained as professional scholars in their doctoral education. Most importantly, all of them have oversea experience as visiting scholar or student, some of them obtained their doctoral degree from Western universities. They are familiar with both Western and Chinese academic discourses and have more comprehensive and critical insights compared to their precedent scholars. They will offer presentations on diverse topics surrounding internationalization of higher education in China.

Dr Liu Chao from Zhejiang University and Dr Wu Chen from Zhejiang International Studies University will focus on the historical and policy aspects of internationalization of higher education in China. Dr Liu Chao examines the important issue of knowledge drift and university competition in modern eastern Asia by comparing the historical developments of higher education systems of China, Japan, and India. Dr Liu will discuss the ways in which the three countries absorbed Western knowledge while trying to create their own knowledge and educational systems. The interactions and competitions between the three countries in the field of higher education will also be discussed. Dr Wu Chen adopts a critical policy discourse analysis approach to examine the policy formation and transformation of internationalization on higher education within national and local contexts. Dr Wu’s research tends to explore how Chinese national and local policies have been shaped by the dynamics of interplay between local, national, and global agents.

Dr Hu Die and colleagues from Tsinghua University focus on the topic of internationalization of science in China. They investigated the patterns of Chinese scientists’ international co-publications after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on bibliometrics and interview data, their research will further discuss how Chinese scientists build and maintain international scientific ties amid geopolitical tensions and global health crisis.

The three other panelists’ studies focus on the topic of international student mobility. Dr Ma Jiani from Beijing Normal University explores the intercultural experience of international students by interviewing 30 international students studying in China. Her research will shed light on how Chinese higher education institutions could foster an environment for international students to interact with local students. Drawing upon Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital and habitus, and broader notions of global-national-local imbrications, Dr Dai Kun and Dr Hu Yating’s study focuses on the academic aspect of international students’ experience by interviewing 35 international doctoral students in Chinese higher education. He found that they lived with a sense of “in-betweenness” during their study in China.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Wen Wen, Tsinghua University

Individual Presentations

• Military-Political Interaction, Intellectual Convergence and University Competition in Modern Eastern Asia: Centered on the interaction between China, Japan and India - liu chao

• The Formation and Persistence of China’s International Research Ties Amid Geopolitical Tensions and Global Health Crisis - Die Hu

• Understanding international students’ intercultural interaction experiences at Chinese Double-class universities - Jiani MA, Beijing Normal University

• Experiencing doctoral education in an emerging global knowledge hub: An exploration of international students’ experiences in China - Kun Dai, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Discussants

• Simon Marginson, University of Oxford

• Gerardo L Blanco, Boston College