Imperial architecture. 4-31 Hall of Supreme Harmony, Imperial Palace, Bejing, Begun 17th c.
The “Bejing Consensus” and Chinese Universities: The ...
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The “Beijing Consensus” and Chinese Higher Education: The Successful Stories and Looming Crisis Qiang Zha, York University Ruth Hayhoe, OISE/UT
Transcript of The “Bejing Consensus” and Chinese Universities: The ...
The “Beijing Consensus” and Chinese Higher Education: The Successful Stories and Looming Crisis
Qiang Zha, York University Ruth Hayhoe, OISE/UT
The Analytical Framework • The social embeddedness perspective in higher education:
higher education can be interpreted as a system consisting of individual higher education organizations “embedded in an environment which includes the social, political and economic conditions within which the higher education organisations need to operate” (van Vught, 1996, pp. 44 & 50; 2007, p.8).
• The theory of external control in higher education: higher education organizations are “embedded in networks of interdependence and social relationships,” and potentially controlled by the external sources of the resources (Pfeffer and Salancik, 2003, p. xii).
• Higher education organizations could possibly opt for balancing strategies and actions that are available to them.
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What Does the “Beijing Consensus” Connote? • A Strong State: In contrary to the “soft state” in the Western
model, the Chinese state often demonstrates a strong will, and is “arguably the most efficient organizational power in the world” (p. 93). Essentially, “any weakening or transformation of the state function” could only be introduced by the state itself (p. 93).
• Practice-based Reasoning: Unlike reforms in the West which have often started with amendments to constitutions or changes to laws and regulations, China tends to start with experimentation and pilot projects. The successful experiences are then extended to a wider reach. Finally changes may be made to laws and regulations and ultimately the constitution, if necessary.
• Gradual Reform: Following a practice-based reasoning, the Chinese model adopts a trial-and-error approach, encouraging local experiments of all kinds and dispersing the successful experiences generated from the experiments. This approach is perhaps best summarized by Deng Xiaoping’s wisdom: “crossing the river by groping for stepping stones.”
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What Does the “Beijing Consensus” Connote? (Contd.)
• Prioritizing Stability: Deng Xiaoping’s doctrine is that “stability prevails over everything else.” For this reason, he demanded a no-debate approach to reform policy formation and execution.
• Primacy of People’s Livelihood: In the Chinese model, the reform must put people’s tangible benefits in the first place, rather than seeking democratization for the sake of democratization.
• In this model, the university demonstrates a close linkage to the government, as its education and research arm, and the government shows a strong commitment to supporting the higher education system.
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The Success Story: Size Growth of Chinese Higher Education (1990 – 2011)
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0
500
1000
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1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Enrolment (in 10,000) Number of Institutions
Distribution of First University Degrees by Selected Region/Country: 2008
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The “Beijing Consensus” behind the Success of Chinese Higher Education
• A State-led Massification Process: the Chinese government took advantage of its “visible hand” and employed a series of policy instruments to push for the growth of higher education enrolment.
• The Emerging Chinese Model of the University: Chinese universities are closely articulated with national and local development plans and strategies; knowledge advancement has become an integral part of national efforts to fulfill the century-long dream of China’s resurgence; the State is keen to support higher education, in particular those institutions and scholars who excel in terms of producing outputs that can meet the State’s needs.
• The Post-Expansion Policy Initiatives: “2020 Blueprint” and Project 2011; there emerge deviating interests among the State, local governments and the universities
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From “Cathedral of Learning” to “Manhattan of Learning”
University of Pittsburgh
Fudan University
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Hsue-Shen Tsien’s Question Suggested a Crisis
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• Why have Chinese universities failed to engender innovative minds?
The Paradox of the “Beijing Consensus” • The practice-based reasoning that stresses and pursues
tangible interest has caused pragmatism and utilitarianism to prevail in Chinese society.
• The gradualism exemplified in the phrase “crossing the river by groping for stepping stones” has arguably held back critical efforts at institutionalizing an effective regulatory environment.
• Operating in the same socio-political context, Chinese universities are understandably confused. They thus tend to focus on tangible interests and succumb to a spirit of utilitarianism, which is indeed taking over the campuses, and spreading among the faculty and students.
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The Crisis Confronting Chinese Higher Education • The “university spirit in China is really lost. It’s a reflection of
the whole society, which has gotten lost in utilitarianism. It’s in a state of spiritual dehydration” (CNN International, June 25, 2010).
• State control over higher education has never disappeared: on the one hand, Chinese higher education institutions have been accorded an increasing amount of decision-making power over their own affairs in recent years; on the other hand, the Chinese government may tighten its control over higher education institutions whenever it feels that to be necessary.
• Thus a crisis is looming with respect to standards of excellence and genuine intellectual capacity in the Chinese universities.
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Chinese Universities Suffer a Deficiency in Innovation and Creativity
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Source: THE World University Rankings 2011-12
Canada Universities Citation Chinese Universities Citation
University of Toronto (19) 86.5 Peking University (49) 51.0
University of British Columbia (22) 85.2 Tsinghua University (71) 37.4
McGill University (28) 77.1 University of Science and Technology of China (192)
73.6
McMaster University (65) 85.5 Fudan University (226-250) 42.9
University of Alberta (100) 51.7 Nanjing University (251-275) 42.3
University of Montreal (104) 48.7 Sun Yat-sen University (276-300) 50.5
Queen's University (173) 49.3 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (301-350) 19.1
University of Victoria (177) 79.2 Zhejiang University (301-350) 23.0
University of Ottawa (185) 54.8 Harbin Institute of Technology (351-400) 21.0
University of Waterloo (201-225) 32.5 Wuhan University (351-400) 25.3
University of Western Ontario (201-225) 38.5
University of Calgary (226-250) 39.7
Carleton University (226-250) 61.6
Dalhousie University (226-250) 43.0
Simon Fraser University (226-250) 53.0
University of Guelph (276-300) 38.6
York University (276-300) 41.2
University of Manitoba (301-350) 27.7
Mean score 55.2 38.6
A notable “balancing action”: exercise of self-mastery • Exercise of self-mastery (zi zhu): the university supports but
does not subordinate itself to the state while retaining the capacity to initiate its own development strategies and patterns (Hayhoe and Zhong, 2001; Hayhoe and Liu, 2010).
• Often this becomes possible with a determined and visionary university leader at an elite university possessing a relatively strong bargaining position.
• Recognizing this institutional drawback, the 2020 Blueprint calls for experimentation in establishing a modern university model on Chinese soil, which features expanding university autonomy and institutionalizing professorial rule over academic affairs.
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China’s first “autonomous university” opens in Shenzhen (Xinhua, 9/12/2012)
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Concluding Remarks • The lack of dynamism and innovation that is hindering
Chinese higher education’s development is largely owing to the political, social and cultural factors prevailing in the environment in which the universities operate.
• Now that the “Beijing Consensus” is at a crossroads, Chinese universities are exposed to a crisis as well.
• The Interim Regulations on Creating Charters for Higher Education Institutions took effect on January 1, 2012. Yet, unless a binding procedure can be worked out to constrain the hands of government and limit its scope, there is no easy way to break the vicious cycle
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