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The internationalization of higher education in an era of globalization: a case study of a national research university in an emerging municipality in southwest China
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The internationalization of higher education in an era of globalization: a case study of a national research university in an emerging municipality in southwest China
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Content
THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN AN ERA OF
GLOBALIZATION:
A CASE STUDY OF A NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY IN AN EMERGING
MUNICIPALITY IN SOUTHWEST CHINA
by
Xin Jiang
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2012
Copyright 2012 Xin Jiang
ii
DEDICATION
Commitment, effort, and dedication were fundamental elements for the
completion of my doctoral dissertation, but even more was the support of my family. To
my parents and brother, today I dedicate them this important professional achievement
because without their love, support, and confidence in me I would have not achieved my
goal. I love you.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This endeavor is dedicated to my mother, Hairong Chen, who introduced me at an
early age to be curious about the world beyond the Oriental, and never to shed away
from challenges, and both with a contagious sense of positivity. I love you, Mom.
To my father, brother and extended family who provided support and
encouragement for me to continue on my academic journey. I love you, and thanks to you
all, who never doubted that I could do it.
To Dr. Janette “Jenny” Samaan, who not only opened the door to international
education not long after I started my master’s program at the University of Hawaii at
Manoa, but also provides unwavering support in my academic and career development.
You are a mentor and a good friend.
To my faculty friends at both University of Hawaii and University of Southern
California, who contributed to my understanding and competence along my educational
journey in the United States. You have always responded to my requests for information
and assistance. Your respect and unconditional support for a student sets a good example
as a decent human being and loving teacher, which is as invaluable as any form of formal
education.
To the institutional leadership of Chongqing University, China, who provided
unwavering support in my choosing the University as a case. Your generous time and
input not only contributes to my research, but my knowledge about the ever-changing
internationalization of higher education in China.
iv
And to my friends and colleagues in EdD at the Rossier School of Education,
especially to Stephen Perry and Rebecca “Becky” Peterson, who have shared this journey
with me in one way or another for a very long time. Thanks for not just being supportive
for my academic pursuit, but sharing my ups and downs with no reservation.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication ii
Acknowledgments iii
List of Tables viii
List of Figures ix
Abstract x
Chapter One: Overview of the Study 1
Background of the Problem 2
Statement of the Problem 8
Purpose of the Study 11
Significance of the Study 12
Limitations 16
Delimitations 17
Organization of the Study 18
Chapter Two: Literature Review 19
Globalization and Higher Education 19
Definitions of Globalization 20
Globalization and Changing Governance 22
Globalization’s Impact on Higher Education 23
Globalization and Internationalization 26
Internationalization of Higher Education 28
Definitions 28
National, Sector, and Institutional Levels 29
Rationales for Internationalization 29
Policies 32
Programs 32
Internationalization of Higher Education in Developed and Developing
Countries 33
Student Learning in Internationalization of Higher Education 35
Globalization and Higher Education Restructuring in China 37
Building World-Class Universities 39
Internationalization 55
Changing Higher Education Governance 68
Research on Institutional Internationalization 69
Internationalization Index by ACE 69
Internationalization Indicators Developed by Chinese Scholars 72
Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization in
Universities by Davies 73
vi
An Analytical Framework for Institutional Internationalization 76
Phase I: Context Analysis 78
Phase II: Internationalization Index 78
Phase III: Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization 81
Chapter Three: Methodology 83
Research Design 83
Background of Chongqing University 85
Population and Sample 88
Data Collection 88
Interviews 89
Document Analysis 91
Data Analysis 92
Institution Description 92
Rationales for Internationalization 93
Internationalization Strategies 93
Remaining Work Needs to Be Done 93
Transcribing and Translating 94
Coding 94
Identifying Major Themes 95
Validity and Reliability 95
Construct Validity 95
Internal Validity 95
External Validity 96
Reliability 96
Chapter Four: Results 98
Results for Research Question One 99
Institutional rationales 100
National rationales 110
Results for Research Question Two 116
Articulated Commitment 119
Academic Offerings 124
Organizational Infrastructure 135
Internal and External Funding for internationalization efforts 147
Institutional Investment in Faculty 151
International Students and Student Programs 159
Output Exchange 163
Results for Research Question Three 165
Summary 174
Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations 176
Research Question One 176
Research Question Two 182
Research Question Three 190
Summary of Findings 191
vii
Implications for Practice 196
Future Research 199
Conclusion 201
Bibliography 203
Appendices
Appendix A: Personnel to be Interviewed 214
Appendix B: Research Outline 215
Appendix C: Interview Protocols 217
Appendix D: Programs of Chongqing University Taught in English 223
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Policies and Programs of All Three Levels 33
Table 2: Three Types of Internationalization of Higher Education 35
Table 3: University Accepted into Project 985-Phase One 44
Table 4: University Accepted into Project 985-Phase Two 45
Table 5: Main Events that Facilitated the Development of
Internationalization of Higher Education in China 62
Table 6: Context Analysis 99
Table 7: Internationalization Strategies Adopted by Chongqing
University 118
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization in
Universities 74
Figure 2: Analytical Framework for Institutional Internationalization 76
Figure 3: Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization at
Chongqing University 166
x
ABSTRACT
With their increasing engagement in the global economy, Chinese higher
education institutions are striving for producing educated and trained graduates to
enhance the country’s global competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy (Chan &
Lo, 2008). Internationalization is then regarded as a response to the challenges issued by
globalization and is conceived as a way for active Chinese universities’ agency to further
their research, teaching and service functions to compete with foreign rivals. However,
the regional disparities in Chinese higher education development and national policies
that concentrate its financial support on top-tier research universities result in an
increasing gap among Chinese higher education institutions in their internationalization
development.
This study analyzed the dynamics of internationalization of Chongqing
University, a national research university located in Southwest China, where higher
education development status and potential significantly lag behind average. A case study
was conducted at Chongqing University to examine the rationales and strategies for its
internationalization, and to identify the remaining work needed to be done to reach its
future internationalization goal. This study answered the following research questions:
• What rationales guide internationalization strategies Chongqing University utilizes at
present?
• What strategies does Chongqing University utilize to advance its internationalization?
• What remaining work needs to be done to reach Chongqing University’s future
internationalization goal?
xi
Due to the absence of sound theoretical framework in current research, the
researcher developed a hybrid framework for institutional internationalization combining
aspects of several existing frameworks into a new tool suitable for this study. This three-
phase analytical framework is a process approach providing a holistic understanding of
the dynamics of internationalization of the study institution, rather than a fragmented
activities-based approach to simply quantify the output.
This case study provides a picture of internationalization at a typical Chinese
research university, a representative of mainstream Chinese public universities with less
capacity and fewer resources for internationalization than China’s top-tier universities. It
also adds to knowledge on the internationalization of Chinese higher education as a
whole, which has unique attributes that distinguish it from internationalization at Western
higher education institutions.
1
CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
Universities all over the world increasingly recognize the challenges of
globalization and respond to the pressures for internationalization (Maringe & Foskett,
2010). Higher education institutions in developed countries aspire to become global
institutions and leading world-class research at the cutting edge. Often considered as
“centers”, those institutions dominate the model and standards of knowledge creation and
distribution, and remain the major player in internationalization of higher education by
drawing the highest caliber students and staff from different parts of the world,
conducting research focused on scientific and social issues of global significance, and
exporting their education services overseas (Altbach, 2004b, p. 6). On the other hand, the
“peripherals”, or the developing countries, usually lack the advanced technology and the
sound infrastructure necessary to meet the competition from other countries. Higher
education institutions in developing countries, therefore, are catching up the international
standards set by their Western peers (Chan & Lo, 2008). Internationalization of higher
education has become a popular tool to improve their quality of higher education to meet
the challenges of globalization.
With their increasing engagement in the global economy, Chinese higher
education institutions are striving for producing educated and trained graduates to
enhance the country’s global competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy (Chan &
Lo, 2008). Internationalization is then conceived as a way for active Chinese universities
to further their research, teaching and service functions in order to compete with foreign
rivals. National initiatives, such as Project 985, provide concentrated support to a small
number of research universities to upgrade their academic level to world-class status
2
(Min, 2006). Among the 39 Project 985 participants, the top nine universities created the
C9 League, striving for world-class status. The non-C9 League Project 985 participants
have just fastened their pace of internationalization to become the leading research
universities in China. Chongqing University is a non C9 League Project 985 university
selected for this case study. Located in inner China with low higher education
development status and potential, Chongqing University has just strengthened its
internationalization efforts to increase its league table ranking nationally. This study
analyzes the dynamics of internationalization of Chongqing University by examining the
rationales and strategies for its internationalization, then identifies the remaining work
needed to be done to reach its future internationalization goal.
Background of the Problem
Over the past two decades, the growing impact of globalization on economic,
social, political and cultural fronts has unquestionably drawn a number of people to
believe that there are many aspects of globalization that are beyond the control of nation
states (Mok & Welch, 2003). In higher education sector throughout the world,
globalization implies advanced information technology, new ways of thinking about
financing higher education and a concomitant acceptance of market forces and
commercialization, unprecedented mobility for students and professors, the global spread
of common ideas about science and scholarship, the role of English as the main
international language of science, and especially, all aspects of information technology
(Altbach & Knight, 2011).
3
In order to maintain national competitiveness in the global marketplace,
governments across the world have started to review their education system (Maringe &
Foskett, 2010). A wide range of reform initiatives are introduced to education to enhance
the global capability of their citizens to better adapt to the ever-changing socio-economic
and socio-political environment. Most universities, whether large or small and
irrespective of their national market position, have begun to recognize the importance of
developing teaching and instructional programs that have both local and international
relevance, both to recruit students in a global market and also to prepare all their students
for lives in a globalized world (Maringe & Foskett, 2010). The world’s leading
universities aspire to become global institutions and leading world-class research at the
cutting edge, drawing the highest caliber students and staff from different parts of the
world, and conducting research focused on scientific and social issues of global
significance.
Developing countries, on the other hand, face special realities in the globalized
higher education environment, as they adjust to conditions created by the powerful
academic institutions and systems of Europe and North America (Altbach & Knight,
2011). Higher education institutions in developing countries are under the urgent need to
meet the international standards set by their elite peers in the West (Chan & Lo, 2008).
Arising from the quest for excellence set on a global platform, as in the case of world-
class universities, many nations of East Asia and the Pacific region over the last decade
have seen an educational reform agenda centering around such notions as excellence,
enhanced international competitiveness and quality (Mok & Welch, 2003). This reform
reflects the circumstances that most developing countries are situated in (Chan & Lo,
4
2008). On one hand, those countries face the same global challenges that the Western
countries face. Higher education, therefore, is inevitably given a mission of nurturing
elite personnel for the economic development of these countries (Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2004). On the other hand, there still
remains a high demand for higher education for the masses. Massification is without
question the most ubiquitous global phenomenon in higher education of the past half
century or more. Beginning as early as the late 1940s, the United States had the first mass
higher education system, followed by Europe in the 1960s, and parts of Asia a decade or
so later. Most of the growth of the twenty-first century is taking place in developing and
middle-income countries (Altbach, 2011). In this regard, higher education sector in these
countries are facing a dual target of development in both quality and quantity, and a
challenge to adjust to conditions created by the powerful academic institutions and
systems of Europe and North America (Chan & Lo, 2008; Altbach & Knight, 2011).
Under the imperative to develop higher education in both quality and quantity,
China’s higher education has experienced great reforms since late 1990s. The scale of
higher education has been expanded and reached the massification stage. Since 1999,
China has engaged in a major expansion of enrolments in all higher education sectors. By
2009, China educates approximately 22% of its university-age population, growing from
5 to 27 million (OECD, 2007). Educational aims and goals have been re-oriented to meet
the needs of modernization and globalization. The highly centralized higher education
system, meanwhile, has been modified to grant more authority to local governments and
more freedom to universities. Market economy principles have been employed in some
domains of the higher education sector. National projects such as Project 211 and Project
5
985 were launched in 1990s to support selected universities’ effort in becoming world-
class or world-famous universities. In 1995, the State Council launched Project 211, in
which the Chinese government focused a wide range of forces from the central and local
government on about 100 key universities to enable them to reach a higher level in terms
of educational quality, research and management at the beginning of the twenty-first
century (Ngok & Guo, 2008). Encouraged by the development of China’s higher
education under Project 211, the Chinese government launched another project called
Project 985 to lift a few top universities to the world-class level (Ngok & Guo, 2008). 39
key research universities are selected to participate in this project in that they are affirmed
to have the conditions to be world-class universities in terms of their research capacity,
quality of professors, and quality of undergraduates. Among the 39 university
participants in Project 985, the first nine universities selected in this project in 1998 are
striving for becoming world-class or world-famous universities. On October 10, 2009,
these top nine Chinese universities created the C9 League to form the country’s version
of the American Ivy League (The Malaysian Insider, 2009). Politically, the intention is to
persuade the government to make Project 985 sustainable—as it soon did with a second
phase of the Project (Zhong, 2011). The funding each of those nine universities has
received from the Project range from 1.2 billion CNY to 1.8 billion CNY, which is
significantly higher than the amount the rest of the university participants have received.
The differentiation of the support from the Project is closely related to the different goals
the government has assigned to the individual institutions. The C9 League produces more
than its share of top scientists and highly cited research papers, representing the nine
leading universities in China that have committed themselves to world-class excellence
6
(Yue & Zhu, 2009; Zhong, 2011). A recent Thomson Reuters analysis found that these
universities, which have about three percent of the nation’s research and development
personnel, receive about 10 percent of China’s Research & Development expenditures.
The C9 League has consistently generated more than 20 percent of the nation’s output of
journal articles indexed by Thomson Reuters.
In trying to address issues about their responses to the forces of globalization,
universities throughout the world have widely confirmed internationalization as a
formidable force of change in its role as an agent and reactor to the realities of
globalization (Knight, 2004). In China, much progress has been achieved in the
internationalization of higher education with the implementation of reform and open-
door policy and higher education reforms (Wang, 2009). China has sought Western
models and made various attempts to internationalize its higher education since then
(Huang, 2003b). Both the government and the institution have been actively engaged in
internationalizing China’s higher education, by leading different roles. On one hand, the
central government remains as policy makers by setting the goals and guiding and
carrying out accreditation and evaluation undertakings (Zhang, 2010). Qualified foreign
higher education institutions are identified and recommended by the Ministry of
Education as a reference for Chinese universities when establishing partnership with their
foreign counterparts. Regulations on international dual-degree and non-degree programs
with foreign countries are implemented by the Ministry of Education to ensure the quality
of international cooperation. Higher education institutions, on the other hand, have been
actively engaged in a wide range of internationalization activities based on its own
history, resources, and culture (Yang, 2002b).
7
Prior to the later 1990s, the internationalization of higher education in China had
been fundamentally characterized by growth in the number of students and faculty
members sent abroad for further studies or research (Huang, 2007). Most were selected
from the leading universities, and funded by central and local governments. By now,
sending students abroad constitutes the most important part of internationalization of
higher education in China, although the vast majority has become self-supported (Huang,
2007). Along with studying abroad, internationalizing university curriculum and the
importation of foreign educational programs have been utilized by Chinese higher
education institutions to broaden the internationalization activities (Huang, 2007). Special
attention should also be given to the rapid increase in the number of joint or transnational
programs in partnership with foreign institutions since 1995 (Huang, 2007).
With regards to leading Chinese research universities, internationalization of
higher education places its emphasis on research strength and international ranking, under
the slogan of becoming world-class universities (Yang, 2005). A common strategy
adopted by Project 985 universities has been the development of internationalization
strategic plans to strengthen historical links and new partnerships with various foreign
institutions (Hayhoe & Zha, 2004). Central offices of international education have been
established in most universities to oversee the institutions’ international relations. Cross-
border academic communications have been resumed and expanded. International
communication and cooperation has become the new dynamics of China’s educational
reform and development, given the circumstance that higher education is treated as a part
of tertiary industry under the framework of the General Agreement on Trade in Service
(GATS) (Knight, 2002). The C9 League, in particular, is actively promoting itself
8
internationally, especially with other associations of world-leading universities (Zhong,
2011).
The goal of establishing world-renowned universities indicates that the
internationalization of higher education in China’s leading universities is no longer
confined to personal mobility and joint programs in cooperation with foreign partners
(Huang, 2007). Rather, it shows that China is trying to build up its own centers of
excellence and to participate in global competition.
Statement of the Problem
How to promote the development of higher education in a sustainable, quick, and
healthy way has become the common concern of Chinese universities (Wang, 2009). In
the context of globalization, the information age, and the knowledge-based economy,
internationalization of higher education will serve as one of the most effective tools in
improving the quality of higher education (Wang, 2009). Several factors have been
identified to hinder a comprehensive and sustainable development in the
internationalization of China’s higher education.
First and foremost, the regional disparity of higher education resources and
development in China hinder the massification of internationalization of China’s higher
education. Since late 1990s, a co-funding system has been introduced to replace the
original centralized funding system (Chen & Wu, 2011). Unlike the old system, in which
central government undertook the major responsibility for higher education funding, the
new system is essentially one of shared financial responsibility among central
government, provincial governments (even sometimes municipal governments at
prefecture level), and students or their parents. In this triangular funding system, central
9
government funding has concentrated on a number of key national universities, which are
located in a few regions and municipals such as Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu, with
higher development status and high development potential in higher education (Chen
&Wu, 2011). As a result, in regions where both local economic development and
financial capacity lag far behind the national level, Western China in particular, higher
education development also falls behind, and is unlikely to see rapid development in near
future. Such a regional disparity mirrors the hierarchy of higher education institutions,
and specifically can be seen between the Project 985 universities and the Project 211
universities not selected in the Project 985; between the C9 League and those behind; as
well as between research universities in East Coast and those in the interior of China
(Chen, Tsang, Wen, Weng, & Yu, 2009). Given the increasing regional disparity in
economic performance and local financial condition, inevitably, the decentralization and
regionalization of higher education reform will have a profound impact not only on the
development of internationalization of higher education, but the overall higher education
development in China (Yao et al., 2008).
Second, the goal of improving the quality in higher education quality throughout
the whole nation has not been achieved by providing concentrated support to the top-tier
research universities. On the contrary, an increasingly sharp hierarchy of institutions has
been created and accentuated, in terms of the educational quality, resources and mission.
The intention of such a differentiation policy is to build these institutions as national
“centers of excellence” (Min, 2006, p.41), which can in turn set as good examples for
other Chinese higher education institutions to emulate their success in improving the
quality of their teaching, research and management (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007).
10
However, such a vision has not been put into action by those who have received
additional support from the government. While the top universities have been given the
opportunity and resources to become proactive in assessing their own strengths and
weaknesses, and positioning themselves in the global community (Hayhoe & Zha, 2004),
the hierarchy of institutions has been and will be accentuated. The most elite C9 League’s
goal of raising standards across their campuses and giving a boost to the prestige and
international standing of its members has raised a major concern of its establishment,
which is how to share the benefits of the League with other universities in China so as to
fulfill their mission as the change agents to lift up the educational quality in the whole
nation (Zhong, 2011).
Chongqing University is an example of a non-C9 League research university
located in Chongqing Municipality in Southwest China, with low higher education
development and potential. An unprecedented development opportunity has been created
to this municipality since 1997, when it became one of the PRC’s four direct-controlled
municipalities, as the only such municipality in inland China. Since then, there has been a
massive government support to transform Chongqing into the region’s economic, trade,
and financial center to open up the country’s western interior to further development.
There are only three key universities in Chongqing administered directly by the Chinese
Ministry of Education. Such a regional change also introduces great opportunity for the
development of Chongqing university, the only Project 985 university in Chongqing. The
goal of the University is to implement the strategy of "prospering the country and
Chongqing city with science-and-technology and education" (CQU, 2012). However, the
11
funding of 540 million CNY the university has received from the central and local
government consists of only one third of what the C9 League universities have received.
In the absence of strong local economic performance, adequate regional
distribution and funding allocations to the higher education sector, and central
government’s financial commitment, how can an institution such as Chongqing
University pursue an ambitious set of goals related to internationalization becomes a
question worthy of attention from both scholars and educational practitioners. While
acknowledging the gap in the degree of internationalization between the C9 League and
the non-C9 League Project 985 universities and other key national universities, most
scholarly work focus on the internationalization of the elite C9 institutions. There is no
sufficient empirical information that reveals what happens in the less prestigious
institutions regarding its internationalization.
Purpose of the Study
Given this circumstance, this study analyzes the dynamics of internationalization
of Chongqing University, in the context of the changing role higher education sector
plays in the nation’s increasing involvement in global economy. Specifically, a case study
was conducted to first explore the university’s current internationalization strategies, the
rationales behind chosen strategies, so as to illuminate what remaining work needs to be
done to reach Chongqing University’s future internationalization goal. In addition, the
empirical data collected in this study sheds light on the current state of
internationalization in the mainstream of China’s higher education, since Chongqing
University, as a national research university, shares great similarities with the majority of
Chinese public universities.
12
The case study is based on rigorous research design, utilizing a model adapted
from the analytical frameworks developed by scholars both from China and elsewhere.
Specifically, this research integrates the concept of rationales for internationalization
generalized by Jane Knight (2004), the Internationalization Index created by the
American Council of Education (ACE) (Green, 2005), the indicator system developed by
Chinese scholars to assess the internationalization of Chinese research universities (Chen
et al., 2009), and the Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization in
Universities (Davies, 2001). This analytical framework for studying institutional
internationalization guides the formation of interview protocols, the selection of
documents being reviewed, and the data analysis.
In order to address these goals, this study answers the following research
questions:
• What rationales guide internationalization strategies Chongqing University utilizes at
present?
• What strategies does Chongqing University utilize to advance its internationalization?
• What remaining work needs to be done to reach Chongqing University’s future
internationalization goal?
Significance of the Study
This study contributes to the broader literature on internationalization of Chinese
higher education at an attempt to identify the salient internationalization characteristics of
Chinese higher education, to enhance the information base, and to provide useful
references for further study. While the volume of literature supporting the theoretical,
practical and strategic responses to the influence of globalization has grown significantly
13
in business, economics and politics, there is as yet not much available with direct
relevance to the higher education sector. In the context of China, despite the increasing
attention and visibility, internationalization has not been widely or deeply studied due to
its short history on agendas at both the national and institutional level. There is a
knowledge gap overall in the current literature in internationalization of Chinese higher
education.
Second, current literature on the internationalization of Chinese higher education
by Western scholars have focused their attention more on the analysis of the strategic
change of national educational policies (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007; Hayhoe, 1989;
Hayhoe & Zha, 2004; Kimura, Yonezawa & Ohmori, 2004) and less on higher education
institutions. The majority of the research done by Chinese scholars, in contrast, has
primarily described the general situation of internationalization of higher education from
either a historical or realistic point of view (Wang, 2009). Among the limited case
studies, the vast majority focus on the top-tier universities, such as China’s most
prestigious university - Tshinghua Unviersity and Peking University. Therefore, despite
its high volume, the Chinese literature about the internationalization of higher education
remains random and unintegrated (Yu, 2010). By conducting a case study, this study
provides rich empirical information about internationalization of an emerging Chinese
university, along with a historical analysis of the changing national context.
Third, there is a lack of research on the issue done by Chinese scholars that is
based on rigorous research designs, which cannot be used to support theoretical
developments in the field (Yang, 2005). Up to now, the major theoretical studies which
inform the analytical framework in the area of higher education internationalization have
14
been based on English literature, contributed mainly by scholars from European, North
American, and Oceanic countries. On one hand, current research based on Western
models is often times criticized for being Western biased (Beauchamp, 2002). The
Western models fail to take into account China’s social economic background for
internationalization, as well as the direct administration and supervision by the central
and local governments, which play a significant role in institutional internationalization
strategies (Yang, 2005). On the other hand, the voices of Chinese researchers have not
been reflected in the theoretical works (Yu, 2010), due to its limited number. Given this
circumstance, the researcher developed a hybrid analytical framework for the study,
which is an adaptation of some theoretical framework developed by both Western and
Chinese scholars.
Additionally, this study may be of benefits to leadership teams of Chongqing
University, as well as other non-C9 League Chinese universities in the Project 985, who
share great similarities with the university chosen for this study in terms of institutional
mission, strategic plan, dedication to internationalization and resources available for
internationalizing the institution. Based on the analytical framework, this study associates
a description of the internationalization strategies and rationales, and relates this
information to the institutional position in the matrix. These findings provide a holistic
understanding of the dynamics of internationalization of the study institution. New
strategies for more effective development of internationalization can arise from this in-
depth analysis of complex interrelationships. More importantly, internationalization
contributes to the improvement of the quality of higher education, which is the main
reason why Chinese government is supporting higher education institutions’ engagement
15
in internationalization (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007; van der Wende, 1999). Likewise, this
study shares such a notion and will shed light on possible approaches to improving the
quality of higher education. Institutions can also provide funding organizations and
agencies with a sound basis upon which to consider institutional levels of
internationalization and can develop sound rationales for supporting higher education
institution proposals for innovation and improvement.
Further, this study may provide rich empirical data for development of higher
education institutions located in regions with low development status and potential in
higher education, Western China in particular. The leading universities selected for the
Project 985 set as good examples for other Chinese higher education institutions to
emulate their success in improving the quality of their teaching, research and
management (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007). The similarities Chongqing University shares
with those higher education institutions in terms of local economic development, regional
distribution and funding allocations to higher education sector historically, the financial
commitment from central government, and higher education status, will make its
experience more relevant to those institutions who lag behind.
Moreover, this framework can serve as a tool for evaluating institutional
internationalization by a wide range of higher education institutions. Individual
institutions will be able to assess the value, benefit, and challenge of participating in
internationalization through an analysis of the dimensions of rationales and strategies
weighted against the international results achieved within the institution. It also provides
a mechanism to analytically view the effectiveness of proposed changes in organizational
structure, resource allocation, and strategies on internationalization. Higher education
16
institution administrators will then be able to analyze their current positioning and
determine effective strategies for moving towards greater internationalization.
Limitations
In spite of its empirical significances, there are several limitations to the present
study. As mentioned earlier, the discrepancy in the quality of Chinese higher education
between rich and poor areas, as well as between the leading universities, such as the
Project 985 universities and ordinary higher education institutions is overwhelming.
Higher education restructuring and educational reforms have escalated stratification
among higher education institutions by geographical location, funding resources,
administrative authority and functional purposes in the past decade (Zheng, 2005). Due to
the case-study nature of this research, the data and information generated pertain to one
specific university have limited generalizability. Given this nature, the study can only
offer a preliminary look at a number of factors and how they are related to the overall
process of internationalization of higher education. Although the findings may be used to
further understanding in the field, they cannot be extended to other Chinese higher
education institutions.
The second major limitation is that the specific research methods used in this case
study, including interviews and document analysis, are limited in certain ways. The
interviewees are not selected randomly. The interviewees consist of people who are
knowledgeable of the internationalization in Chongqing University, including senior
institutional leaders and program administrators. These administrative personnel either
jointed the internationalization process as leaders and facilitators, or represent the
institutions or individuals that were benefited from the process. Therefore, their responses
17
could be biased. This study is also limited by the units of analysis, which in this case are
the administrative personnel involved in the internationalization process, and not other
stakeholders such as faculty, staff members in other offices and units, and students who
also benefited from the internationalization. On top of that, interviews may generate
distorted responses due to the emotional state of the interviewee, recall error, interviewee
reaction to the interviewer, and responses that are self-serving to the interviewee (Patton,
2002). Finally, document analysis is limited by the incomplete and inexact nature of the
documents themselves (Patton, 2002).
Third, researchers with limited experience conducting case studies can benefit
from adopting theoretical frameworks which will guide the course of their studies (Yin,
2006). Because of this fact, the researcher developed an analytical framework to guide
the formation of interview protocols, the selection of documents being reviewed, and the
data analysis. Consequently, the research in this study is limited by the chosen theoretical
models.
Finally, the case study is limited by time. The amount of time the researcher has
to conduct interviews and to review documents in China is limited. Second, because of
the limited amount of time given for the study, the researcher was unable to examine the
operating characteristics of internationalization and the dynamics of such a process.
Delimitations
The delimitation of this study is set by the researcher to allow for a thick
description of the phenomenon occurring at a singular university that met the inclusion
criteria as defined by the researcher. By focusing on only one institution, the study does
not purport to analyze an instance of a broader phenomenon, but it provides great depth
18
and detail of one organizational phenomenon. The study primarily focuses on artifacts
related to the events leading up to the current internationalization efforts in place at the
Chongqing University, as well as interviews with administrative personnel involved in
the internationalization process (see Appendix B).
Due to the limitation of the units of analysis, this study is also delimited to
describing the university from the perspective of the individuals involved in the
internationalization process of the university, and not other stakeholders such as students
and faculty who may also benefit from the study.
Organization of the Study
The structure of this dissertation has its contents organized into five chapters.
Chapter One provides an introduction of the dissertation, including the background of the
problem, and the research questions. Chapter Two frames this study in the relevant
scholarly literature on globalization and higher education, internationalization of higher
education, higher education restructuring in China and its internationalization strategies.
Chapter Three outlines the methodological approach and research design employed in the
study. Chapter Four and Five present and discuss the study’s findings.
19
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
This literature review explores topics relevant to internationalization of higher
education in China, as well as the scholarly framework created to assess
internationalization. First, the concept of globalization and its influence on higher
education is analyzed. Second, the concept of internationalization of higher education in
an era of globalization is explored at both institutional and national level. Third, trends
and challenges pertaining to university restructuring in China are examined. The
internationalization of Chinese higher education, identified as one of the trends of higher
education restructuring, is examined thoroughly. The final section of this literature
review explores some analytical frameworks assessing internationalization of higher
education: the Internationalization Index created by the American Council of Education
(ACE) in examining the internationalization of American research universities, the
indicators used to assess internationalization of Chinese research universities (Chen et al.,
2009) and the Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization in Universities to
analyze the characteristics of the institutional efforts put forth in internationalization
(Davies, 2001).
Globalization and Higher Education
The global era within the last century has witnessed a rapid expansion of a global
higher education market, based on the discourse of global competition (Yang, 2002a).
Altbach argues that all of the contemporary pressures on higher education, from the
pressures of massification to the growth of the private sector, are the results of
globalization (2004a). This section explores globalization, including its definitions, its
20
impact on nation states’ governance and higher education, as well as the difference
between globalization and internationalization.
Definitions of globalization.
Globalization is perceived through the lenses of a complex web of subsidiary
concepts, making it very difficult to pin down (Maringe, 2010). Globalization affects
each country in a different way due to a nation’s individual history, traditions, culture and
priorities. As a multi-dimensional and complex concept, the idea of globalization is best
understood from a holistic rather than a restricted perspective. According to Knight and
de Wit (1997), globalization is defined as the flow of technology, economy, knowledge,
people, value, and ideas across borders. Altbach (2007) suggests that globalization refers
to the reality shaped by an increasingly integrated world economy, new information and
communications technology, the emergence of an international knowledge network, the
role of the English language, and other forces beyond the control of academic
institutions. Steger (2003) categorizes four broad dimensions of the nature of
globalization: the economic, the political, the ideological and the cultural. The
dimensions are intricately related to one another. However, each dimension has a plethora
of issues that deserve separate treatment for the purposes of analysis. Essentially the
economic dimension of globalization refers to the intensification and interconnectedness
of economic activities, increased monetary and trade flows and the increasing importance
of international trade organizations, including those in education. The political dimension
focuses on the intensification of political interrelations across the world, the gradual
demise of the nation state, and the development of global cities and global governance
structures. The ideological dimension deals with the systems of shared value about
21
globalization across different parts of the world. Finally, the cultural dimension focuses
on the intensification of cultural flows across the globe, with several potential
consequences or outcomes, such as the rise of a homogenized world culture underwritten
by the West in terms of the expanding use of English as the language of choice for
international business, trade and commerce and as the preferred medium of learning and
instruction in universities and other education environments.
Not surprisingly, as in the case of economic globalization, the heated debate of
the effects on the countries in transition is on the rise. One dominant controversy
surrounds the issue of the unequal distribution of power among countries. In other words,
western countries tend to dominate the policies, rules, and parameters in the disguise of
globalization (Altbach, 2004a). Often considered as “centers”, developed countries
dominate the model and standards of knowledge creation and distribution, while the
“peripherals”, or the developing countries, usually lack the advanced technology and the
sound infrastructure necessary to meet the competition from other countries (Altbach,
2004a, p. 6).
However, other scholars hold a more optimistic view about globalization.
Examining the issue closely, studies have found the above claim premature. Although
this is not the first time that the world encountered massive exchange and flow of
international trade and commerce, this third wave of globalization has facilitated a large
group of developing countries break into global markets (Yang, 2002a), which was
unseen in the previous globalization periods. Many third wave “globalizers” such as
China have experienced tremendous economic growth, with per capita GDP rising from
22
2.9% in the 1970s to 10.7% in 2010 (China Statistical Yearbook, 2010). To these
countries, globalization is a friend, not a foe.
Globalization and changing governance.
The growing impact of globalization has weakened the capacity or limited the role
of the nation state in managing the public domain (Mok, 2003). Instead of assuming the
role as the driver for change, modern states have to take a backseat role within the
framework of rising regional economies and a global marketplace. The questioning of
state capacity and the perceived challenges generated from the processes of globalization
have driven modern states to reflect upon the ways they are managed by searching for
new governance models to promote “good government” (Mok, 2003). Central to the
debate of governance is the changing relationship between the state and the non-state
sectors and actors in terms of social and public policy provision. Realizing the state alone
can never meet the pressing demands from the public in social policy provision and
public management, the revitalization process of civil society is underway, therefore co-
arrangement between the state and the society is becoming a far more popular public
policy trend. The major shift of national politics from maximizing welfare to promoting
entrepreneurial culture, innovation and profitability in both the public and private sectors,
has led modern states to adopt the techniques of steering from a distance through the
means of regulation, incentive and sanctions to make autonomous individuals and quasi-
governmental and non-governmental institutions such as universities behave in ways
consistent with their policy objectives (Marginson, 1999; Henry et al., 1999).
23
Globalization’s impact on higher education.
Globalization has ushered in a new era of changes and reforms for higher
education. In the face of global economic retrenchment and relatively weakened state
capacity in social service and policy provision, there has been pressure for restructuring
and reforming education driven by growing expectations and demands of different
stakeholders in society (Mok, 2003). According to neo-liberal economics, the provision
of education as a “public good” paid for through taxation is unjustified (Yang, 2002). The
user-paying principle is advocated, and deregulation, widened access, funding,
accountability, quality and managerial efficiency are perceived as prominent global
trends for tertiary education (Tiffin & Rajasingham, 1995; Mok, 2003). In addition, the
further expansion of higher education institutions is built upon the basis of greater
accountability but with lesser autonomy. Collegial processes of democracy within
institutions are taken over by stronger corporate management. Too often, university
leaders believe that, to survive and prosper in a rapidly changing world, they must
embrace the marketplace and become customer-focused, business enterprises (Currie,
1998). The role of universities has changed in such a way that they act less as critics of
society but more as servants responding to the needs of the economy, while contrasting
its main functions to supply qualified manpower and undergoing applied research in
response to market demands.
For some analysts, the impact of globalization on higher education offers exciting
new opportunities for study and research no longer limited by national boundaries, while
others see the trend representing an assault on national culture and autonomy (Altbach, et
al., 2009). The truth, according to Altbach et al. (2009), is undoubtedly both.
24
The opportunities for higher education institutions can be explained by the
argument that universities are international and global by nature (Yang, 2002a). Higher
education institutions have long served international learners and communities. The
recent development of globalizing higher education, some observe, is simply a pendulum
swinging back to the reconvergence of what Clark Kerr calls the “cosmopolitan-nation-
state university” (Kerr, 1994), where universities best serves their nations by serving the
world of learning.
The challenges, meanwhile, mainly focus on the inequality in the world of
globalized higher education (Altbach, 2004a). The globalization of higher education is
ultimately based on market-driven fundamentals of globalization, which creates more
challenges than opportunities, particular for the non-western developing countries (Yang,
2002b). Since the end of 1990s, there is strong concern in the Asia Pacific region about
the potential negative impact of globalization in leading to the homogenization of
national identities and cultures (Back, et al., 1997; Knight & de Wit, 1997). While the
powerful universities have always dominated the production and distribution of
knowledge, weaker institutions and systems with fewer resources and lower academic
standards have tended to follow in their wake. Major international academic centers –
namely the leading research-oriented universities in the North, especially those that use
one of the key world languages (particularly English) – occupy the top tier. Academic
institutions at the periphery and indeed the entire academic systems of developing or in
some cases small industrialized countries depending on the centers for research, the
communication of knowledge, and advanced training. The most prominent challenges
those higher education institutions face, therefore, include quality control, information
25
management, its fitness for local societies, and costs and benefits. When all of these
aspects accompany each other, it raises the danger of a total lack of the genuine
educational value, quality control and regulation.
Despite the contradictory views, globalization has exerted massive impact on
higher education today, with increasingly distinguished global nature (Maringe &
Foskett, 2010).
The first indicator of the global nature of higher education today is the number of
international students. Globally, it is estimated that there were about 150 million students
in higher education across the globe in 2008, up from 68 million in 1991 (Bhandari et al.,
2008). At the same time many countries, especially the less developed ones, are failing to
keep up with the demand for higher education places. Demand for university places in
China, for instance, is said to have doubled in the last five years, outstripping the number
of available places in the system (Altbach et al, 2009). This partly explains why the
developing countries have become the major exporting countries in the higher education
marketplace today (Maringe & Foskett, 2010).
A second indicator is the two-pronged approach to the internationalization process
many universities have adopted, encompassing home –based (internationalization at
home) and overseas-based (internationalization abroad) activities. The various forms of
home-based international programs, which have been developed over the years, aim at
providing cost-effective forms of international learning with limited or no overseas travel.
Such programs include distance education, joint degrees, branch campuses and sandwich
programs involving limited study-abroad provision. The overseas-based activities, on the
other hand, refer to those activities that happen abroad or across borders, such as
26
international linkages, partnerships and networks, and alumni-abroad program (Knight,
2004).
A third indicator is the financial contribution of higher education. Universities
have now become key players in the global economy, contributing significantly to the
knowledge stock of the world and to the financial economy of their countries (Maringe &
Foskett, 2010).
Globalization has undoubtedly precipitated higher education reforms all over the
world. The positive consequence of economic globalization and the subsequent pressure
on higher education to function internationally has been the necessity for effective (and
more transparent) systems of accountability, shared benchmarks, and standards for ethics
and quality.
Given the interconnection of globalization and higher education, a coherent
understanding of globalization and internationalization in higher education shall
recognize the globalization context in which the internationalization processes are being
developed, which is what this study is trying to invest in China’s case.
Globalization and internationalization.
Very few people within higher education have clearly identified the differences
between globalization and internationalization (Yang, 2002b). These two concepts are
two sides of the same coin yet are not synonymous with each other, although they
perhaps share many common characteristics (Maringe & Foskett, 2010). Globalization is
a phenomenon of a process which is affecting many sectors and disciplines in education,
internationalization of higher education, on the other hand, is both a response to
globalization as well as an agent of globalization (Knight, 2003). While
27
internationalization in higher education constitutes a group of strategic responses to
globalization, it is important to acknowledge the reciprocity that exists between these two
concepts. For example, the intensification of student mobility that may result from an
institutional strategy to increase overseas student recruitment contributes to the further
intensification of globalization. Similarly, intensifying curriculum internationalization
process will result in making the university educational product more attractive and
therefore help to increase mobility in recruitment markets (Maringe & Foskett, 2010).
Scholars argue that although closely related and frequently used interchangeably,
the terms globalization and internationalization in higher education refer to two distinct
phenomena (Altbach et al., 2009). One of the key distinctions between the two concepts
is the notion of control. Globalization and its effects are beyond the control of any one
actor or set of actors. Internationalization, however, can be seen as a strategy for societies
and institutions to respond to the many demands placed upon them by globalization and
as a way for higher education to prepare individuals for engagement in a globalized
world.
As argued above, higher education has entered a period of transition due to the
current societal trend of globalization. Higher education institutions in both developed
and developing countries see the importance of fully embracing the global movement and
moving toward a more global perspective. This phenomenon is principally economically
motivated and commercial, which creates more challenges than opportunities,
particularly for the non-Western developing countries.
28
Internationalization of Higher Education
Universities have always had an international mission and character (Maringe,
2010). As globalization has intensified over the last few decades, organizations including
higher education institutions have turned to internationalization as both a response and a
proactive way of meeting the demands of greater globalization, both in the immediate and
as preparation for envisaged futures. This section first explores the concept of
internationalization of higher education at the institutional and national level, and from
the perspectives of definition, rationales, and strategies. The current situation of
internationalization of higher education is then summarized.
Definitions.
There is a growing base of literature on internationalization of higher education
which explores a wide variety of internationalization conceptualizations. Such
conceptualizations include sector, national and institutional strategies or activities
designed to incorporate international education into existing curricula. Other
conceptualizations focus on enhancement of educational quality, growth of enterprise or
entrepreneurial education and the associated managerialism in higher education, a focus
on recruiting international students, and the development of partnership education and
research in higher education. According to Knight (2004), internationalization at the
national, sector and institutional levels is the process of integrating an international,
intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of postsecondary
education. With the focus on programs and activities, Altbach and Knight (2006)
conclude that internationalization ranges from traditional study abroad programs which
allow students to learn about other cultures, to providing access to higher education in
29
countries where local institutions cannot meet the demand. Other activities stress
upgrading the international perspectives and skills of students, enhancing foreign
language programs, and providing cross-cultural understanding. By emphasizing overseas
student recruitment and staff mobility, Fielden (2008) defines internationalization as the
flows of staff and students in both directions, strategic alliance, and joint programs with
external institutions.
National, sector, and institutional levels.
A comprehensive understanding of internationalization of higher education
consists of a perspective at the institutional level and at the national and sector level. The
national level includes different governmental or NGOs that are active in the
internationalization of higher education (Knight, 2004). On the government side, this can
include departments of education, foreign affairs, science and technology, culture,
employment, and immigration—all of which have a primary or peripheral interest in the
international dimension of higher education. In many instances, however, the
internationalization of higher education is only on the agenda of the education-related
departments and organizations. The sector level is to complement or signify the national
level. The national and sector level in this study is generalized as the national level, in
that these two levels are usually intertwined.
Rationales for internationalization.
Traditionally, the rationales driving internationalization have been presented in
four groups: social/cultural, political, academic, and economic (de Wit, 1995; Knight &
de Wit, 1997, 1999). Identifying the failure of the traditional framework to distinguish
30
between national- and institutional-level rationales, Knight (2004) offers an overview of
rationales at both levels.
At the national level, the important rationales driving internationalization at the
postsecondary level are: human resources development, strategic alliance, commercial
trade, nation building, as well as social and cultural development (Knight, 2004). Human
resources development rationales have included heightened pressure and interest to
recruit the brightest students and scholars from other countries, increasing attention to
enhancing the international dimension of teaching and research, and increasing
recognition of the need for further development of intercultural understanding and skills
for personal, professional, and citizenship development (Knight, 2004). Strategic alliance
rationales have emphasized the international mobility of students and academics as well
as collaborative research and education initiatives as productive ways to develop closer
geographic ties and economic relationships (Knight, 2004). Commercial trade rationales
have underscored the development of new international and regional trade agreements to
decrease barriers to trade in an attempt to increase the commercial side of international
cross-border trade in education (Knight, 2004). National building rationales have
highlighted mutual benefits international education brings to all partners (Knight, 2004).
Finally, social and cultural development rationales have attended to the promotion of
intercultural understanding, and national cultural identity (Knight, 2004).
Higher education leaders, meanwhile, have increasingly strived to internationalize
their institutions for a variety of rationales, including international profile and reputation,
student and staff development, income generation, strategic alliance, as well as research
and knowledge production (Knight, 2004). International profile and reputation rationales
31
relate to the quest for name recognition internationally in an attempt to attract the
brightest of scholars and students, a substantial number of international students, and
high-profile research and training projects (Knight, 2004). Student and staff development
rationales emphasize that the mobility of labor market and the increase in cultural
diversity of communities and the workplace require that both students and academics
have an increased understanding and demonstrated skills to work and live in a culturally
diverse or different environment (Knight, 2004). Income generation rationales underscore
the role of internationalization activities as an alternative source of income for higher
education institutions (Knight, 2004). Strategic alliances rationales highlight developing
key, strategic, international-education alliances at both the national and institutional level
as a means to achieving academic, scientific, economic, technological, or cultural
objectives (Knight, 2004). Finally, research and knowledge production rationales
underscore that international and interdisciplinary collaboration is key to solving many
global problems such as those related to environmental, health, and crime issues (Knight,
2004).
With the rapid progress of economic globalization, the internationalization of
higher education has entered a new phase with new characteristics, especially since the
1980s (Huang, 2007). As for driving forces, policy and practice concerning the
internationalization of higher education in individual countries are not only affected by
their national policy, character and identity, but are also influenced by calls and pressures
from international, regional or global organizations. Various factors, especially the
rapidity of economic globalization, the advancement of information technology, and the
introduction of market-oriented mechanisms, exert an increasingly significant influence
32
in individual countries. Compared with what had happened prior to the 1990s, the current
internationalization of higher education is much more strongly driven by economic
factors in a more competitive environment at a global level.
In Knight (2004)’s updated conceptual framework of internationalization, policies
and programs have been introduced (see Table 1) as a generation of internationalization
strategies at national, sector, and institutional level.
Policies.
At the national level, all policies that affect or are affected by an international
dimension of education are included. This can involve policies related to foreign
relations, development assistance, trade, immigration, employment, science and
technology, culture and heritage, education, social development, industry and commerce,
and others (Knight, 2004). At the education sector level, all the policies that relate to the
purpose, licensing, accreditation, funding, curriculum, teaching, research, and regulation
of postsecondary education are included. At the institutional level, a narrow interpretation
of policies includes those statements and directives that refer to priorities and plans
related to the international dimension of the institution’s mission, purpose, values, and
functions (Knight, 2004).
Programs.
Programs can be seen as one of the policy instruments or, more generally, as one
of the ways policy is actually translated into action. Internationalization programs or
activities at the institutional level consist of those occurring on the home campus, and
abroad.
33
Table 1: Policy and Programs at All Three Levels
level Policy Programs
National
Education and other national-level
policies relating to international
dimension of higher education;
other policy sectors include cultural,
scientific, immigration, trade,
employment, and culture
National or subregional programs that
promote or facilitate the international
dimension of postsecondary education; can
be provided by different government
departments or nongovernment
organizations; examples of programs include
academic mobility programs, international
research initiatives, and student recruitment
programs
Sector
Policies related to the purpose,
functions, funding, and regulation
of postsecondary education
Programs offered by and for the education
sector specifically; can be provided by any
level of government or by public or private
organizations
Institutional
Policies that address specific
aspects of internationalization
and/or policies that serve to
integrate and sustain the
international dimension into the
primary mission and functions of
the institution
Programs such as student exchange
programs, foreign language study,
internationalized curricular
Source: Knight, 2004
Internationalization of higher education in developed and developing
countries.
Individual countries, education systems, and even institutions or providers are
facing specific challenges and opportunities with respect to the international dimension of
higher education. The manner in which the implementation of internationalization is
addressed varies due to priorities, culture, history, politics, and resources (Knight, 2004).
Therefore, the situation in developed countries differs greatly from that in developing
countries, including the driving force of internationalization of higher education and the
involvement of the government (Huang, 2007). In many developed countries, particularly
English-speaking countries in Europe and the United States, the internationalization of
higher education is more commercially-driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, for instance,
in adopting full-cost tuition fees for international students and undertaking profit-oriented
transnational programs in Australia and the United Kingdom. In the majority of
34
developing countries, internationalization is more affected by academic factors, for
example in dispatching students and faculty members abroad for advanced studies or
research, as part of efforts to enhance the quality of education and research activities and
to establish world-class universities in China. Further, the private sector is participating
increasingly. However, in most non-Western countries, government-oriented policies and
links or cooperation between governments and institutions are still strongly emphasized.
Despite the above differences, nationally-oriented or-organized programs have
basically been replaced by institution-based projects in most countries and by exchange
programs initiated by regional or international organizations. With regard to the content
of internationalization of higher education, it is characterized by a transition from
technical assistance for developing countries by developed countries, to a growing global
competition; and from personal mobility and the transplantation of national higher
education models or systems within particular countries or areas to the
internationalization or standardization of programs, degrees, transnational education and
quality assurance at a global level (Huang, 2007).
Based on the characteristics of the internationalization of higher education in
today’s era of globalization, three distinguishing types can be identified (Huang, 2007,
p.6): an import-oriented type, an import and export type, and an export-oriented type.
Table 2 shows that differences in the internationalization are not only influenced by the
economic level and the stage of development of higher education, but they are also
affected by the usage of the English language.
35
Table 2: Three Types of Internationalization of Higher Education
Import-oriented Import-and export-oriented Export-oriented
Country
Most developing
countries, or
countries with
colonial
experiences
Most non-English-speaking
developed countries and
some developing countries
with their unique cultures and
traditions
Especially English-
speaking developed
countries
Characteristics
Seeking competent
professional
personnel but
having a week
modern higher
education system
Importing English-language
products to enhance the
quality of learning and
research, and exporting
educational programs with
distinctive characteristics
Attracting foreign students
from developing countries
and non-English-speaking
countries; and exporting
transnational education
services as trade
Issues and
Challenges
Brain drain and
loss of national
identity
Conflicts between foreign
imports and national
characteristics
Quality assurance and
negative effects resulting
from commercialization of
higher education
Source: Huang, 2007, p.6
Student learning in internationalization of higher education.
Students constitute the most central stakeholder group in higher education around
the world (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2009). An increasing number of higher
education institutions have identified cultivating their students into global citizens as a
priority in their mission statement. Consequently, there has been a simultaneous shift
from focusing chiefly on inputs (such as courses required, time spent in class, and credit
hours) to articulating and assessing student learning outcomes (Olson, Green & Hill,
2005). Briefly stated, student learning outcomes are the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
habits of mind that students take with them from a learning experience. Most institutions
are realizing that international and global content must constitute an integral part of high-
quality teaching and learning in the twenty-first century to educate global citizens. Even
on research universities who have historically valued research over teaching and learning,
the value of good teaching is increasingly being recognized and rewarded. To compete in
a global knowledge market, universities have had to prioritize teaching and student
learning across the whole university (Altbach et al., 2009).
36
An examination of the student experience in internationalization of higher
education provides an insight into the quest for successful student leaning outcome. The
student experience of higher education has been affected by globalization and
internationalization, most notably through the expansion of student mobility, the growth
in cross-border provision of education, and the emergence of international university
rankings and the quality assurance movement. (Altbach et al., 2009). Enormous benefits
have accrued to many students as a result of these developments, although the student
experience of internationalization and globalization has also been fraught with difficulties
and inequities for many.
Over the last decade, opportunities for students to spend all or part of their higher
education careers outside of their country of origin or residence have risen dramatically
(Altbach et al., 2009). The potential for significant growth over the coming decade is
quite realistic (Verbki & Lasanowski, 2007). However, the high cost of overseas study
inevitably results in an uneven access to international study opportunities, which
perpetuates other inequalities among students, at both local and global levels.
The emergence of international university rankings and the quality assurance
movement is also a mixed blessing (Altbach et al., 2009). Resources pumped into these
efforts have provided students with better academic experiences and more widely
recognized credentials. However, students have suffered in contexts in which the effort to
obtain certain international league-table standings, or a particular quality assurance
agency endorsements, has not been in alignment with real student needs. The failure of
institutions or systems to adequately serve local students, by pursuing ambitions (and not
always appropriate or realistic) internationally oriented agendas, is yet another example
37
of how internationalization can harm the student experience of higher education (Altbach
et al., 2009).
In conclusion, there is an increasing need to promote internationalization of
higher education. Internationalization is a commitment, confirmed through action, to
infuse international and comparative perspectives throughout the teaching, research, and
service missions of higher education (Hudzik, 2011). A comprehensive understanding of
internationalization, therefore, consists of rationales and strategies (including policies and
programs) at the institutional level and national level. This understanding relies heavily
on the particular socio-cultural context, as well as the specific history, culture, resources
and priorities of the specific higher education institutions (Yang, 2002b). On top of that,
student learning as the emerging emphasis in higher education has significantly affected
institutional behaviors in the pursuit of internationalization. Student experiences in higher
education have and will continue to be affected, as globalization continues apace and
many aspects of internationalization expand and mature in the coming decade (Altbach et
al., 2009).
Globalization and Higher Education Restructuring in China
This section presents a concise overview of the key development in higher
education in China since the reform and open-door policy in 1978, with particular
emphasis on the higher education restructuring after mid-1990s.
Under the imperative of globalization, Chinese higher education has experienced
great reforms since the launching of the well-known reform and open-door policy in
1978 (Zhang, 2010). Contemporary Chinese higher education reform and development
needs to be viewed from the perspectives of global contexts of devolution and
38
marketization, under which national governments cease direct control of the educational
system, and move to more of a steering role (Hirsch, 1996). Education comes to be
characterized increasingly as a commodity (Peters, 1992).
Meanwhile, the rise of the knowledge economy has generated new global
infrastructures with information technology playing an increasingly important role (Mok,
2003). Competition, rationality and efficiency have been the keywords used in many
descriptions of the changes in Chinese practice (Rai, 1991). It is in such a wide policy
context that an increasing number of higher education institutions in China are being
established with new missions and innovative configurations of training, serving
populations that previously had little access to higher education.
Since the end of 1990s, higher education in China has experienced tremendous
restructuring. Generally speaking, the reform of Chinese higher education conducted in
recent decades can be summarized as covering six areas (Zhang, 2010). First, education
aims and goals have been re-oriented from teaching to research to meet the needs of
modernization and globalization. Second, the leadership of Chinese higher education
system has to some extent been decentralized and devolved. Third, the scale of higher
education has expanded and reached the massification stage. Forth, market economy
principles have been employed in some domains and fields of the higher education sector.
Fifth, quality control policies and measures have been introduced and implemented.
Finally, international cooperation in higher education practice has become more active
and productive (Zhang, 2010). Specifically, three trends, building world-class
universities, internationalization, and the changing higher education governance are
39
discussed in this section as China’s response to its increasing engagement in
globalization.
Building world-class universities.
Worldwide competitiveness has given rise to the idea of world-class university.
As developing higher education is seen as a way to enhance countries’ global
competitiveness, building world-class universities has become not only a mission but also
a challenge to the Chinese government and higher education institutions (Chan & Lo,
2008). Generally speaking, universities are required to play a role in providing educated
and trained personnel to enhance the country’s global competitiveness in the knowledge-
based economy, and to act as a knowledge base for research and development projects of
the industrial and business sector. Chinese literature on world-class universities shows
that a consensus has been reached among the Chinese higher education community on the
basic requirements of world-class universities (Ngok & Guo, 2008). World-class
universities are research-oriented universities that have first-class academic disciplines, a
first-class teaching contingent, first-class student sources, first-class talent training, first-
class scientific research results, first-class administrative and operating mechanisms,
powerful financial strengths and material and technological foundation, state-of-art
equipment, and make outstanding contributions to the country and to social development
(Min, 2004; Tshinghua University Educational Research Institute, 2004).
In these circumstances, the major objectives of building world-class universities is
to provide a site to concentrate top professors and students so as to meet the society’s
needs for elite personnel, knowledge and technology. This strategy is particularly
40
necessary, given the rapid expansion of higher education in China since 1999, and the
accompanied quality decline in the recent decades (Chan & Lo, 2008).
History shows that the status of world-class universities in all countries is not
created by a single effort (Ngok & Guo, 2008). As building up world-class universities is
a national will to raise China’s core international competitive ability, how to construct
world-class universities is not a matter that concerns a small minority of universities, but
rather a national policy and national strategy. Therefore, the examination of China’s
strategies to establish world-class universities can be divided into two dimensions: the
state strategies and university strategies (Ngok & Guo, 2008). For the state, the main
strategy is to concentrate, through policy and administrative tools, limited resources on a
few key universities to turn them into-world-class universities, and to provide financial
and policy support to the target universities to achieve leaps in progress. For universities,
many strategies have been adopted, such as recruiting talented people worldwide,
transforming personnel systems and school operating systems, and promoting
internationalization, and so on. By comparison, the Chinese government has a bigger role
to play in the movement to build up world-class universities in China.
The state strategies: extensive use of financial and administrative tools.
The key strategy for the Chinese government to build world-class universities is
to initiate a priority-funding policy that channels extra money into the nation’s top
universities (Yang, 2008). Central to this are two policies that have come to known as
Project 211 and Project 985. Both central ministries and local governments have been
mobilized to raise funds for these initiatives (Ngok & Guo, 2008).
41
Project 211.
In February 1993, Chinese government announced a major national initiative,
Project 211. The aim of the initiative is to develop 100 world top level higher education
institutions and key disciplines in the twenty-first century. This project was built into the
national ninth Five-Year Economy and Social Development Plan that ran from 1996-
2000 and was stretched to the tenth five-Year Plan which is ranging from 2001 to 2005
(State Council, 1993). It is hoped this network of institutions will train the next
generation of high-level professional manpower in the sectors key to China’s future
social and economic development. The government is developing through the network 80
key academic disciplinary areas and 602 specializations that will not only train China’s
future cadre of decision-makers and academic leaders, but also serve as a model for other
universities and academic departments around the country. Project 211 consists of three
main parts: the enhancement of institutional capacity, the development of key disciplines,
and improvement of the public service system in higher education (State Council, 1993).
Particular emphasis has been placed on programs that will positively affect the country’s
social and economic development, scientific and technological advancement and national
defense system. Other key measures associated with Project 211 include the
commercialization of research findings, reform of university administration and
management and strengthening of international cooperation and exchanges.
During the period of the ninth Five-year Plan, priority was given to the
improvement of the universities’ standards and output with 61 universities approved for
the project and another 40 are waiting to be approved. The total funding topped 18.3
billion CNY. It was used to support facilities, to develop 600 more disciplines, and to
42
strengthen public services. After entering the tenth Five-Year Plan, there is a shift of
focus from supporting facilities to funding 777 key disciplines and building faculty
teams. A total amount of 18.4 billion CNY was invested in the tenth Five-Year Plan
(Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007). The concentrated allocation of extra resources not only
made Project 211 universities possible to educate most of graduate students and to
conduct major academic research under China’s higher education system (Hahoe & Zha,
2004), but also enabled them to become increasingly significant players in higher
education internationally.
Project 985.
Supplemental to 211 funding are three-year grants that were made available to a
smaller group of universities under what is known as Project 985. The core of this project
is to build a few world-class universities in China. This project was a collaborative effort
by the central government, local governments and the individual universities. With the
implementation of the project in 1999, Peking University and Tshinghua University
received 1.8 billion CNY funding respectively in the successive three years since 1999.
Afterwards, several non-Beijing-based top universities requested strongly to join the
project and to gain funding from the central government. Given the financial limitations
and the pressure from universities, the central government decided to involve local
government in the campaign (Ngok & Guo, 2008). Provincial governments were allowed
to build key universities located in their regions into world-class universities if financial
resources were available. As a result, with the financial sponsorship from both the central
and local government, more key universities become the beneficiaries of the Project 985.
At the Phase One of the project which ran from 1999 to 2003, the central and local
43
governments together invested 14 billion CNY to develop elected world-class universities
which can compete with the top class research universities in the world.
Compared with the Project 211, the Project 985 has a narrower policy (Ngok &
Guo, 2008). While the former aims to improve the overall quality of Chinese higher
education, the latter targets a few top universities in China. Besides Peking University
and Tshinghua University, the two prominent leading research universities that received
extremely extensive financial support from the central government, the project also
supported 33 other national key universities in the first phase. More than 14 billion CNY
were invested in Phase One (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007). The special funding was
provided jointly by the central government, provincial governments, municipal
governments and the individual universities based on the contracts signed by the
stakeholders. Phase Two of the project was conducted from 2003 to 2007, with 15
universities on the supporting list. According to the Ministry of Education (2005a;
2007a), universities listed in Table 3 and Table 4 were accepted into the Phase One and
Phase Two elite groups and signed the contract with the central and the local
governments.
44
Table 3: University Accepted into Project 985-Phase One
Phase One University (33) Collaborators
Contract
Signing
Nanjing University MOE, Jiangsu Provincial Government July 1999
Fudan University MOE, Shanghai Municipal Government July 1999
Shanghai Jiaotong University MOE, Shanghai Municipal Government July 1999
Xi’an Jiaotong University MOE, Shan’xi Provincial Government September 1999
Zhejiang University MOE, Zhejiang Provincial Government November 1999
Nankai University MOE, Tianjin Municipal Government December 2000
Tianjin University MOE, Tianjin Municipal Government December 2000
Southeast University MOE, Jiangsu Provincial Government February 2001
Huazhong University of Science
and Technology
MOE, Hubei Provincial Government, Wuhan
Municipal Government
February 2001
Xiamen University
MOE, Fujian Provincial Government,
Xiamen Municipal Government
February 2001
Wuhan University MOE, Hubei Provincial Government February 2001
Shangdong University MOE, Shandong Provincial Government February 2001
Ocean University of China
MOE, Shandong Provincial Government,
National Maritime Bureau, Qingdao
Municipal Government
February 2001
Hunan University MOE, Hunan Provincial Government February 2001
Central South University MOE, Hunan Provincial Government February 2001
Dalian University of Technology
MOE, Liaoning Provincial Government,
Dalian Municipal Government
August 2001
Chongqing University MOE, Chongqing Municipal Government September 2001
Sichuan University MOE, Sichuan Provincial Government September 2001
University of Electronic Science
and Technology
MOE, Sichuan Provincial Government,
Chengdu Municipal Government
September 2001
Sun Yat-Sen University MOE, Guangdong Provincial Government October 2001
South China University of
Technology
Guangzhou, Guangdong Province October 2001
Lanzhou University MOE, Gansu Provincial Government December 2001
Northeastern University
MOE, Liaoning Provincial Government,
Shenyang Municipal Government
January 2002
Tongji University MOE, Shanghai Municipal Government June 2002
Beijing Normal University MOE, Beijing Municipal Government August 2002
Renmin University MOE, Beijing Municipal Government September 2003
University of Science and
Technology of China
Chinese Academy of Science, MOE, Anhui
Provincial Government
July 1999
Harbin Institute of Technology
Commission of Science and Technology for
National Defense, MOE, Heilongjiang
Provincial Government
November 1999
Beijing Institute of Technology
Commission of Science and Technology for
National Defense, MOE, Beijing Municipal
Government
April 2001
Beihang University
Commission of Science and Technology for
National Defense, MOE, Beijing Municipal
Government
September 2001
Northwestern Polytechnical
University
Commission of Science and Technology for
National Defense, MOE, Shan’xi Provincial
Government, Xi’an Municipal Government
January 2002
Central University for
Nationalities
MOE, Beijing Municipal Government June 2002
45
Table 4. University Accepted into Project 985-Phase Two
Phase Two University (15) Collaborators
Time of the
Contract
Signing
University of Science and
Technology of China
Chinese Academy of Sciene, MOE, Anhui
Provincial Government
October 2004
Dalian University of
Technology
MOE, Liaoning Provincial Government, Dalian
Municipal Government
March 2003
Shanghai Jiaotong University MOE, Shanghai Municipal Government June 2005
Fudan University MOE, Shanghai Municipal Government June 2005
Tongji University MOE, Shanghai Municipal Government June 2005
Chongqing University MOE, Chongqing Municipal Government July 2007
Zhejiang University MOE, Zhejiang Provincial Government July 2007
Shangdong University MOE, Shandong Provincial Government August 2005
Jilin University MOE, Jilin Provincial Government August 2005
Sun Yat-Sen University MOE, Guangdong Provincial Government
September
2005
South China University of
Technology
Guangzhou, Guangdong Province
September
2005
Lanzhou University MOE, Gansu Provincial Government April 2006
Nanjing University MOE, Jiangsu Provincial Government
September
2006
Southeast University MOE, Jiangsu Provincial Government
September
2006
Ocean University of China
MOE, Shandong Provincial Government,
National Maritime Bureau, Qingdao Municipal
Government
December 2006
Source: Ministry of Education, 2005a, 2007a
Although a total number of 39 universities are currently selected as part of the
supporting list for the project, the top nine national research universities, namely Peking
University, Tshinghua University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University,
Harbin Institute of Technology, Nanjing University, The University of Science and
Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Zhejiang University, receive preferential
financial enhancement. The budget for Phase Two was considerably larger than Phase
One, and additional phases of the project are intended (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007).
Universities sponsored by the Project 985 can be divided into two tiers, based on
the goals and funding assigned to universities in each tier. The leading nine research
universities occupy the upper tier. The most prestigious universities, Peking University
46
and Tshinghua University, are the only two institutions in this tier who received the
largest amount of funding from the State. The other seven universities in the upper tier
have received a combination of funds from the State and local governments, ranging from
1 to 1.4 billion CNY. Their goal is to become world-class or world-famous universities
(World Education News & Reviews, 2006). The lower tier universities in the Project 985
have received a significantly smaller amount of funding than their upper-tier peers. Their
goals assigned by the State are also less ambitious, which is to become leading
universities in China, with high quality in the world.
Both Project 211 and Project 985 demonstrate the adaptation of global pressure
identified in the literature for governments in developing countries to allocate funding
based on the universities reaching certain performance objectives. The use of funding is
to influence organizational change at selected universities to become research oriented
and to self-generate funds (Yoder, 2006). The implication of the above two national
projects is the differentiation policy to identify research-intensive universities and to
divide the higher education sectors into different layers by assigning specific roles to the
institutions (Chan & Lo, 2008). The majority of China’s higher education institutions are
public institutions, which makes it impossible for the government to treat all universities
the same in terms of budgets and mission. Such an understanding then leads the
government to differentiate higher education by setting stratified missions within the
sector. Research-intensive universities are picked as top-tier institutions and for achieving
the quest for world-class universities, such as Peking University and Tshinghua
University. The rationale behind this policy is that in the knowledge-based economy,
47
research has a function of promoting economic and social development through
commercialization of research results.
Administrative tools.
In order to make better use of the limited higher education resources and to
increase the competitiveness of the higher education sector, the Chinese government
employed administrative tools to optimize educational funds through institutional
mergers and cooperation between institutions in sharing resources (Ngok & Guo, 2008).
Since the mid-1990s, institutional amalgamation has been a remarkable trend in
China’s higher education sector. Many of the consolidations involved elite universities.
Institutional merger is a way of improving institutions’ ranking, which in part reflects
incentives pursued by local governments so as to secure more central funding (Li,
Whalley, Zhang, & Zhao, 2008). Data from the Chinese Ministry of Education show that
431 consolidations occurred between January 12, 1990 and May 15, 2006 and 60 percent
of these occurred between 1999 and 2006 (MOE, 2007b).
Institutional merger is also seen as a way to readjust the strategic structure of
higher education institutions. Through merger, the number of higher education
institutions has been significantly decreased. At the same time, cross-institutional
consortiums or super-universities were established by merging mono-disciplinary
universities or colleges into multidisciplinary universities and the alliance between
universities (Ngok & Guo, 2008).
The Chinese government also made use of its administrative measures to promote
the development of key academic disciplines in universities in order to improve the
capabilities of Chinese universities in training high-quality professionals and building up
48
their academic and research strength (Ngok & Guo, 2008). The term “key academic
programs” refers to university teaching programs which are given the top priority for
development by the government. These officially selected key academic programs are
qualified to gain extra money from the government.
For the purpose of improving the research performance of humanities and social
sciences, science and technology, the central ministries launched several programs, such
as the Plan to Build Up Key National Bases for Humanities and Social Sciences Research
in Regular Higher Education Institutions in 1999, and the Program of National Key
Laboratories (Zhou, 2006). Universities who host these research centers are given extra
funds and research grants to launch new research projects in order to enhance their
overall research capacity and to improve their international reputation in those fields
(Ngok & Guo, 2008). The key national bases have become the focus of university
competition. The more such key bases are hosted, the higher the reputation a university
enjoys. In fact, the C9 League institutions have hosted a significant number of such
bases.
In order to bring in more outstanding professors for the top universities under the
Project 211 and Project 985, several national projects were launched to attract talents
worldwide. The national Yangtze Scholar Project was established in 1998 by Ministry of
Education and Li Ka Shing Foundation to recruit distinguished scholars worldwide to
participate building world-class academic units and universities in China. The following
project by the Ministry of Education as well as the State Bureau of Foreign Experts is
called the Program for Introducing Disciplinary Talents to Universities in 2006 (Ngok &
Guo, 2008). The aim of this program is to bring about 1000 academic grant masters to
49
China from the top 10 universities or research institutions all over the world and to
establish about 100 world-class disciplinary innovation bases. In 2006, 23 universities
under the Project 985, including the C9 League, became the first batch of beneficiaries of
this program (China Education and Research Network, 2006).
Another national project coordinated by Ministry of Human Resources and other
six ministries called Baiqianwang Talents Project aims at cultivating hundreds of
scientists, engineers and scholars with top-notch scientific and technological achievement
worldwide; thousands of national leading scholars in various disciplines; and over ten
thousand young scholars with high academic performance and potential by 2010. The
most recent national project is a five to ten year project called Thousands Talents Project
starting in 2008 to recruit 2000 overseas talents with distinguished achievement to work
in national laboratories, industry parks, state-own enterprises, and higher education
institutions, or to support them starting their own business in industries of national
interest. Local government initiates its own Hundreds Talents Project under the umbrella
of national Thousands Talents Project, recruiting hundreds of overseas talents to meet the
demand of local development. The major role of the above national projects is to provide
policy guidance for each higher education institutions and other entity in recruiting, and
to provide monetary reward and policy favor for those who are recruited.
Last but not the least, China’s entry to WTO and the issuance of the Regulation of
the People’s Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Co-operation in Running Schools are
another two influential initiatives that guide the development of research universities (Yu,
2010).
50
Since China joined the WTO in 2002, China’s higher education has been under
the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and opened up to foreign
institutions. This policy decision has had a strong impact on stimulating the
internationalization activities and igniting an academic discussion on the relevant issues
(Min, 2006). Chinese government has started to adapt its policy framework to regulate
and standardize the provision of higher education services by foreign institutions.
As a symbolic step, the State Council of China issued an important enactment –
Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Co-operation in
Running Schools – in March 2003. This enactment became effective in September 2003.
The regulation demonstrates clearly that the Chinese government encourages and
supports the endeavor by Chinese institutions to introduce advanced courses and
contents, teaching and research methods and management know-how through
cooperation with foreign institutions, especially higher-quality institutions. It shows the
process of application for approval of running Chinese-foreign cooperative educational
institutions and for official registration and operation. In addition, this regulation stresses
the needs of protect China’s sovereignty and public ethics in running cooperative
educational institutions (Kimura et al, 2004)
University strategies: the adoption of leaping forward in development and
global rankings.
With the strong support from the government, some top Chinese universities have
worked out their timetable to make themselves world class (Ngok & Guo, 2008). For
example, Peking University expects to be a world-class institution in 2015, and
Tshinghua University in 2020 respectively. In order to achieve their plan in the early
51
twenty-first century, these top Chinese universities have formulated their own
developmental strategies. Given the huge gap between the world-class universities and
Chinese universities, the top Chinese universities striving for world-class status
developed the idea of leaping forward in development (kuayueshi fazhan) in order to
catch up with the first-rate universities in the world, especially those in the United
Kingdom and the United States. The most effective way to achieve leaping forward in
development is identified as inviting in talented people from all parts of the world (Min,
2004). With the additional funding from the government, the top Chinese universities
have concentrated their attention on attracting the best and brightest academics from
overseas, and creating corresponding systems and environments that truly enable them to
bring their potentials into full play (Ngok & Guo, 2008).
Partly due to the rising globalization of higher education, there is a surge of
world university rankings in recent years. Due to the absence of a well-recognized
definition of world-classness, global league tables are taken as a symbolic and powerful
indicator to prove and advertise the standard of universities in the market-oriented global
education community (Chan & Lo, 2008). Despite the criticisms that many of these
ranking exercises are still far from systemic and scientific (Lynch, 2006), they are taken
seriously by the Chinese government, and their influences are expanding rapidly in the
academic field of the country (Mok, 2007). The Chinese government takes higher ranks
in global league table as their goal of higher education development (Chan & Lo, 2008).
University systems and related sectors, meanwhile, are attempting to produce their own
global ranking systems (Chan & Lo, 2008). The Academic Ranking of World
52
Universities (ARWU) developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University is an example of the
emerging marking systems in the university sector in China.
The ARWU is first published in June 2003 by the Center for World-Class
Universities and the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
China, and then updated on an annual basis (Center for World-Class Universities of
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2011). As a ranking that originally was produced as a
benchmark for gauging the international quality of China’s academic research output,
ARWU has attracted a great deal of attention from universities, governments and public
media worldwide. This league table is also criticized for its narrow and selective focuses
on sciences and engineering, and the lack of emphasis on arts, humanities and social
sciences (Lynch, 2006). By examining the methodology by which the Shanghai rankers
measure academic quality and assumes the government shares these views, it seems safe
to say the current Chinese definition of academic quality lies in the ability of university
faculty and researchers to produce and publish research, especially in the more technical
and scientific fields.
How far are Chinese universities from the world-class level?
In order to fulfill the above basic requirements, the Chinese government has
spared no efforts to develop a higher education system compatible with its growing
economic power and its grand strategy of a peaceful rise in the globalization era (Ngok &
Guo, 2008). Although the determination is firm, whether the government-dominated
campaign is effective is subject to suspicion. As Kathryn Mohrman, executive director of
the Hopkins-Nanjing center and the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International
Studies at Johns Hopkins University, argues, the consideration of world-class status
53
within China seems largely imitative rather than creative (2005). For Mohrman,
compared with world-class universities such as Oxford, Yale, and the Sorbonne, Chinese
top universities lack both the long history of these Western universities but also the
financial resources they enjoy. Therefore, it is unlikely that even the top universities in
China can compete directly in many areas of academic life.
Both the leaders of the government and universities in China have a realistic view
on the gap between Chinese universities and the world-class institutions (Ngok & Guo,
2008). However, they believe that China can catch up with the world-class universities
through the strong intervention by the government, and especially the huge extra finance.
Such a way of thinking reflects the path-dependence in the Chinese policy process. By
identifying the lack of money as the key constraint, the Chinese government focuses on
allocating more money into a few selected universities through a variety of projects,
programs, and research funds. However, the government allocated the money without
strict and clear criteria and procedures. In many cases, the money was distributed
arbitrarily (Ngok & Guo, 2008).
On top of the lack of a long history and enough financial resources, the central
constraints facing Chinese universities in their way to becoming world-class institutions
is academic freedom and university governance (Ngok & Guo, 2008). As Altbach
(2004a) argues, academic freedom and an atmosphere of intellectual excitement are
central to a world-class university, where professors and students are free to pursue
knowledge wherever it leads and to publish their work freely without fear of sanction by
academic or external authorities. In China, however, although the state permits unfettered
54
academic freedom in the non-political hard sciences, it still places strict restrictions on
teaching and research in the fields of social sciences and humanities.
In addition, the higher education institution governance is also a problem in China
(Ngok & Guo, 2008). As Altbach (2004a) observes, world-class universities have a
significant measure of internal self-governance and an entrenched tradition, ensuring that
the academic community has control over the central elements of academic life—the
admission of students, the curriculum, the criteria for the award of degrees, the selection
of new members of the professoriate, and the basic direction of the academic work of the
institution. In China, although many changes have taken place in the higher education
sector, especially the decentralization and diversification of financial responsibility, and
the application of a fee-charging system, the control over university by the state has
remained intact to a large extent (Ngok & Guo, 2008). The party-state still keeps strict
control over the universities politically, financially and administratively. Given the
tightening control from the Ministry, some Chinese academics even conclude that the
abolition of the Ministry of Education is the precondition for making Chinese universities
world class. Within the universities, the central elements of academic life are controlled
by the officials of the Party-state due to the prevailing system based on official authority
and rank. No independent academic evaluation system has been established.
Fundamentally speaking, China is lacking a culture to host world-class universities. As
Ruth Simmons (2003), President of Brown University, comments, an excellent university
system must be grounded in the culture of the society in which it is located.
55
Despite the above-mentioned problems, the policy of building world-class
universities is highly welcomed by Chinese universities (Ngok & Guo, 2008). The
formation and implementation of the policy of building world-class universities in China
reflects the ambition of both the Chinese government and Chinese universities to develop
high-quality higher education in the context of globalization and the knowledge-based
economy.
Internationalization.
The internationalization of higher education is the most remarkable phenomena
taking place in the education system in China in the third millennium (Sun, 2005). At the
national level, government initiatives such as Project 211 and Project 985, as discussed
above, have accelerated the pace of higher education internationalization and encouraged
institutional initiatives. At the institutional level, universities integrate international
perspectives into their development, with a focus on student mobility, teaching staff
mobility, internationalization of curriculum, establishing branch campuses, international
cooperation and mutual recognition, international joint programs and so on (Jiang, 2010).
A comprehensive understanding of the internationalization of higher education in China
consists of definitions, its political and socio-economic context, rationales, and strategies
as follows.
Definitions.
Conceptions of internationalization from Chinese perspective fall largely into two
sorts. One is philosophical, symbolizing the extent of openness, as a process of
communication and development, and of an education system that interacts openly with
foreign education (Yang, 2002b). Cross-national or cultural communications and
56
cooperation are embraced, with an aim of mutual understanding, and implies that an
education system in one country or region should be open to its counterparts in the rest of
the world, and communicate internationally. The process can promote the development of
all systems involved, and achieve mutual understanding. In this regard, the
internationalization of education can also be view as a goal for development (Li & Pan,
1992; Deng, 1994).
The other conception is operational, given substance by various activities in
educational practice that reflect and implement its philosophical meaning (Yang, 2002b).
It looks to international trend in areas such as educational ideas, models, contents,
curricula, textbooks, as well as teachers and students.
The Political and social-economic contexts of internationalization.
Understanding of internationalization relies heavily on both internal and external
political and socio-economic factors (Yu, 2010). Internationalization originally emerged
as an extension of the reform and open-door policy in 1978. In 1979, the State Council
ratified the Transactions of Implementation of Higher Education and Academic
Research, one of the most important government documents at the early stage of
economic transition that advocated the adoption of strengths of foreign countries to
develop Chinese higher education. This political intention has been further highlighted by
Deng Xiaoping in 1983 when he claimed that Chinese education needed to face the
modernization, face the world, and face the future. Such a claim gives a strong signal to
higher education to seek development through opening the door to the world (Liu, 2003;
Tang, 2000).
57
In China, Jiegui (to connect tracks) is a vivid expression of Chinese conformity
with international practice. The meaning of Jiegui was first reached in the context of
rising international trade of commodity and technology, and efforts to reform previous
Chinese system and regulations that had not been consistent with international
conventions . The usage of Jiegui moved far beyond international trade thereafter and has
been often and formally used in higher education (Xie, 1994). According to Zhang Renjie
(1994), among the first to explain the real meaning of Jiegui, Jiegui equates to
internationalization, with the central target to regulate China's education according to the
criteria and mainstream of international practice. He uses the word “integration” to refer
to Jiegui and states that its basic meaning is to link up China's educational practice with
the mainstream of international trends.
With its basic meaning as joining the world mainstream, Jiegui leads to the long-
standing argument on westernization, one-sided adaptation, and the issue of Chinese
national character (Yang, 2002b). Criticism has been raised that China's higher education
will lose its international status if it falls to maintain its own characteristics, or adapt itself
passively to higher education practice in economically advanced countries.
While most Chinese scholars realize that internationalization of higher education
in developing countries is always beset with difficulties, they accept is as a choice
yielding more advantages than disadvantages. It is also believed that current
internationalization process will not lead to westernization because it is using
international, rather than western standards (although they do acknowledge that there is a
high overlap between them). Internationalization is believed to value contributions from
all parts of the world, a process of mutual benefits rather than a one-way communication.
58
Rationales.
As Knight (2004) points out, internationalization of higher education should be
understood in both the national level and the institutional level. In the Chinese context,
the role of the government administration cannot be excluded in this regard. As higher
education institutions in China, including a very few in the private sector that appeared in
the middle of the 1980s, were directly administrated and supervised by the Ministry of
Education and other agencies in the central government as well by local governments at
various levels, the implementation of and progress made in internationalization of higher
education has been deeply affected by government policies and has responded rapidly to
the changes in policy (Huang, 2003). Two major rationales are identified for the Chinese
government to enhance the internationalization of higher education.
First, the Chinese government regards internationalization as a strategy to
strengthen national economic competitiveness (Yang, 2005). The current global and
national context, as argued by the government, has inevitably pushed the development of
international education to the fore (Zhang, 2003). With the challenges posed by
globalization, particularly the country’s entry into WTO in 2000, China’s
internationalization of higher education represents a tendency toward the dominance of
economic rationale, including improving the quality of human resources, meeting the
national demand, preventing brain drain, and attracting foreign capital into education,
which are economic in nature.
Second, internationalization is regarded as a means to enhance quality rather than
an end in itself. The trends of internationalization of higher education around the world
and the national initiatives taken by the Chinese government have made quality issue a
59
major concern of the Chinese research universities (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007).
International cooperation and exchange are expected to feather significantly in the quality
of processes and outcomes at project, institutional, and even system level (van der
Wende, 1999). This can be linked to the fact that all the national initiatives mentioned
above give priority to the improvement of the universities’ standards and performance.
The idea of establishing a leading group of universities is based on the expectation that
this group of universities will considerably improve their quality in teaching, research,
management and institutional efficiency. They will function as national “centers of
excellence” (Min, 2006, p.41), which can in turn set as good examples for other Chinese
higher education institutions to emulate their success in improving the quality of their
teaching, research and management (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007).
At the institutional level, Chinese higher education institutions regard
internationalization as the awareness and operation of interactions within and between
cultures through their teaching, research and services functions, which signifies an
integration of the international community with China’s higher education community
(Yang, 2005). In the past, academia in China was locally based (Chan & Lo, 2008).
Prestigious universities were satisfied with their predominant positions from a local
and/or regional perspective. Nevertheless, globalization has broken down national
borders and has blurred the differences between societies (Urry, 1998). An urgent need
exists for China's higher education to have active, continuous, and direct contact with the
world community, which largely constitutes China's higher education institutions agenda
(Yang, 2002b). In response to this global trend, local academia now sees
60
internationalization as a means to establish linkages with the international academic
communities (Chan & Lo, 2008).
Strategies.
A comprehensive understanding of internationalization strategies consist of
policies and programs at both the institutional level and the national level (Knight, 2004).
Based on this conceptual framework, national policies and initiatives, as well as
institution-based plans and activities regarding internationalization are discussed in this
section.
Prior to the later 1990s, the internationalization of higher education in China has
been fundamentally characterized by growth in the number of students and faculty
members sent abroad for further studies or research (Huang, 2007). Initially, almost all
were sent with public funding and their numbers were quite limited. Most were selected
from the leading universities. By 2003, the number of students and scholars who went to
foreign countries for study or research had risen to 117,300, 93 percent of whom were
private students (China Education Yearbook Editorial Board, 2004). The Chinese
government also instituted various measures to attract foreign students to China. In 2003
alone, the number of foreign students in China totaled 77,715, from 175 countries (China
Education Yearbook Editorial Board, 2004). Overall, sending students abroad constituted
the most important part of the internationalization of higher education in China during
these years. Since the late 1990s, new internationalization strategies have emerged in
China, including implementing national initiatives that facilitated the internationalization
of Chinese research universities, such as the Project 211 and Project 985 discussed
above; and institution-based activities and plans (Huang, 2007).
61
While the national dimension is conceived as complicated because it includes
different governmental entities that have primary or peripheral interests in the
international dimension of higher education, the national strategy to promote
internationalization of leading research universities can be apprehended clearly from the
Chinese government’s initiatives in encouraging key research universities to close the
quality gap between themselves and world leading universities since the early 1990s. The
drive to create world-class universities is considered as perhaps the strongest force for
internationalization (Mohrman, 2008). As discussed earlier, the Project 211, Project 985,
China’s entry to WTO and the issuance of the Regulation of the People’s Republic of
China on Chinese-Foreign Co-operation in Running Schools are the most influential
initiatives that give impetus to Chinese research universities to achieve the goal of
becoming internationally recognized world-class universities (Yu, 2010). Table 6 reports
the major initiatives that accelerated the development of internationalization of higher
education in China (Yu, 2010).
62
Table 5: Main Events that Facilitated the Development of
Internationalization of Higher Education in China
Year Events Impact on Higher Education
1979
State Council ratified Transactions of
Implementation of Higher Education and
Academic Research
Encouraged the adoption of advantages
from foreign countries to improve
Chinese higher education
1983
Deng Xiaoping claimed that education must
face modernization, face the world and face
the future
Gave direction to higher education
institutions to communicate and
cooperate more actively with foreign
countries
1993
Central Committee of CCP & State Council
announced The Guidelines for Educational
Reform and Development in China
Start a new round of reform education
system
1995
Launch of the Project 211
People’s Congress approved Education Law
of the People’s Republic of China
Launch of the Project 211 to develop
100 world-class universities and 100
disciplines
Chinese government policy of
encouraging universities and colleges to
cooperate with foreign countries was
approved by law
1998
President Jiang Zemin declared the launch of
Project 985
Raised government funding to help
selected universities to catch up with the
would leading universities
1998
People’s Congress approved Higher
Education Law of the People’s Republic of
China
Given autonomy to higher education
institutions to cooperate with foreign
institutions
2001 China entry into WTO
Higher education faces the challenges of
opening the educational market and
competing with foreign institutions in
China and overseas
2003
Ministry of Education enacted the Trial
Management Measures on Running Schools
Overseas by Chinese Higher Education
Institutions
Guided the cooperation between Chinese
and foreign institutions in foreign
countries
2003
State Council promulgated Regulations of the
People’s Republic of China on Chinese-
Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools
Encouraged importation of foreign
educational resources and regulated
Chinese-foreign cooperation of running
schools in China
Source: from Chen,2002; Liu, 2003; Li & Yuan., 2003; Min, 2004; and Ma, 2005,
synthesis by author.
More widely recognized exchange activities related to internationalization, such
as faculty and student mobility, curriculum reform, joint-degree programs with
universities worldwide, are implemented at the institutional level (Huang, 2007).
63
The cooperation between Chinese universities and foreign institutions, including
universities, enterprises, and international foundations has become a crucial means for
Chinese higher education institutions, particularly national key research universities to be
more actively engaged in the international community (Yu, 2010). Triggered by Project
211, Project 985 and other national initiatives, institution-based activities to gain
international recognition, financial enhancement, and progress in teaching and research
have reached a boom in the country. On top of that, many research universities have
developed their internationalization strategic plans to strengthen historical links and
established new partnerships with various foreign institutions (Hayhoe & Zha, 2004).
The internationalization of university curriculum in China has also been utilized.
A close look at this curriculum change consists of curriculum designed for international
students and domestic students (Huang, 2006). In regard to curriculum by field of study
for international students, humanities remain the most popular major, while a large
number of programs in social sciences and natural sciences have become accessible to
international students. The number of higher education institutions that are qualified to
enroll international students is increasing. Furthermore, international students have
moved from classes or educational structures that are specifically designated and
separated from local students to departments or institutes where they can take courses in
the same classes as Chinese students. On the other hand, changes are also taking place in
the internationalization of curriculum mainly for domestic students. Changes include
three general aspects: introducing English-language products into Chinese campuses,
implementing instruction in English or bilingually (Chinese and English), and integrating
an international dimension into university teaching and learning (Huang, 2007). Original
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foreign university textbooks used in world-class universities such as Harvard University,
Stanford University and MIT are utilized in Chinese classroom. With increased import of
original textbooks in English, and China’s participation in the WTO, more and more
higher education institutions in China have begun to make use of English language or
bilingual instruction (in most cases, referring to Chinese and English) in university
teaching and research activities (Huang, 2006). Furthermore, programs with international
subjects or contents have been introduced. What is especially worth noting is that some
programs leading to joint or double degrees, in partnership with foreign countries and
universities in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Special mention should be of the rapid increase in the number of joint or
transnational programs in partnership with foreign institutions since 1995, including
programs leading to degrees from foreign universities or universities in Hong Kong
(Huang, 2007). By 2004, the number of joint programs provided by Chinese higher
education institutions in collaboration with foreign partners had reached 745, and 169
joint programs were qualified to award degrees from foreign or Hong Kong universities
(Ministry of Education, 2005b).
Further, much effort has been made to provide a Chinese higher education service
for local students outside China (Huang, 2007). Although the number of degree-
conferring programs offered outside the country is much smaller than the number
provided on Chinese campuses, rapid progress has recently been made. Transnational
programs exported by Chinese universities are no longer confined to studies in Chinese
language, but now also include some professional programs such as international trade,
management, science and engineering (Huang, 2003).
65
Based on the examination of internationalization of higher education in China
from the perspectives of definition, the political and socio-economic context, rationales
and strategies, one can conclude that internationalization has undoubtedly emerged as a
priority in national policy, and institutional mission. However, the notion of infusing
international and comparative perspectives throughout the teaching, research, and service
missions of higher education, challenges the notion that internationalization be limited to
a dimension that focuses on climbing the world university league, but should be targeted
at building an international setting in the higher education sector.
Issues emerged in internationalization.
Despite the achievements, several issues have emerged in the internationalization
process.
First, globalization has not changed the essence of China’s internationalization of
higher education. A clear indicator is that China still exports more students abroad than
they accept from abroad, especially from Europe and the United States, and imports more
foreign educational programs and services than it exports (Huang, 2007). In this sense, it
is appropriate to classify China as the import and export type identified earlier. To be
more precise, it is Western models and institutions that provide the foreign exports, a
pattern that has continued from the colonial into the contemporary period (Altbach &
Selvaratnam, 1989). The internationalization of higher education still maintains its basic
character as a process of catching up with advanced countries and approaching the
current centers of learning, mostly identified with the English-speaking countries in
Europe and even more so the United States (Huang, 2007). This phenomenon does not
seem to have a significant link with the level of national economic development, the
66
political system or the stage of higher education development, but rather is due to the fact
that China has not established the universally-recognized excellence of its own academic
system or maintained a quality of higher learning that can exert academic influence at an
international or global level.
Second, there is no stimulation of mass internationalization, but rather of
internationalization that is restricted to several selected institutions with the intent to train
the elite (Huang, 2007). The economic reform has contributed to the regional disparity of
education (Ngok & Kwong, 2003). There is great variation in educational development
across provinces. Generally speaking, the rapid expansion of higher education in recent
decades benefited mainly the people in the coastal provinces and large cities.
Traditionally the central government has played a redistributive and equalizing role.
However, the autonomy given to local governments since 1978 accentuates the regional
disparities. With fewer resources and a greater appreciation of the immediate returns
from industrial and agricultural investments than the delayed and less direct benefits from
education, local governments with few resources sometimes do not provide adequate
support to education (Ngok & Kwong, 2003). As a result, regions with few resources lag
further behind whereas local governments with better resources have made greater
advances in education. On top of that, the national policy of giving concentrated support
to a small number of research universities to upgrade their academic level to world-class
status will lead to further differentiation of higher education institutions with a few key
research universities at the top (Min, 2006).
67
Third, China faces the stratification of scientists into two main groups: one with
an orientation to internationally visible research areas, and the other working in areas
with only local significance (Zhong, 1998). Natural scientists tend to orient themselves to
international community. In humanities and social sciences, by contrast, there is a big gap
between what the Chinese regard as worthwhile scholarship, and what interests the
predominant international community. The stratification is partly due to China's strict
control of social sciences and humanities, its discouragement of interest in certain social
sciences and humanities research topics to avoid potential threat to the legitimacy of
existing power structure.
Finally, a large number of international cooperative projects and programs in
Chinese universities, however, are conducted in a passive, instrumentalism-oriented way
without clear objectives for cultural interaction. The majority of Chinese officials and a
significant number of intellectuals still pay attention solely to the technical side of
Western civilization. Overall, the long-established segregation of ideology and utility, the
crucial triangular relationship between government, society and universities for
maintaining a healthy higher education system has not been established, which places
great obstacles to create world-class universities and become internationalized.
The above discussion of globalization and the higher education restructuring in
China clearly shows that China’s higher education system is increasingly affected by
global economic forces. Higher education institutions, top-tier public research
universities in particular, are striving for world-class status. Internationalization of higher
education, while emerging as a necessary means to respond to the globalization and to
reach world-classness, has been affected by more diverse driving forces than previously
68
and has combined worldwide trends with China’s socio-economic background (Huang,
2007). Nevertheless, the challenges and issues emerged in globalization and
internationalization require close examination. A key issue is the gap among higher
education institutions in terms of resources and performance, due to the regional disparity
of higher education, and the national policy in favor of selected leading research
universities.
Changing higher education governance.
As argued earlier that globalization has significantly changed the nation-state
governance, higher education restructuring in China has indicated a fundamental change
in higher education governance. Conceptualizing the efforts the Chinese government has
adopted to restructure its higher education sector, it is clear that the state has gradually
moved beyond the “interventionist state model” towards the “deregulated state model”
and “accelerationist state model” (Mok, 2005b, p. 78). By “deregulated state model”, the
policy trend and style is characterized by decentralization and mobilization and
“deregulated governance” is central to this model. By diversifying the coordinating
institutions with the means of the empowerment of local governments, the
autonomization of individual higher education institutions, the involvement of the market
and the community, the nature of the work the state does has changed from directly
coordinating and administering education itself to determine where the work will be done
and by whom (Mok, 2005b). The central features of the “accelerationist state model” are
marketization, privatization and societal-sources-led. When analyzing education
provision, financing and delivery in light of this model, the state may instrumentally
make use of the market and other non-state sectors/actors to resolve the problems
69
originally be addressed and resolved by the state. “Market governance”, whereby internal
competition and efficiency drive will be the determining forces to higher education policy
and development, is anticipated to become popular (Mok, 2005b).
Research on Institutional Internationalization
The complex nature of internationalization phenomenon calls for rigorous and
sustainable models for assessing the dynamic of institutional internationalization. By far
the various approaches to understanding internationalization have diverse foci. Some
concentrate on identifying institutions as a particular type, some rely almost exclusively
on an enumeration of international activities or results, other only consider one
component of internationalization, and many are focused too narrowly on organizational
structure or policy (Burriss, 2006). This section reviews some theoretical models to
assess the internationalization of higher education and presents a model for studying the
internationalization in Chongqing University. It first reviews the Internationalization
Index developed by the American Council of Education (ACE) to analyze the degree of
internationalization in research universities. Second, a set of indicators to assess the
internationalization of research universities in China is summarized. Finally, a conceptual
model developed by Davies (2001) called the Institutionalization of Approaches to
Internationalization in Universities is reviewed.
Internationalization Index by ACE.
Among the endeavors to assess the internationalization of higher education, ACE
conducted a national survey of higher education institutions. Survey questions were
grouped into six dimensions, known as the six dimensions of the Internationalization
Index:
70
Articulated commitment
Articulated commitment is the extent to which an institution has written
statements or established policies supporting internationalization. It can be assessed
through questions about the institution’s mission statement, strategic plan, formal
assessments, recruitment literature, and guidelines for study abroad and faculty
promotions.
Academic offerings
This dimension of the Internationalization Index examines the availability of for-
credit, undergraduate academic offerings with an international focus. This includes
international opportunities such as foreign language learning, internationalized general
education requirements and course offerings, study abroad, and other programs offered
abroad for credit. Noncredit or extracurricular activities are not included.
Organizational infrastructure
This dimension reflects the resources that institutions provide to support and
promote internationalization on campus. These resources include physical facilities, such
as dedicated office space; human resources, such as standing campus-wide committees
and international office staff; and communications and technological support, through the
use of e-mail, newsletters, web pages, or other communication means. These resources
promote internationalization primarily by organizing, publicizing, and supporting new
internationalization goals and initiatives.
71
External funding
This dimension represents the effort that institutions put forth to seek external
funds specifically earmarked for international education programs and activities and the
extent to which they receive government or private funding dedicated to advancing
internationalization.
Institutional investment in faculty
Faculty involvement is key to internationalization. Faculty have the most direct
contact with students and create the curriculum. In addition, in the institutions where few
students participate in education abroad or attend international extracurricular activities,
the classroom remains the primary means to expose students to international issues,
events, and cultures. This dimension measures the professional development
opportunities available to faculty to help them increase their international skills and
knowledge and internationalize their courses. Specifically, this dimension questions
whether an institution has earmarked funds to support international activities by faculty
(leading study abroad excursions, teaching and conducting research abroad, and
internationalizing their courses), faculty participation in workshops on internationalizing
courses, foreign language opportunities for faculty, or recognition awards for their
international activities.
International students and student programs
Students learn about international events, cultures, and issues through carious
extracurricular activities offered on and off campus and through their contact with
international students. This dimension aims to measure institutional support for the
unscripted learning that takes place on every campus. Specific questions related include
72
the number of international students on campus; the amount of funding to recruit
international students, educate students abroad, and offer internationally focused campus
activities; and the existence of programs aimed at providing opportunities for native and
international students to learn from one another outside the classroom.
Internationalization indicators developed by Chinese scholars.
There is a limited number of research done by Chinese scholars using a set of
indicators to assess internationalization of Chinese research universities. Using a survey
measure to generate data from 26 Chinese universities, Chen et al. (2009) developed a set
of indicators to assess the internationalization of research universities in China. The
indicators are under the following five categories: (1) strategic planning and
organizational structure, (2) faculty and student mobility, (3) teaching and research, (4)
infrastructure, and (5) output exchange. Indicators such as percentage of presidential
members with more than one year overseas experience, percentage of department with
full-time stuff for international affairs are under the category one. Indicators such as
percentage of full-time faculty with more than one-year overseas experience, percentage
of international students, and number of foreign faculty are under category two. Category
three includes number of signed agreements for international cooperation between
colleges, percentage of curricula using foreign textbook, and percentage of course taught
by foreign languages. Category four consists of two indicators: collection of foreign
books and number of foreign journals. Category five covers number of international
conferences held by the institutions, articles included by Science Citation Index (SCI),
Engineering Index (EI) and Index to Scientific and Technical Proceedings (ISIP), and
articles published in foreign journals.
73
Institutionalization of approaches to internationalization in universities by
Davies.
The above multiple internationalization indicators are able to generate rich
quantitative data, which is an important first step in analyzing institutional
internationalization (Burriss, 2006). However, those indicators are simple measures of the
output of institutional internationalization efforts. de Wit (2002) suggests a process
approach to internationalization which emphasizes the concepts of integration and
coordination, rather than the fragmented-activities approach. Davies (1992, 2001) argues
that universities have traditionally been internationally minded in terms of research and
scholarship, the focus and implementation of this has often been at the departmental or
individual level. Due to the current factors fuelling internationalism, it is necessary to
adopt more proactive modes of policy formation and institutionalization of these policies.
A conceptual model was developed by Davies (1992) called the Institutionalization of
Approaches to Internationalization in Universities.
According to Davies (1992, 2001), institutionalization may be viewed along two
dimensions:
Some universities will take broad international elements in a sporadic, irregular,
often-jerk way, with many loose ends in terms of procedure structure. Others will
develop precise and explicit procedures in an ordered and systematic manner. There is
thus a spectrum from the ad hoc to the highly systematic.
For some universities, internationalism is essentially a relatively marginal activity
– an interesting and stimulating addendum to a predominantly regional or national focus.
For others, internationalism is highly central to their work and permeates every aspect of
74
institutional life. There is thus another spectrum from marginality to centrality.
These two dimensions, as is seen in Figure 1, result in the development of a matrix four
quadrants.
Figure 1: Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization in Universities
Marginal/Ad Hoc Systematic/Marginal
Central/Ad Hoc Systematic/Central
Source: Davies, 1992, 2001
Universities should be able to locate themselves in one or other of the four
quadrants, according to the typical operating characteristics in each quadrant. It is worth
using this conceptual framework to reflect on the dynamics of internationalization in a
university. Most institutions will find themselves in Quadrant A initially. If external
pressures towards international entrepreneurialism are strong and finances are precarious,
the institution will move from Quadrant A to C quickly, and remain in Quadrant C until
firm leadership moves the institution into Quadrant D. With weak external circumstances,
an institution may move from Quadrant A to B, and then into Quadrant D with careful
planning.
Quadrant A: Ad Hoc—Marginal
The amount of international business is relatively small: some international
students; a small amount of consultancy or continuing education. Research linkages will
largely be confined to motivated individuals and arrangements for changing and
A B
C D
75
financing are variable and unsystematic. A weak database exists on opportunities,
competitions and trends in the international market place and little systematic assessment
of opportunity occurs.
Quadrant B: Systematic—Marginal
The amount of business is still relatively small, but is well organized. Areas of
international activity are precisely identified, and correspond with fields of internal
strength and market opportunity. Projects and efforts are focused on particular market
segments in which the university will endeavor to become expert and niche marketing is
usual. Costing and pricing are accurate and realistic. A small number of institutional
agreements are meaningful, and work.
Quadrant C: Ad Hoc—Central
The amount of international business is considerable across a number of different
categories and a wide range of market segments and client groups. Whereas there may be
some strong areas, marketing is usually ill-focused. Curriculum may not be particularly
geared to international issues in any coordinated way. Acceptance of projects is usually
on a knee-jerked basis. Costing and pricing are eccentric. There is a tendency for a
sizeable number of institutional agreements, many of which are not operational but
largely rhetorical. Tensions are rife. Support services are often not geared to considerable
international efforts, and ground rules change with bewildering rapidity.
Quadrant D: Central—Systematic
There is a large volume of international work in many categories, which reinforce
each other and have intellectual coherence. The international mission is explicit and
followed through with specific policies and supporting procedures. The data base is
76
extensive and regularly updated. Agency arrangements exist in overseas countries, as do
partner institutions for the delivery of programs, with clear and effective operating
procedures. Personnel and curriculum policies are continually appraised and readjusted to
support the international effort. Financial management is highly systematic, as are inter-
institutional linkages. Substantial financial commitment to international projects is
apparent. A dedicated organizational structure to support a range of international efforts
is in place, and the tension existing between these organs and mainstream faculties is
usually constructive. Reward and incentive mechanisms are properly used.
An Analytical Framework for Institutional Internationalization
By incorporating the above analytical frameworks, the researcher developed a
hybrid framework (see Figure 2) for studying the internationalization of Chongqing
University. This is a process approach to examine the institutional internationalization,
rather than a fragmented-activities approach to simply quantify the output.
Figure 2: Analytical Framework for Institutional Internationalization
77
Phase One - Context Analysis
Category Major Indicators
Institutional
Rationales
• International profile and reputation
• Student and staff development
• Income generation
• Strategic alliance
• Research and knowledge production
National
Rationales
• Human resources development
• Strategic alliance
• Commercial trade
• Nation building
• Social and cultural development
Phase Two - Internationalization Index
Dimensions Major Indicators
Articulated
Commitment
• Internationalization in mission statement
• Internationalization as one of the top five priorities in current strategic plan
• Internationalization been formally assessed
• Internationalization highlighted in student recruitment literature
• International work or experience as a consideration in faculty promotion and
tenure decisions
• Students studying abroad without graduation delay
Academic
Offerings
• Foreign languages taught
• Courses taught by foreign languages
• Curricula using foreign textbook
• International focus in courses
• For-credit Study abroad program
Organizational
Infrastructure
• Campus-wide internationalization committee
• Administrative personnel with overseas experience
• Communication on internationalization on campus
• Dormitory for international students and faculty
• Collection of foreign books and journals
• Expenditure on international affairs
Internal &
External
funding
• Funding for internationalization efforts
Institutional
Investment
in Faculty
• Funding for participating internationalization activities
• Internationalization opportunities
• Foreign faculty recruitment
International
Students
and Student
programs
• Internationally oriented extracurricular opportunities for students
• Funding for internationally oriented extracurricular opportunities
• Number of international students
• Funding for international student recruiting and internationally oriented
extracurricular activities
Output
Exchange
• Number of international conferences hosted
• Number of articles included by international research article databases and
foreign journals
78
Phase Three - Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization
Marginal/Ad Hoc Systematic/Marginal
Central/Ad Hoc Systematic/Central
The main contents of the analytical framework are discussed below.
Phase I: Context analysis.
This phase examines the context in which Chongqing University fulfills its
current internationalization mission, from both institutional level, and national level. It
studies institutional rationales from the teaching, research and service missions of the
university. More specifically, institutional rationales include international profile and
reputation, student and staff development, income generation, strategic alliance, as well
as research and knowledge production (Knight, 2004).At the national level, the important
rationales driving internationalization at the postsecondary level are examined based on
Knight’s updated definition of internationalization, which includes human resources
development, strategic alliance, commercial trade, nation building, as well as social and
cultural development (2004). Related national policies and initiatives will be studied.
Phase II: Internationalization index.
Based on the Internationalization Index developed by ACE (Green, 2005), and
the set of internationalization indicators generalized by Chen et al. (2009), this phase
creates an Internationalization Index to study the internationalization strategies adopted
A B
C D
79
by Chongqing University. Findings of this phase provide descriptive evidence on the
input for institutional internationalization and output. The analysis follows seven
dimensions: articulated commitment, academic offerings, organizational infrastructure,
internal and external funding, institutional investment in faculty, international students
and student programs, and output exchange. The elements under each category are
described as below.
Articulated commitment.
Articulated commitment is the extent to which the university has written
statements or established policies supporting internationalization. It can be assessed
through questions about the institution’s mission statement, strategic plan, formal
assessments, recruitment literature, and guidelines for study abroad and faculty
promotions.
Academic offerings.
This dimension examines the availability of for-credit, academic offerings with an
international focus. This includes international opportunities such as signed agreements
for international cooperation between colleges, foreign language learning, course taught
by foreign languages, curricula using foreign textbook, internationalized general
education requirements and course offerings, study abroad, and other programs offered
abroad for credit. Noncredit or extracurricular activities are not included. The researcher
looks into academic offerings at both undergraduate and graduate level, rather than
merely undergraduate level in the original framework. The reason is that research and
graduate education constitute a significant, if not the significant part of research
80
universities in China. A comprehensive examination of internationalization of academic
offerings cannot exclude graduate programs.
Organizational infrastructure.
This dimension reflects the resources that institutions provide to support and
promote internationalization on campus. These resources include facilities, such as
dedicated office space, collection of foreign books and journals; human resources, such
as standing campus-wide committees and international office staff, and expenditure on
international affairs; and communications and technological support, through the use of
e-mail, newsletters, web pages, or other communication means. These resources promote
internationalization primarily by organizing, publicizing, and supporting new
internationalization goals and initiatives.
Internal and external funding.
This dimension represents the effort that institutions put forth to ensure internal
funds and to seek external funds specifically earmarked for international education
programs and activities and the extent to which they receive government or private
funding dedicated to advancing internationalization.
Institutional investment in faculty.
This dimension measures the professional development opportunities available to
faculty to help them increase their international skills and knowledge and internationalize
their courses, as well as foreign faculty recruitment. Specifically, this dimension
questions whether an institution has earmarked funds to support international activities by
faculty (leading study abroad excursions, teaching and conducting research abroad, and
81
internationalizing their courses), foreign language opportunities for faculty, recognition
awards for their international activities, or the number of foreign faculty.
International students and student programs.
This dimension aims to measure institutional support for the unscripted learning
that takes place on every campus. Specific questions related include the number of
international students on campus; the existence of programs aimed at providing
opportunities for native and international students to learn from one another outside the
classroom, and the amount of funding to recruit international students, and to support
internationally oriented extracurricular activities.
Output exchange.
This dimension measures the extent to which the academic achievements of
faculty members have been recognized internationally. It covers number of international
conferences held by the institutions, articles included by international research article
databases, and articles published in foreign journals.
Phase III: Institutionalization of approaches to internationalization.
This phase applies the Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization
in Universities created by Davies (1992, 2001) to identify the remaining work needed to
be done for Chongqing University to reach its future internationalization goal. Based on
the data generated from phase one and two, the researcher is able to position Chongqing
University within the matrix by identifying its current internationalization status and
future internationalization goal. Suggestions on future change, therefore, can be based on
the University’s current position according to the matrix and goal to be pursued in future.
This analysis incorporates various factors influencing internationalization into analysis
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process, including rationales, strategies and organizational structure, and therefore is able
to generate an all-round understanding of internationalization of Chongqing University. It
is a step further to the Internationalization Index, which avoids simply focusing on the
input and output.
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CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Key Chinese universities, especially the Project 985 participants, are engaged in
internationalizing their institutions in order to become world-class universities. The
present case study engages in a systematic and comprehensive method for analyzing
efforts toward internationalization and for assessing the dynamics of the process of
internationalization of Chongqing University. This case study attempts to answer the
following research questions:
• What rationales guide internationalization strategies Chongqing University
utilizes at present?
• What strategies does Chongqing University utilize to advance its
internationalization?
• What remaining work needs to be done to reach Chongqing University’s future
internationalization goal?
Research Design
This study uses a qualitative, descriptive research methodology. Qualitative
research can be defined as an overarching concept of several forms of research which
help to illuminate and explain the meaning of phenomenon in social settings (Merriam,
1998). The data collection methodologies included in qualitative research are
observations, interviews, and analysis of written documents and artifacts (Patton, 2002).
Given the research questions posed in this case and the type of knowledge being sought
in this study, a qualitative analysis is adopted in this case study, which allows for greater
analysis of individual depth and detail (Patton, 2002). Specifically, case study research is
appropriate because it allows for an in-depth study of instances of the phenomenon of
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internationalization at a higher education institution through the examination of its
national context and from the perspective of the participants involved.
Another advantage of the case study method is that it allows the researcher as an
instrument to react to new areas of inquiry as they appear. In qualitative research, the
researcher is the key tool for obtaining and analyzing the data, he or she can respond to
various situations by taking full advantage of occasions for seeking out crucial
information (Merriam, 1998; Yin, 2003). The case study method therefore is the
preferred choice of methodology given that it allows the researcher to explore additional
avenues of information that may arise in the case study of Chongqing University.
Furthermore, the case study method has advantages over other methods when “the
‘how’ or ‘why’ question being asked is about a contemporary set of events, over which
the investigator has little or no control” (Yin, 2003, p.9). Given that these parameters fit
the situation specific to the researcher’s relationship and research questions with regards
to the Chongqing University’s internationalization efforts, the case study methodology is
one that provided a great deal of insight and data.
In anticipating the need for laying the foundations for this study the researcher
began reviewing literature in November 2010 on the historical background of
globalization, the rationale behind globalization and its impact on higher education
worldwide. In March of 2011 the researcher used the knowledge from the literature to
create research questions and to develop analytical framework. Once this was finished,
the researcher moved forward with identifying the criteria for the university that qualified
for the research.
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The next step was going back to the research questions and deciding what
evidence would be needed in order to answer each part of the research questions:
rationales for internationalization, internationalization strategies and what remaining
work needs to be done to reach the University’s future internationalization goal. It
became clear that in order to achieve the purpose of this study the researcher would need
to develop specific tools to help sort through the criteria. Eventually, the researcher
focused on two ways of collecting data. These include interviews and examination of
documents. Each of these tools allows the researcher to triangulate the data.
Background of Chongqing University
Criterion sampling was used to purposefully select a key Chinese university in the
study. The predetermined criterion is that the university for this case study must be a
Project 985 participant, but not a C9 League institution. Furthermore, internationalization
should be visible in both the institution’s mission statement, and activities and programs.
Given these conditions, Chongqing University was proposed for this study.
Chongqing University is a key national university in China, directly under the State
Ministry of Education. This university is one of the Project 985 universities with full
support in the construction and development from the central and local government of
China (CQU, 2012). Chongqing University is located in the city of Chongqing, a major
municipality of industry and commerce in the Southwest of China, an economic center on
the upper reaches of Yangtze River.
Founded in 1929, by the early 1940s, Chongqing University had become a
national comprehensive university consisting of six colleges in liberal arts, science,
engineering, law science and medical science. To meet the needs of higher education
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development in the twenty-first century, and to further enhance the university’s overall
strength, in accordance with the State resolution on institutional reform of universities,
Chongqing University merged with Chongqing Jianzhu University and Chongqing
Architectural College on May 31, 2000, forming a new Chongqing University. At
present, Chongqing University runs 27 colleges, plus the Graduate School, the City
College of Science and Technology, the College of Continuing Education, the College of
Networking Education. The University now has a total enrollment of 46,000 students, of
which 16,000 are master’s and doctoral students, and 30,000 undergraduate students. The
number of faculty and staff members currently is 5,800, among which about 3,000 are
full-time faculty. As a research-oriented university, Chongqing University has established
eight national key labs and ministerial key labs, 42 provincial key labs, and 93 labs of
different specialties. Since its founding, Chongqing University has become an important
education base as well as a research center (CQU, 2012).
In December 2010, Dr. Lin Jianhua, the former provost of Peking University,
became the new president of Chongqing University. In 2011, the new leadership set a
new goal for the university, which is to become one of the best universities in China by
2029, the centennial of its foundation.
With its distinctive status in the Chinese higher education system, in 2001,
Chongqing University was selected for the Project 985, receiving 540 million CNY
funding from both the central and municipal government. By 2011, Chongqing
University has participated three phases of Project 985.The goal set by the government
for the university is to become a leading research university in China with international
reputation. Chongqing University attaches great importance to international academic
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exchange and cooperation. It has established inter-university exchange links with over
100 higher education institutions in 20 countries such as the United States, England,
France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea. Since the implementation
of the reform and open-door policy in 1978, Chongqing University has sent nearly 3000
teachers abroad for further study and research, and received over 7,200 overseas scholars
including some world famous scholars. Besides, the university has forged cooperative
relations with about 20 prestigious international corporations and institutions. On top of
that, Chongqing University is authorized by the Ministry of Education to receive overseas
students with the Chinese government scholarship. In 2010, more than 900 international
students are studying at Chongqing University, from over 80 countries (CQU, 2012).
The Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges at Chongqing University
is the central unit administering the institutional internationalization efforts, which
include strategic planning of internationalization, developing global partners and
coordinating in the process of carrying out such plan (CQU, 2012). Currently, Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges consists of the following sections: Section of
Overseas Faculty and International Relations; Section of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan
Affairs; Section of Exchanges; and International Student Office. There are one director,
two deputy directors, one head for each section and staff.
Overall, Chongqing University is a key Chinese research university in Project 985,
with extensive internationalization efforts. Compared to the C9 League institutions,
Chongqing University is still striving for advancing its league table ranking to become a
first-class comprehensive research university nationally. Internationally, Chongqing
University currently aims to increase its recognition as a well-known Chinese university
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with selective excellence, rather than a world-class university as their C9 League peers.
The educational philosophy of Chongqing University is "taking root in Chongqing,
finding a foothold in the Southwest, facing the West, serving the whole nation, stepping
towards the world" (CQU, 2012). Such characteristics fit each criterion for the selection
of case study subject.
Population and Sample
The population for this case study consists of all stakeholders of the institution,
including the policy makers, university administrators, faculty and staff members,
students and their parents. The sample is composed of senior institutional administrators
including the president and the vice president in charge of international affairs, the
Director of Academic Affairs, the Director of Human Resources, Dean of the School of
Economics and Business Administration, one of the most active schools in
internationalization at Chongqing University, and program administrators in the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges, including the director, two deputy directors,
one section head, and two associate deans of the College of International Cooperation and
Exchanges under the administration of the Office. This sample population is able to
provide comprehensive information about the internationalization of Chongqing
University, due to their extensive involvement in internationalization activities of
Chongqing University.
Data Collection
Data collection took place at the university site over a period of two weeks.
Additional information was obtained through document and records analysis. The first
issue in data collection was to get access to the data. How to get access to conduct the
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case study depends on “who you are, what you want to study, and what you hope to
accomplish” (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003, p. 73). As a Chinese student studying in a doctoral
program in the United States focusing on internationalization of higher education, the
researcher’s goal was to understand the internationalization of higher education at
Chongqing University, and then to develop recommendations regarding how to advance
comprehensive internationalization in China’s context. The researcher’s three-year
teaching experience as a faculty in a key Chinese university, five-year working
experience coordinating international programs with China at American higher education
institutions, and doctoral course work have prepared the researcher well for collecting
qualitative data.
For the purpose of this study the researcher developed the following forms of
data collection: interviews and document analysis. A thorough understanding of the
internationalization of Chongqing University, as well as different perspectives on
internationalization, were then developed.
Interviews.
The primary method of data collection was through interviews of personnel
involved in the internationalization process. An interview is defined as an intentional
conversation for the researcher to find out what is “in and on someone else’s mind”
(Patton, 2002, p. 278). Interview instruments can provide in-depth information embedded
in contexts and present particularistic findings of the cases. It also allows the interviewer
to probe and clarify questions.
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The first step of the data collection through interview was to identify the key
personnel who were knowledgeable of the internationalization. Related information will
be mainly solicited through interviews. The target key interviewees include senior
institutional leaders, program administrators and deans involved extensively in
institutional internationalization. Snowball sampling was utilized to select qualified
individuals for interviewing. The researcher asked the interviewees to nominate other
individuals who would also be willing to participate in this interview process in order to
give their information or opinion on the topic. Then, the researcher interviewed these new
individuals and continued in the same way until the material became saturated. The list of
the final interviewees can be seen in Appendix A.
All interviews were carried out personally in a one-to-one style. Each interview
lasted from an hour to two hours. They were conducted in Chinese. The interviewees’
native language was used because language is more than simply a means of
communication. It is also a tool for constructing reality (Spradly, 1979).
Prior to each interview, the researcher sent an outline of the dissertation and an
interview protocol to each interviewee via email (see Appendix B & C). At the beginning
of each interview, the researcher again explained the purpose, the main contents of the
interview, the way to use the data, and the rights of the interviewee. The interviews were
contextually grounded, because the interview protocol was refined by first asking for
feedback from some senior administrators in Chinese universities prior to conducting the
interviews. Specifically the researcher sent the pilot of the interview protocol to the
senior administrators of Chongqing University. Opinions and feedback on the protocol
were solicited before the researcher moved on to the actual interviews. To remain open to
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the information that emerges (Patton, 2002), semi-structured, open-ended interview
questions were adopted. This choice gave the researcher flexibility to pursue a wide range
of topics, offered the subjects opportunity to shape the content of the conversation, and
yielded comparable data across the subjects.
The interview questions center on the internationalization strategies adopted by
the university, the rationales behind the choice of these strategies, the interviewee’s role
in internationalization, and the perceived gap between Chongqing University’s current
internationalization status and its future internationalization goal. Those questions were
constructed and grouped in accordance with the guidance of the analytical framework.
Document analysis.
Documents and records were also be acquired as a supplementary method of data
collection, mainly for providing chronicle information that helps to understand the
national and local contexts and the implementation process of internationalization.
Documentation is useful in the study as it provides information that facilitates
understanding the philosophy of an organization (Hancock, 2002) as well as detailed
rationale behind changes and initiatives. It also adds to the interview information in terms
of reducing the threat to validity caused by memory loss.
Documentation related to the Project 985 as manifested at the Chongqing
University was analyzed. Document types include policy statements, press releases,
project announcements, speeches and publications by executive administrators of the
institution as well as the Ministry of Education. Although the study analyzes the
internationalization at this specific university, it is worth pointing out that directives and
speeches given by officials at the Ministry of Education yield rich and relevant
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information for the research. In the context of Chinese higher education, it is necessary to
include documents issued by the Ministry as the Project 985 is a top-down policy
initiated by the central government, which is also closely monitored by the Ministry.
Therefore, Ministry of Education memoranda and speeches were included in the inquiry.
Most documents were published between May 1998 and May 2012, although
background information published prior to May 1998 were also included to help illustrate
the purpose and intention by policy makers.
Data Analysis
The purpose of data analysis is to find meanings by breaking data down to identify
patterns, themes, and characteristics. This study conducted the data analysis based on the
analytical framework developed by the researcher (see Figure 2 in Chapter II). The study
organized data related to four distinct categories (1) institution description, (2) rationales
for internationalization, (3) internationalization strategies and (4) remaining work needs
to be done.
Institution description.
This part utilized the qualitative data obtained from the interviews and the
acquisition of documents and records relevant to the institution’s internationalization
efforts. The description included the mission statement, strategic plan, planning and
proposal of institutional internationalization, and internationalization assessment. It
aimed to provide background information to better understand the institution.
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Rationales for internationalization.
Based on the data gathered from Phase One – Context Analysis, institutional and
national rationales of internationalization of Chongqing University were generated to
answer the first key research question: what rationales guide the internationalization
strategies utilized at present.
Internationalization strategies.
Phase Two – Internationalization Index generated information primarily to
answer the second research question: What internationalization strategies does
Chongqing University utilize at present. The analysis was guided by the seven themes of
the Index.
Remaining work needs to be done.
Data gathered from Phase One & Two provided information for the researcher to
identify the position of Chongqing University in the Institutionalization of Approaches to
Internationalization in Universities matrix in Phase Three. This step was conducted to
identify the remaining work needed to be done to reach the University’s
internationalization goal, by evaluating its current internationalization status, and by
identifying its future internationalization goal.
The data of this study was qualitative data, gained primarily from the semi-
structured interviews and acquisition of documents and records. Accordingly, the
qualitative analysis technique used in this research was content analysis, which utilized
interview transcripts, notes and memos to identify categories and themes. The content
analysis conducted in this study involved the follow steps: transcribing, translating,
coding, and identifying major themes. Each step of the analysis is discussed below.
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Transcribing and translating.
In this research, the data analysis occurred simultaneously with data collection.
During data collection, the researcher frequently reflected on data collection process to
assess whether the required information had been captured. Field notes were made during
and after the interviews.
Because the interviews were conducted in China, the researcher needed to first
translate the Chinese transcriptions into English before coding. In order to ensure the
accuracy of the translation, a bilingual faculty member of the University of Southern
California was invited to verify the Chinese-English translation. The researcher also
frequently classified small pieces of data into larger categories to find connections among
narrative data. Memoing, describing, and classifying of data were applied from the
beginning of data collection. Formal data analysis was carried out when most of the data
was collected.
Coding.
English transcripts along with the field notes and memos were subjected to coding.
The coding procedure in this study can be divided into two steps. The first step was to
open coding by which the researcher breaks down, labels, and rearranges the data into
categories. The second step was to selectively code which is widely used to explore the
relationships among different categories and to make connections. The researcher utilized
the analytical framework to help making decision on what concepts and ideas are
important and what should be ignored. Particular attention was paid to those concepts and
ideas that are closely related to the categories listed in the analytical framework.
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Identifying major themes.
Patton (2002) notes that qualitative inquiry is the preferred means of exploring
scientific questions regarding exploration, discovery, and inductive logic. This
descriptive case study utilized inductive logic to determine major and reoccurring themes
related to the internationalization efforts of Chongqing University through the lens of the
researcher’s examination of personnel on the effort.
Validity and Reliability
Yin (2003) asserts that case studies, being a form of empirical research, are subject
to four tests of reliability and validity that apply to other forms of research. These tests
include construct validity, internal validity, external validity, and reliability.
Construct validity.
Construct validity involves creating operational protocols that are utilized
correctly for the concepts being examined (Yin, 2003). In order to ensure construct
validity, the researcher triangulated data through multiple sources including interviews
and document analysis. Additionally, the researcher created chains of evidence as
suggested by Yin (2003) through creating tangible and visible connections between the
research methods and findings. Moreover, the circumstances under which the evidence is
collected were illuminated, and furthermore the data and analysis were connected to the
initial research questions.
Internal validity.
Merriam (1998) asserts that securing internal validity involves ensuring that the
research is congruent with the reality of what is occurring in the material world. To
increase internal validity, this case study utilized data source triangulation through
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multiple methods of collection including interviews and document analysis. A variety of
data sources related to the internationalization were gathered and utilized to see if the
phenomenon remains the same. Rather than confirming a single meaning, triangulation
leads the researcher to search for additional interpretation in a socially constructed
reality. The purpose was to understand and represent different individuals’ voices and
experiences. Divergence in information, then, was achieved.
External validity.
External validity involves discovering whether the study’s findings are
generalizable beyond the original case being examined (Yin, 2003). One way to increase
external validity in case studies is to utilize theory in developing single case studies.
While the researcher utilized underlying frameworks to guide this study, the results are
still not generalizable beyond the original setting. However, if future researchers replicate
the original study in other settings, the use of theory in the original single case will
enhance future external validity.
Reliability.
Reliability is concerned with minimizing biases and errors in the study (Yin,
2003). A study is reliable if it can be repeated and garner the same results. To create
reliability, authors must carefully document their methods so that future researchers can
repeat them. Retaining a case study protocol and database of research information
improves reliability. The researcher in this case study attempted to ensure, as Yin (2003)
suggests, that all research steps during the case study are as operationally transparent as
possible. This occurs through the use of a one-page case study outline in Chinese (see
Appendix B) which explains to participants the purpose of the study, and through
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including the interview protocol as an appendix in this document (see Appendix C). The
inclusion of the interview protocol allows other researchers to not only see which
questions were asked to generate data, but it also enables them to replicate the study at a
later time.
In sum, data source triangulation and methodological triangulation were used to
address the validity of and reliability in the findings because each type of approach and
data source has strengths and weaknesses. Multiple sources of information were used to
validate and cross-check findings, as well as to provide a comprehensive perspective
about internationalization of higher education at Chongqing University.
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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
This chapter examines the rationales and strategies integral to Chongqing
University’s pursuit of internationalization. The results are organized around the three
research questions, starting with an analysis revealing both the institutional and national
rationales for making internationalization a priority. Subsequent section examines the
internationalization strategies adopted by Chongqing University. The last section
analyzes the current state of internationalization of Chongqing University, and its future
internationalization goal to identify what remaining work needs to be done for Chongqing
University to reach its future internationalization goal.
The analytical framework for institutional internationalization developed for this
study was utilized as the principal tool in identifying answers to each research question.
The first phase of the analytical framework, the context analysis, guided answers to the
first research question regarding the rationales for internationalization of Chongqing
University. The second phase of the analytical framework, the Internationalization Index,
revealed answers to the second research question concerning the strategies adopted by the
University to advance its internationalization. The third phase of the framework, the
Institutionalization of Internationalization Approaches matrix, highlighted answers to the
third research question about what remaining work needs to be done to reach the
internationalization goal of Chongqing University, which would shed light on closing the
gap between its current internationalization status and future goal.
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Results for Research Question One
Research question one asked: “what rationales guide the adoption of current
internationalization strategies?” Both the institutional and national rationales for
internationalization of Chongqing University were identified using phase one of the
analytical framework. The rationales identified at Chongqing University are categorized
into those aligned with the major indicators in the framework, and those emerged from
the case university, but not included in the framework (see Table 6).
Table 6: Context Analysis
Category Major Indicators
Chongqing University
Emerged
Rationales
Institutional
Rationales
National and International Profile
and Reputation
National Profile and
Reputation
Enhancement of the
educational quality
Student and Faculty Fevelopment
Student Development
Income Generation
NO
Strategic Alliance
YES
Research and Knowledge
Production
YES
National
Rationales
Human Resources Development YES
Enhancement of the
educational quality
in Western China
Strategic Alliance NO
Social and Cultural Development YES
Nation Building NO
Commercial Trade NO
The result shown in the above table demonstrates not only the rationales identified
in the case of Chongqing University that fit within the phase one of the analytical
framework, but also the unique rationales emerged from the case university. On one
hand, the rationales that fit within the analytical framework demonstrate the similar
rationales for internationalization at Chongqing University and at the majority of higher
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education institutions in the world. Those rationales that are unique in the case of
Chongqing University, on the other hand, manifest the impact of the unique history and
culture of Chongqing University on motivations for internationalization. A detailed
analysis of the institutional and national rationales for the internationalization of
Chongqing University that fit within the framework and emerged from the University as
unique rationales is provided as follows.
Institutional rationales.
Institutional rationales explain what motivations Chongqing University perceives
to pursue its internationalization goal. Among the five institutional rationales identified in
Phase One of the analytical framework, ‘national profile and reputation’, ‘student
success’, and ‘research and knowledge production’ were predominant rationales for the
internationalization of Chongqing University. A unique rationale not included in the
framework also emerged from the study: enhancement of the educational quality.
National profile and reputation.
National profile and reputation is a major institutional rationale for
internationalization of Chongqing University. By participating in Project 985, beginning
in 2007, Chongqing University was given a new mission by the national government,
which was to become a leading research university in China – with an international
reputation. A Chongqing University Project 985 Strategic Plan was created in 2009 under
the previous institutional leadership, which conformed to the new mission given by the
national government. Program administrators of the Office of International Cooperation
and Exchanges witnessed this transition. Director Chengpin Zhao introduced that
“Internationalization was listed as one of the seven institutional tasks among the
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institutional priorities in the Plan”. Several program administrator interviewees referred
the Plan as a “turning point” for the internationalization of Chongqing University. It was
not until the creation of the Plan that internationalization became visible in the
institutional strategic plan. Director Zhao found that “including internationalization as
one of the seven institutional priorities sent a strong message to all shareholders of
Chongqing University that internationalization should not be excluded from the
discussion of enhancing the national profile and reputation of Chongqing University.”
Similarly, the deputy Director Yin Chen commented that “internationalization since then
has received more attention and support from the institutional leadership.”
In 2011, the second year after Dr. Jianhua Lin became the President of Chongqing
University, a new institutional goal was proposed – to become one of the best universities
in China by 2029. How the new goal affects the pursuit of internationalization of
Chongqing University is demonstrated by the remarks from President Lin and other
interviewees. President Lin defined “the best universities in China” as “an institution with
selective excellence at the national level”. Being aware that Chongqing University
currently “still lags behind the most prestigious universities in China in terms of the
overall performance,” President Lin and other central administrators believed that
“world-class status will remain a goal out of reach for a long period of time and therefore,
obtaining an elite status in the national league table is a reasonable goal for Chongqing
University.” Despite the institutional commitment shift to national profile and reputation,
a consensus among the central administrators and program administrators is the need to
further the internationalization development at Chongqing University. When explaining
the motivation for continuing internationalization of Chongqing University, every
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interviewee referred to the new institutional goal, indicating a correlation between the
goal and internationalization. An example is the remark from Vice President Professor
Qing Liu:
Chongqing University is ranked among the top 3 percent in China’s league table.
We are not satisfied with the result, given our new goal to become one of the best
universities in China. Internationalization is an area with great potential, but
relatively low development status in our university. We will continue our pursuit
of internationalization in order to reach our goal.
Individual colleges and schools take actions in accordance with the new
institutional goal. Take the School of Economics and Business Administration for
instance, a new goal is set to become “one of the best business schools in China”,
according to Dean Dr. Xing Liu. He said
Our school, especially our MBA program is renowned in the Southwest China,
and consistently ranked between 9
th
and 12
th
nationally. But our goal is to move
up the national league table and consistently ranked among the top ten business
schools in China. Internationalization is one of the strategies to reach top ten in
Chinese league table.
The fact that Chongqing University’s new institutional goal of “becoming one of
the best universities in China by 2029” motivates the University’s pursuit of
internationalization demonstrates the national profile and reputation rationale for
internationalization. Others echoed similar sentiments in their responses, signaling a
general consensus that individual colleges and schools should not shy away from
international collaboration. For example, the Director of the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges Professor Chengpin Zhao noted: “The College of Urban
Construction & Environmental Engineering, for example, is renowned in China. It is one
of the most internationalized programs at our university, and the College is continuing its
internationalization efforts in order to keep on the cutting edge, and to achieve
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international recognition”. Similarly, the Deputy Director of the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Yin Chen commented that “Our annual evaluation
showed that schools and colleges that are well-known are more committed to
internationalization. I believe it is simply because they understand the link between
reputation and internationalization.” The positive correlation between the degree of
internationalization at colleges and schools and its national profile and reputation
identified by the interviewees serves as the main reason why internationalization was
suggested as a primary strategy for Chongqing University to reach elite national status.
While sharing the sentiment with other interviewees about the relation between
national reputation and internationalization, President Lin offered his insight into how the
new institutional goal will change the pursuit of internationalization of Chongqing
University.
In my belief, internationalization is not a goal, but a tool. Specifically,
internationalization is to help us lay a solid foundation for high educational
quality, as a means to achieve prestigious national status. Internationalization has
not been valued by the majority of our faculty and students, and therefore
including it in the institutional goal may jeopardize the appeal of the goal. But
continuous investment in internationalization is ensured.
The above remark re-defines the role internationalization plays under current
institutional leadership of Chongqing University. Internationalization has been identified
as a tool to reach the institutional goal of elite national status, rather than part of the
institutional goal as defined in the Project 985 Strategic Plan in 2009. The new definition
of the relation between internationalization and the institutional goal confirms the
national profile and reputation as a rationale for internationalization of Chongqing
University.
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Student success.
Student success is another major institutional rationale for internationalization.
Despite the absence of an official definition for student success, most interviewees share
the sentiment that students should acquire academic knowledge, innovation abilities,
critical thinking skills, and other skills needed to succeed. President Lin is a strong
advocate for student success. He argued that “student success stands for the capability to
command future. The graduates will acquire skills needed to succeed in the global
society, such as innovation in science and technology and critical thinking.” The Director
of Academic Affairs Mr. Tang also commented that “the focus of college education has
moved from academic success alone. Graduates will not only acquire solid knowledge in
their major, but other critical skills needed in today’s society.” Creativity and critical
thinking skills prevail in the responses from the interviewees with regards to student
success. Such an emphasis is based on the changing demand for human resources in
China’s economic development. It is widely acknowledged by the interviewees that
traditional college education focusing on students mastering knowledge in a specific field
can no longer meet the needs of today’s society. The ability to innovate, to conduct
critical thinking, to lead China’s R & D, and to communicate, for instance, is as equally
important as to master knowledge in their major.
The majority of the interviewees explicitly identified that with such a shift of
college education, internationalization has since then been included in the discussion of
student success. According to President Lin, “internationalization will effectively
improve our educational quality, which is in direct relation to student success.” The
Director of the Office of Academic Affairs, Mr. Tang also commented that
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“Internationalization opens our mind on how to cultivate students’ creativity, critical
thinking skills and other abilities through college education. Chinese higher education has
solely revolved in academic excellence for a long period of time, and learning from our
Western peers through internationalization is the most effective way for change.” The
remarks from the interviewees demonstrate that the need to support student success by
transforming traditional Chinese higher education motivates Chongqing University to
pursue internationalization.
Similar to those sentiments, the Deputy Director of the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges, Ms. Chen, as well as the associate Dean of the College of
International Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Yan Jiang also said that international
opportunities for its local students aim at “broadening the students' vision and facilitating
their overall development”. It is concluded that with the definition of student success has
changed significantly with China’s increasing role in the global economy.
Internationalization at Chongqing University is to facilitate the University to adjust the
education it provides to reach the new goal of student success.
Enhancement of educational quality.
The positive impact internationalization has on student success explains another
rationale for internationalizing Chongqing University, which is the enhancement of
educational quality. The vast majority of participants in this study expressed their belief
in internationalization as an effective tool to improve the quality of education at
Chongqing University. According to President Lin, to improve educational quality is “the
primary institutional task in the next five years” in that “educational quality is
fundamental to higher education.” Internationalization plays a critical role in “enhancing
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the teaching and research functions of Chongqing University, by learning from world-
class universities. Then the quality of education will be improved.” The Director of the
Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges Dr. Zhao also commented that
“Internationalization is a process of catching up with our Western peers. Enhancing
educational quality requires up-to-date curriculum, pedagogy and management.
Internationalization provides us with the opportunity to learn about the common practice
adopted by world-class universities, and to apply those practice to our university.”
Similarly, the Director of the Office of Academic Affairs, Mr. Tang said “With regards to
academic affairs, the goal is to internationalize our curriculum and pedagogy. By
applying the common teaching practice in world-class universities to our university, we
will be able to reach the golden standards.” These remarks show that internationalization
is believed as a process of catching up with top Western universities by learning their
teaching, research and services practices.
The pursuit of high quality of education is also closely linked to national profile
and reputation. President Lin described the pursuit of high quality of education as “the
fundamental strategy to realize the mission of becoming one of the best universities in
China.” He added that Chongqing University, like the rest of national universities in
China, is competing for best students. A widely recognized high quality of education, he
said, “will enhance the University’s reputation among students and their families, which
is vital for attracting high-achieving students to the University.”
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Research and knowledge production.
Central administrators and program administrators also cited research and
knowledge production as integral to the University’s rationale for pursuing
internationalization. Chongqing University, like other national research universities,
places increasing emphasis on generating new knowledge and developing solutions to
major societal problems, and this too is meant to raise its prestige in research. The
emphasis on research also aligns with the national and municipal economic development
strategy. As noted on the university website, “the goal of the university is to facilitate
national and local prosperity with science-and-technology and education”. University
leaders and program administrators alike shared a similar sentiment, exemplified in this
quote from President Lin:
Chongqing University is a national research university. Like research universities
overseas, research and knowledge production has become a top priority in our
agenda. Our renowned programs, such as architecture and engineering, have a
long history of international research collaboration, which keeps them on cutting
edge. Internationalization is a process not only introducing great knowledge to
facilitate our research, but sharing our research with the international community.
The above comment demonstrates that the opportunity to get access to new
knowledge and to share the academic achievement with the international community
motivates the pursuit of internationalization at Chongqing University. Vice President Lin
provided more details:
One of the priorities in our internationalization agenda, establishing meaningful
partnership with world-class universities for each of the four newly-structured
colleges, serves the purpose of research and knowledge production.
Internationalization will not only enhance programs with national reputation in
research, but facilitate the building of research foundation in programs lacking the
research strength.
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As manifested by the above comments, internationalization activities,
international collaboration in particular, take place to not only maintain the edge of the
renowned programs, but also to elevate the research strength of the less acknowledged
academic programs. The University's key labs of various levels, conducts research in
areas with national interests, such as natural sciences and engineering. While maintaining
its research collaboration with overseas institutions and scholars in applied science, the
new leadership has identified social science as the University’s new research focus, and
international research collaboration in social science has become a new
internationalization initiative. President Lin explained:
With China’s continuing economic development, societal issues have become
increasingly critical to the welfare of the people and the stability of the nation.
Unfortunately social science has long been under-valued in China’s academia.
Our University has identified social science as our new research focus, as a means
to establish our research prestige and to compete with the top tier universities. By
partnering with world-class universities and recruiting overseas scholars, we will
be able to generate knowledge in social science with relatively low input, which is
needed in today’s Chinese society.
Similarly, the Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges
Professor Zhao confirmed the research and knowledge production rationale for
internationalization by explaining the relations among the society, research and
internationalization “As a national research university, it is our responsibility to provide
solutions to China’s current societal issues through research. Internationalization opens
the access to resources overseas that is critical for our research and knowledge
production.” Another program administrator, The Deputy Director of the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges Mr. Bin Li, confirmed the practice of overseas
talent recruiting as another popular internationalization activity to meet the University’s
quest for research and knowledge production. Mr. Li said “I am in charge of recruiting
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overseas scholars and experts, which is a primary function of our office. The main reason
for our relentless efforts to recruit overseas talents is to enhance the quality of our
research by internationalizing our faculty.”
In summary, internationalization activities, international research collaboration
and partnership, and overseas talent recruiting in particular, take place at Chongqing
University for its quest for research and knowledge production to maintain the research
strength of its renowned academic programs, to enhance that of its less acknowledged
programs, and to lay a solid foundation for research in China’s under-developed yet
increasingly critical disciplines in social science, which ultimately fulfills its social
responsibility as a national research university.
Strategic alliance.
Another rationale for internationalization is strategic alliance. Interactions within
and between cultures through teaching, research and service functions, exemplify
Chongqing University’ effort to integrate into the international community, which will
ultimately facilitate the academic, scientific, technological, and cultural objectives of the
University. The relations among internationalization, strategic alliance and these
objectives are explicitly expressed by several interviewees. President Lin said that “To
establish strategic alliance with world-class universities is the most efficient approach to
leaping forward in development (kuayueshi fazhan). Through partnership, Chongqing
University is able to improve its teaching, research and service functions to be
comparable to elite universities overseas.” Similarly, Dean Liu commented that “Our
school is preparing for accreditation by a renowned international business school
accreditation agency, because we want to be part of the international community.
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Partnering with world-class business schools will help transform our teaching, research
and management, and meet the accreditation standard.” Two program administrators
added the cultural objective for internationalization and strategic alliance. The Deputy
Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Chen appraised
the strategic alliance through internationalization that “strategic alliance through
internationalization is vital for the overall development of our students, in that students
will be able to broaden their vision by studying or researching at our partnering
universities overseas.” The Associate Dean of the College of International Cooperation
and Exchanges Ms. Jiang added that “Chongqing University has established several
Confucius Institutes in partnership with universities overseas. The partnership in
providing Chinese language and culture programs overseas enhances the mutual
understanding between different cultures, and the understanding of Chinese culture and
history in the international community.”
When one combines the responses provided in interviews with the statements
made in Chongqing University’s strategic plan, it becomes clear that Chongqing
University is attempting to become more international for reasons of educational quality
improvement, national profile and reputation, research and knowledge production,
student success, and strategic alliance.
National rationales.
National rationales for supporting the internationalization of Chongqing
University were identified mostly from institutional and national documents. Among the
rationales identified in phase one of the analytical framework, ‘human resources
development’, and ‘social and cultural development’, were exemplified in the case of
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Chongqing University. The enhancement of educational quality emerged again as a
unique national rationale not included in the framework.
Human resources development.
Arguably, the primary national rationale for encouraging internationalization of
China’s higher education as a whole, and financially supporting selected Chinese
universities, such as Chongqing University in these endeavors, is human resources
development. Since the end of the 1990s, educational aims and goals have been re-
oriented to meet the needs of modernization and globalization, and to strengthen national
economic competitiveness (Ministry of Education, 2011). A top priority of higher
education is to reinvigorate China through human resources development, as stated in the
Ministry of Education Higher Education Institution Strategic Planning Memo during the
12
th
Five-Year Plan in 2011:
The purpose of higher education is to facilitate the economic strategic restructure,
the construction of modern industry system and society, and regional economic
development. An up-to-date educational system needs to be established, and the
structure of academic disciplines to be optimized. The emphasis should be given
to produce talents with applied knowledge, all-around quality, and skills. (p.1)
The above policy reiterates the purpose of higher education for the last decade.
Since 2001, the national government has initiated a series of projects to support higher
education development in Western China – the less developed region of China (Ministry
of Education, 2011). It is under similar context that Chongqing University receives
extensive support from the national government. Chongqing is transforming itself into the
region’s economic, trade, and financial center, and ultimately a platform to open up the
country’s western interior to further development. Director Zhao from the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges confirmed that “Despite its geographic location
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and comparatively low economic development status, Chongqing has long been the
economic, political and cultural center in Southwest China. Since the national
government’s Western development initiative in 2000 to decrease the regional gap in
economic development, Chongqing has enjoyed a new round of economic development.”
Chongqing University, in accordingly, “has been assigned the role to produce qualified
human resources needed for both national and regional economic development,”
according to Director Zhao. Earmarked funds have also been allocated from the national
and municipal government to support the University’s leaping forward in development
(kuayueshi fazhan) strategy. Several interviewees described the municipality’s increasing
role in China’s economic development as a supportive external environment for the
development of Chongqing University. President Lin argued that “Chongqing University
graduates will become the mainstay for Chongqing and China’s economic development.
Internationalization will undoubtedly serve the purpose in that it is an effective tool to
facilitate students to acquire knowledge and skills needed for the local and national
development.” Vice President Liu made similar comments: “With its continuing
economic growth, Chongqing municipality will become increasingly internationalized. It
is our responsibility to produce graduates who will contribute to the municipal economic
development. Internationalization will re-shape our college education to educate students
with those skills needed in today’s society.” Dean Dr. Liu offered his insight from the
perspective of his field: “With the continuing economic development in Chongqing
municipality, the demand for professionals with up-to-date business management skills
will grow dramatically. Our programs aim at providing top-notch training for those
professionals who will lead the development of a variety of enterprises in China.
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Internationalization will improve our programs to serve this mission.” Responses from
the interviewees show that the demand for human resources in China today has changed
dramatically, with China’s increasing involvement in the global economy. As a national
research university located in Southwest China, Chongqing University assumes a
significant role providing education and training to those who will engage in regional and
national economic development. Internationalization serves this purpose by improving
the teaching and research functions of Chongqing University, its educational quality and
ultimately producing graduates with skills needed in the global society.
Enhancement of educational quality in Western China.
Another national rationale that is closely linked to human resources development,
is enhancement of the quality of education in the Western region of China. The national
Supporting Higher Education Institutions in the Western Region through Institutional
Partnership Project has been initiated in 2001 to narrow the gap in educational quality
between the Western region and the more developed areas (Ministry of Education, 2010).
In order to close the gap in higher education development between regions with
high education development status and the Western region, leading universities
shall pair with an institution in the Western region to assist their partner
institution to improve its capability to integrate into the international community.
The national government will ensure appropriate financial support and develop
supportive policy. (Ministry of Education, Opinions on furthering the support for
higher education development in Western China through partnership, p.1)
The Opinions document identifies internationalization as one of the institutional
functions vital to the improvement of educational quality in Western China. The mission
of narrowing the gap in the quality of higher education between the Western region and
the developed areas is closely linked to the disparity in economic development between
the Western region and the affluent areas, the Eastern China in particular. As the only
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municipality under the direct administration of the central government, Chongqing
Municipality has been given the mission of serving as the educational base of the
Western region, as a strong support for the achievement of a well-off standard of living in
the municipality and the region (MOE, 2010). Internationalization of higher education is
among the defined strategies to boost the quality of higher education in the Western
region (MOE, 2010). As the only Project 985 participant in this region, Chongqing
University assumes a critical role in leading the overall development of higher education
in this region. The national policy and funding not only benefits the enhancement of the
educational quality of Chongqing University, but also helps elevate the status of
internationalization amongst the institutional priorities.
Social and cultural development.
Social and cultural development is another important rationale, which attends to
the promotion of intercultural understanding, and national cultural identity. By initiating
Chinese language programs overseas, sending Chinese students and faculty abroad, and
attracting foreign students and scholars studying or doing research in China with financial
support, the national government is actively promoting intercultural understanding and
Chinese culture home and abroad. These efforts also serve to create opportunities for
Chinese students and faculty to acquire intercultural communication skills (National
Education Reform and Development Program Outline for Medium and Long term). The
internationalization activities of Chongqing University are in alignment with this
purpose, exemplified by the establishment of many Confucius Institutes by Chongqing
University in higher education institutions overseas to promote Chinese language and
culture. The associate Dean of the College of International Cooperation and Exchanges
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Ms. Yan Jiang confirmed the social and cultural purpose of internationalization of
Chongqing University: “Chongqing University is one of the key universities qualified to
establish Confucius Institute overseas. We share the purpose of the national government,
which is to promote Chinese language and culture across different cultures.” Similarly,
teaching and research collaboration with universities in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan
serve to enhance mutual understanding and to reach a common ground for people in those
regions. Like the head of the Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan section, Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Weiqun Sun commented, international
collaboration with universities in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan is “an educational
collaboration with universities in those regions, which is a means to enhance mutual
understanding and economic and cultural ties.”
In summary, the national rationales for supporting the internationalization of
Chongqing University are human resources development to provide graduates to serve
the national and regional economic development in global economy, enhancement of the
quality of education in Western China, and social and cultural development to promote
Chinese culture, and to enhance intercultural understanding.
The conclusion drawn from the analysis is that the pursuit of ‘national profile and
reputation’, ‘student success’, ‘strategic alliance’ and ‘research and knowledge
production’ are institutional rationales that fit within the analytical framework. Such an
alignment manifests the similarities between Chongqing University and the majority of
higher education institutions in the world in terms of the motivations for
internationalization. A predominant rationale that emerged in the case of Chongqing
University was ‘enhancement of educational quality’, which is closely related to the
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University’s emphasis on student success, and its national profile and reputation. The
urge for high quality of education, which is a unique rationale behind the
internationalization of Chongqing University, is due to the history and characteristics of
Chongqing University as a university with relatively low educational quality that
prevents the University from obtaining prestigious status in Chinese league table. At the
national level, ‘human resources development’, and ‘social and cultural development’,
were exemplified in the case of Chongqing University that fit within the analytical
framework. The ‘enhancement of educational quality in Western China’ emerged as a
unique national rationale not included in the framework. While assuming a similar role in
national economic development, higher education in Western China is facing greater
challenge due to its low average quality. Internationalization of higher education is a
necessary tool to boost the regional educational development.
Results for Research Question Two
The second research question asked “what strategies does Chongqing University
utilize to advance its internationalization?” The second phase of the analytical work, the
Internationalization Index, guided the analysis of an array of data. Under the ‘articulated
commitment’ dimension, three indicators, ‘internationalization highlighted in student
recruitment literature’, ‘international work or experience as a consideration in faculty
promotion and tenure decision’, and ‘academic policies supporting students studying
abroad’, were identified in the case of Chongqing University. Under the ‘academic
offerings’ dimension, strategies including ‘English language course as a general
education course’, ‘offering courses taught by English’, ‘providing curricula using
foreign textbook’, and ‘offering for-credit study abroad program’, fit within the Index.
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Two unique strategies emerged from Chongqing University, including ‘pedagogy
internationalization’ and ‘international accreditation’. Under the dimension of
‘organizational infrastructure’, five strategies, ‘having a campus-wide internationalization
committee’, ‘administrative personnel with overseas experience’, ‘ensuring
communication on internationalization on campus through a communication channel’,
‘providing good physical facilities’, and ‘providing a rich collection of foreign books and
journals’, were identified that fit within the Index. ‘Providing appropriate internal and
external funding for internationalization efforts’ was another main strategy. Under the
dimension of ‘institutional investment in faculty’, three strategies, ‘providing funding for
participating internationalization activities’, ‘creating internationalization opportunities
for faculty’, and ‘foreign faculty recruitment’, aligned with the indicators in the Index.
Strategies under another dimension – “international students and student programs’, were
demonstrated in three categories, ‘increasing the number of international students’,
‘increasing international opportunities for students’, and ‘ensuring the funding for
international student recruitment and internationally oriented extracurricular activities’.
‘Output exchange’ is a unique measurement of internationalization achievement in China,
which also serves as a dimension in the Index. Two major strategies, ‘hosting
international conferences’, and ‘increasing published articles in international research
article databases and foreign journals’ were identified. The analysis of the
internationalization strategies adopted by Chongqing University based on the second
phase of the analytical framework – the Internationalization Index, is synthesized in
Table 7.
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Table 7: Internationalization Strategies Adopted by Chongqing University
Dimensions Major Indicators
Chongqing
University
Emerged
Indicators
Articulated
Commitment
Internationalization in mission statement NO
Internationalization highlighted in student
recruitment literature
YES
Formal institutional assessment YES
International work or experience as a
consideration in faculty promotion and
tenure decision
YES
Students studying abroad without graduation
delay
YES, and other
supportive academic
policies
Academic
Offerings
Foreign languages taught
English Language as
a general education
course
Pedagogy
internationalization
Courses taught by foreign languages
Accreditation by
international
agencies
Curricula using foreign textbook YES
International focus in undergraduate and
graduate courses
NO
For-credit study abroad program YES
Organizational
Infrastructure
Campus-wide internationalization committee YES
Administrative personnel with overseas
experience
YES
Communication on internationalization on
campus
YES
Physical facilities Good
Collection of foreign books and journals YES
Internal &
External
Funding
Funding for internationalization efforts YES
Institutional
Investment in
Faculty
Funding for participating internationalization
activities YES
Internationalization opportunities
Foreign faculty recruitment
International
Students &
Student
Programs
Number of international students Significant increase
International opportunities for students YES
Funding for international student recruiting
and student programs
YES
Output
Exchange
International conferences hosted On planning
Published articles on international research
article databases and foreign journals
Increase
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Similar to the phase one analysis, the result shown in the table above
demonstrates not only the strategies identified in the case of Chongqing University that
fit within the phase two of the analytical framework, but also the unique strategies
emerged from the case university. On one hand, the strategies that fit within the analytical
framework demonstrate the similarity between Chongqing University and the majority of
higher education institutions in the world in terms of the internationalization strategies.
Those strategies that are unique in the case of Chongqing University, on the other hand,
manifest the unique institutional and national rationales behind the internationalization of
Chongqing University.
Articulated commitment.
The Internationalization Index identifies institutions that are highly active in their
internationalization efforts register a strong articulated commitment to international
education (ACE, 2005). In the case of Chongqing University, the articulate commitment
took the following form: internationalization has been formally assessed in the last five
years; internationalization activities are highlighted in student recruitment literature;
academic policies encouraging students to study abroad, and international experience as a
factor in faculty promotion and tenure decision.
Formal institutional assessment.
The first indicator of the articulated commitment to internationalization is the
formal institutional assessment of internationalization. The Chongqing University Project
985 Strategic Plan in 2009 included seven evaluation criteria, which were subsequently
utilized to evaluate individual college and school's internationalization efforts in 2010.
According to the program administrators in the Office of International Cooperation and
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Exchanges, the seven evaluation criteria included “the most widely acknowledged
measurement indicators in China’s international education, such as the number of
overseas partner institutions, the number of student and faculty sent abroad for
international study or experience, the international conferences hosted, etc…” the
Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges Professor Zhao
explained that “the assessment was not only to provide feedback to each college and
school, but to create a guideline for them to conceive its own internationalization plan
and strategies.” The positive impact the institutional assessment has on enhancing
internationalization of Chongqing University was acknowledged by the interviewees as
well. According to the deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and
Exchanges Ms. Chen, the result of the evaluation was “directly related to rewards,
therefore each college and school took it seriously. Individual college and schools
significantly enhance their efforts for internationalization.” Professor Zhao, the Director
of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges added that prior to the formal
evaluation based on the index included in the Strategic Plan, his office conducted similar
assessment in a non-regular basis, serving the same purpose of the 2010 institutional
evaluation. The results of that assessment were shared during a monthly meeting with
deans of each college and school, and through the university’s digital office platform.
An institutional assessment on internationalization activities based on the 2009
Project 985 Chongqing University Strategic Plan was conducted for the first time in
2010. Since the leadership transition, no assessment was conducted in 2011 and it is
unlikely that further assessment will be conducted in future based on the Strategic Plan,
due to the concern about the negative response from a significant number of
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administrators and faculty to the existence of assessment of internationalization efforts on
campus. Vice President Liu offered some insight of this concern:
Our existing evaluation system has its flaw. The evaluation criteria are rigid and
narrow-sighted, focusing on the more easily quantifiable aspects of
internationalization, including student mobility figures, established partnerships
abroad, and others. They have confined school and faculty's actions to areas
included in the checklist. Such criteria may impede innovation and dedication.
The above remark expressed both President Lin and Vice President Liu’s
disagreement on current evaluation criteria, in that the evaluation failed to encourage
administrators and faculty to engage in internationalization. The deputy Director of the
Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Chen commented that “linking
rewards and punishment to the result of the assessment causes some kind of resentment to
internationalization. A large number of faculty, who have little international experience
and no intention to do so, consider the evaluation result as a reason for punishment, rather
an opportunity for improvement. They started to participate only because the institutional
policy requires them to do so.” From the perspective of faculty buy-in, the assessment
fails to foster faculty support for internationalization. To establish a fair and effective
personnel reward system, therefore, is included in the conversation of the future
internationalization goal of Chongqing University.
Internationalization in student recruitment literature.
Additional evidence of the University’s commitment to internationalization is
demonstrated by the fact that both undergraduate and graduate student recruitment
literature emphasizes the internationalization achievement of Chongqing University,
including its overseas partner institutions and enterprises and the distinguished scholars
with international reputations it hosts. The Dean of the School of Economics and
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Business Administration Dr. Liu provided an example “The competition among various
MBA programs in China is furious. In order to compete for the best students to join our
program, we emphasize the international experience of our faculty, the internationalized
curriculum we provide, and the reputation our school has in the international
community.” The associate Dean of the College of International Cooperation and
Exchanges Professor Mr. Jun Xu also commented that “Internationalization achievement
cannot be emphasized enough in enhancing our international reputation, and eventually in
student recruiting, both home and abroad.” The internationalization achievement is also
shared with prospective students and their families on the University’s website, and the
web page of several colleges and schools.
The second phase of the analytical framework, the Internationalization Index,
identifies this practice common among higher education institutions highly active in
internationalization as a demonstration of its commitment to internationalization. The fact
that the internationalization achievement at Chongqing University is included in the
student recruitment literature demonstrates the University’s commitment to
internationalization.
International experience in faculty promotion and tenure decision.
A third indicator of the institutional commitment to internationalization may be
seen in the promotion and tenure decisions made in favor of faculty with international
experience. Vice President Liu explained: “Faculty with international experience tend to
excel at research and publish more journal articles in international academic journals,
which is key to promotion and tenure attainment. Therefore, it is always the case that
faculty with international experience have better opportunity to be promoted or to receive
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tenure.” The Director of Human Resources confirmed the preferential decision given to
faculty with international experience in terms of promotion and tenure, and further
explained the reason why international experience is not officially written in faculty
promotion and tenure policy. He said: “It is hard for us human resource staff to determine
the impact of individual faculty’s international experience on their teaching or research
achievement, and therefore we decide not to include international experience in our
written faculty promotion and tenure policy. But the reality is that faculty with the
experience always serve as the faculty leader in their unit, holding high-rank positions or
tenure.” The institutional administrators’ awareness of the positive correlation between
faculty’s international experience and their job performance has enable preferential
promotion or tenure decisions to be made to those with international experience. Such
practice sends a strong signal to its faculty that international experience is valued by the
University, which may encourage more faculty to engage in the internationalization
activities at Chongqing University.
Academic policies encouraging study abroad.
One academic policy ensures that students participating in studying abroad can
graduate without delay. The Director of Academic Affairs explained in detail: “This
policy makes sure that academic credits earned in study abroad or overseas exchange
program that are related to students' major will be fully transferred, no matter whether
there is an equivalent major course offered by the home university.” Another academic
policy was recently introduced to ensure that all major courses taken in overseas
universities, despite the grades students receive, will be transferred as full credit.
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Director Tang further explained:
This policy is based on our students’ feedback. Under this policy, the grading
variation among different overseas programs and institutions will no longer affect
students' GPA. The majority of students studying abroad are high-performing
students in their program, most of whom will plan for graduate school. A high
GPA therefore becomes critical for their graduate school application. This policy
is to address such concern to encourage more high-achieving students to
participate in our international activities.
The student is another key shareholder group of Chongqing University. With the
above academic policies to remove the major obstacle that prevents students participating
in study abroad or overseas exchange programs, the University is showing its
commitment to internationalization to its students.
Overall, Chongqing University’s articulated commitment to internationalization
was manifested in its institutional assessment of each college and school’s
internationalization efforts, as well as a direct link between rewards and the assessment
result. In addition, internationalization opportunities and achievement is highlighted in
student recruitment literature. A series of academic policies were created to allow
students to study abroad without delaying their graduation. International experience is a
positive factor in faculty promotion and tenure decision.
Academic offerings.
Academic offerings examined the availability of for-credit, academic offerings
with an international focus. Based on the five indicators listed in phase two of the
analytical framework, four strategies, ‘English language as a compulsory class’, ‘courses
taught in English’, ‘curricula using foreign textbook’, and ‘for-credit study abroad
program’ were identified. Two phenomena emerged as strong indicators of
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internationalization of academic offerings, which are ‘pedagogy internationalization’ and
‘inviting international accreditation agencies for school accreditation’.
Overall, internationalizing academic offerings is the primary focus of Chongqing
University's internationalization. The internationalization of graduate curriculum is
manifested by eight master's program offered in English, the adoption of foreign
textbook, and the English language requirement for graduates. For-credit study abroad
programs continue to expand in Chongqing University. At graduate level, such
opportunities are mainly government or program sponsored, benefiting high-performing
students. The University is also actively expanding fee-paying degree programs
partnering with foreign higher education institutions to offer a broader student population
study abroad opportunities. Undergraduate students, on the other hand, can choose a
smaller number of study abroad programs offered by either the national government or
the University. High-achieving students have better opportunity to study abroad with
scholarship, while others are expected to afford the tuition and cost affiliated. Pedagogy
internationalization emerges as another indicator, exemplified as moving beyond
lecturing to cultivate students’ critical thinking skills and the ability to innovate. Inviting
international accreditation agencies for school accreditation was also identified as an
indicator with the goal of applying international standard to Chongqing University.
Foreign languages taught.
The availability of foreign languages in the university curriculum is identified as
an indicator under the “academic offering” dimension in the Index. Currently English
language is a general education course in Chongqing University, which is the same case
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in all higher education institutions in China. The College English Instruction
Requirement issued by the Ministry of Education provides detail:
College students are required to take one English class in each semester in their
freshman and sophomore year, and passed the national college English exam
(level 4) by graduation. At graduate level, graduate program applicants are
required to pass national graduate English exam to be considered as qualified
candidates. English class is also a compulsory course for graduate students.
(College English Instruction Requirement, p.3)
China’s increasing involvement in the global economy has created a tremendous
demand for human resources with English language proficiency. As a national university
under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education, Chongqing University
provides English language course in alignment with the Requirement, and lays great
emphasis on its students’ English language learning. A consensus among the interviewees
is that the English language proficiency serves as a necessary skill of students to
participate the available international activities, and a fundamental quality of college
graduates to succeed in today’s global society. English language teaching is an
indispensable internationalization strategy in Chongqing University to prepare its
students for a variety of available international opportunities, for college success, and
their success in the global society.
Other foreign languages, such as Japanese and French, are also available in the
curriculum. Since these courses are only available for students in the School of Foreign
Languages as a major course, little impact was observed to the whole student population
and the university curriculum. The researcher therefore decided not to include this data
into discussion.
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Courses taught in foreign languages.
The availability of courses taught in foreign languages serves as another indicator
of the internationalization of academic offerings, in that it enhances both the faculty and
students’ foreign language skills and intercultural competency. The availability of
courses taught in foreign languages also allows its international students to take for-credit
major courses, instead of the traditional Chinese language courses. Currently eight
master’s programs in Chongqing University are taught completely in English (Appendix
D). Most doctoral programs can also be offered in English if there are international
students enrolled in the program (personal email). Associate Dean Ms. Jiang commented:
“by increasing the number of major courses taught in English, we hope that more
international students will consider studying at Chongqing University.” In addition, a
plan for an undergraduate program taught in English has been approved. Director Zhao
explained in detail: “One undergraduate program taught in English is in partnership with
National University of Singapore. The plan has been approved, and financial resource has
been allocated. Money will be used to recruit faculty home and abroad, and to provide
faculty training. These courses will serve as model curriculum to be emulated by the rest
of the curriculum.”
So far English is the only foreign language adopted for non-language course
teaching. Offering university curriculum taught in English is a common
internationalization practice in Chinese higher education institutions, which aims to
enhance the global vision of its students (MOE, 2012). In addition to courses taught in
English, Chongqing University also offers bilingual courses for its local students. The
deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Chen:
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“Like other Chinese universities, a number of courses taught in both Chinese and English
are offered, with the majority for graduate students. Basically the textbook is the original
English version, and the faculty provides notes in English. However, the lecture is still in
Chinese in most of the cases.” The Bilingual Model Curriculum Development Plan
released by both Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance sheds light on why
bilingual curriculum is a focus in the internationalization of academic offerings among
the majority of Chinese higher education institutions.
In order to offer bilingual curriculum, higher education institutions shall provide
international opportunities for faculty training, inviting overseas scholars and
faculty to lecture in China, and import foreign textbooks needed. (Bilingual
Model Curriculum Development Plan, p.1
As a national research university, Chongqing University has been increasing its
bilingual courses to encourage its faculty to utilize its international opportunities for the
purpose of professional development, and to further its internationalization agenda.
Use of foreign textbooks.
A third indicator of the internationalization of academic offerings is the use of
foreign textbooks. It is a common internationalization practice among Chinese
universities to adopt foreign textbooks the leading world-class universities use. This
approach is believed an indispensable part of curriculum internationalization. At
Chongqing University, the eight master’s programs taught in English utilize foreign
textbooks. All bilingual courses use foreign textbooks combined with Chinese textbooks
(personal email).
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For-credit study abroad programs.
The last indicator is the availability of for-credit study abroad program from which
students can receive academic credits upon completion. For-credit study abroad program
constitutes a significant part of internationally oriented academic program for students in
Chongqing University. The Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation
and Exchanges Ms. Chen, as the administrator in charge of student study-abroad
programs, provided the detail about the program for graduate students: “At graduate
level, study abroad programs are mainly government- or program- sponsored, such as the
Chinese Government Study-Abroad Scholarship Scheme for Graduates.” The Chinese
Government Study-Abroad Scholarship Scheme for Graduates is a project supporting
Project 985 universities to send doctoral students abroad for study or research. According
to this scheme, Chongqing University receives financial aid from the central government
to support a number of distinguished students to pursue PhD study or conduct PhD-
related research work under the co-supervision of professors or experts in the world-
famous foreign host university and in the home university.
As a national research university, Chongqing University remains an active
participant in national projects to offer study-abroad opportunities for its graduate
students. With its number of students participating those projects remaining the average
national level, several interviewees expressed their concern about the limited study-
abroad opportunities for its graduate students. Currently, study abroad opportunities for
graduate students that are offered by individual college or school are made possible by
professors who are active in internationalization activities. The majority of these
opportunities, therefore, stay within the limited number of renowned programs with both
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the faculty and financial resources. Vice President Liu, a professor and former dean,
pointed out a barrier that needs to be moved: “It is not uncommon that some faculty
intentionally prohibited their graduate students to study abroad. Some are afraid of losing
their students, whereas others have too many projects to finish by themselves, and need
their students to stay home to work.”
The lack of incentive from the faculty to support their graduate students to obtain
international experience hinders the internationalization development within individual
academic units, and the university as a whole. The deputy Director of the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges, Ms. Chen commented: “Due to the lack of
engagement among most colleges and programs, I should say our university as a whole,
lags behind in the number and diversity of study abroad programs compared to most
Project 985 universities.”
In order to diversify study abroad opportunities for its graduate students,
Chongqing University is actively increasing its fee-paying joint-degree programs in
partnership with foreign higher education institutions. By enrolling in these programs,
students will study in the overseas partnering institution for a certain amount of time, and
receive dual degree from both Chongqing University and the partnering university. These
programs provide students who are not qualified for national sponsorship with the
opportunity to study abroad with personal funds. Another approach is to import degree
programs from foreign institutions to Chongqing University. The foreign institution is in
charge of curriculum development and instruction by its own faculty, whereas Chongqing
University is responsible for student recruiting and administrative support. By enrolling
in these programs, students will gain international experience without leaving the
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country. Currently most of the programs offer professional degrees. It is stated in the
recruiting literature that the goal of the partnership programs is to produce talents with
global vision, and the capability to adapt to the future of the industry, by providing first-
class education that aligns with world-class standards and modern educational philosophy
(Chongqing University, 2009).
At undergraduate level, for-credit study abroad programs include exchange
programs and study abroad programs supported by national and municipal government,
Chinese Scholarship Council and Chongqing University, as well as fee-paying study
abroad program provided by the University. The national projects allow selected
undergraduate students from selective universities to study at a foreign higher education
institution for one semester or one academic year, with subsidy from both central
government and the University. The Deputy Director of the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Chen, provided more details:
National projects are initiated by the national government or national educational
agencies, and available to selected institutions, such as Project 985 and Project
211 universities. The national government provides guidelines and funding,
whereas the participating universities are responsible for project execution.
Government-sponsored programs target at high- achieving students from selected
higher education institutions, and from disciplines with national interest.
Offering study-abroad programs for undergraduate students is a new step in
developing internationalization of Chongqing University. Ms. Chen commented that:
“National study abroad opportunities are traditionally the privilege of graduate students. I
believe it is of equal significance to send undergraduate students to study abroad in that it
opens the door to a new culture and perhaps a broader world for them.” With the
increasing awareness of the benefits of internationalization for undergraduate students,
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Chongqing University actively takes part in national projects to provide study-abroad
programs for its undergraduate students.
The institution-led study abroad programs for undergraduate students can be
categorized into national-government-subsidized programs, and fee-paying programs. An
international undergraduate program – experimental class – is an example of the national-
government-subsidized program. The Director of the Office of International Cooperation
and Exchanges Professor Zhao provided the detail: “The School of Mechanical
Engineering initiated this experimental class in partnership with National University of
Singapore. Through this program, a limited number of high-achieving sophomores from
the School of Mechanical Engineering study at National University of Singapore, with
scholarship allocated from the national and institutional scholarship reserve. The school
promised that if the program goes well, a dedicated program scholarship will be
established.” It is apparent that national-government-subsidized programs tend to benefit
a limited number of high-achieving students from certain academic disciplines.
Fee-paying programs, on the other hand, provide all students with the opportunity
to study for a semester or longer in Europe or North America. Fee-paying programs
offered by Chongqing University are sandwich programs involving limited study-abroad
provision, such as “1+2+1” program initiated by China Education Association for
International Exchanges (CEAIE). According to CEAIE, undergraduate students, after
finishing the freshman year in their domestic university, can apply for and study at an
American university for two years, and then finish their senior year back in China.
Credits students earn are mutually transferable and students who successfully complete
the program will earn degrees from both their domestic university and American higher
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education institutions they attend (1+2+1 Sino-US Joint Talent Training Project
Introduction, p.1-2). The Associate Dean of the College of International Cooperation and
Exchanges Mr. Xu is a strong advocate of this program: “Aiming at providing cost-
effective forms of international learning with limited travel, our College is actively
expanding this program, and encouraging more students to participate. With the
increasing household income of our students, and their interest in study abroad, the
demand for international experience is expanding and we shall meet their needs.” The
fee-paying study-abroad programs open the access to international experience to a wider
student population of Chongqing University, which serves the main purpose of those
programs.
Similar to the study abroad programs of higher education institutions in Western
countries, the for-credit study abroad programs for both graduate and undergraduate
students of Chongqing University constitute an indispensable part of its
internationalization, by offering international learning experience to its students.
Emerged indicators.
Two phenomena emerged as strong indicators of internationalization of academic
offerings. One is ‘pedagogy internationalization’, which encourages faculty to shed away
from the conventional faculty-center lecturing to Western interactive instruction. A
prevailing sentiment among the interviewees is that pedagogy internationalization has the
most positive impact on the internationalization of Chongqing University. The Director
of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Professor Zhao commented:
“It is a consensus among Chinese educators that our traditional pedagogy with lecturing
as the dominant teaching method can no longer serve our educational goal. In order to
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cultivate students’ critical thinking skills, and the ability to innovate, we need to learn
from our Western peers to infuse in-class discussion, group project, student presentation
etc…in our classroom.” Similarly, the Director of Academic Affairs Mr. Tang said: “You
cannot emphasize more on internationalizing our teaching method. Our teaching method
needs to be changed…faculty shall develop techniques and strategies to encourage
classroom discussion. They shall also come up with ways to facilitate students to adjust
to teaching methods other than lecturing.” Since teaching is one of the three primary
functions of higher education institution, the internationalization of teaching constitutes
an integral part of internationalization of Chongqing University. Pedagogy
internationalization is to apply the Western pedagogy to Chinese classroom to cultivate
students’ critical thinking skills, creativity and other skills needed in today’s global
society.
The other new phenomenon is to invite international accreditation agencies for
school accreditation. As a fairly new internationalization strategy, accreditation by
international agencies has been adopted by several programs. One example is the
master’s program in sustainable urban development in partnership with Hong Kong
University. This program has been accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors, an international professional body which regulates property professional
(CQU, 2009). The School of Economics and Business Administration has also begun
preparing for international accreditation. Dean Liu offered the detail: “In order to catch
up with international standards of world-class business school, our school is preparing for
an accreditation evaluation by a renowned international business education accreditation
agency. School administrators, faculty and staff are all engaged in this process, which
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will greatly facilitate the internationalization of the academics in our school.” The
Director of Academic Affairs Mr. Tang shared similar belief in introducing international
accreditation to Chongqing University: “Applying the evaluation criteria of prominent
international accreditation agencies to our academics is an efficient approach to
internationalizing the academic offering of Chongqing University. It is a process of
catching up with the world-class standards.” This strategy demonstrates the changing
content of internationalization of higher education, which is characterized by a transition
to the internationalization or standardization of programs and degrees (Huang, 2007).
With teaching as one of the three primary functions of a higher education
institution, the internationalization of academic offerings is an integral part of
internationalization strategies (ACE, 2005). In the case of Chongqing University, the
internationalization of academic offerings serves the purpose of enhancing the teaching
function of the University to elevate its educational quality.
Organizational infrastructure.
This section explores the organizational structure and adaptation Chongqing
University provides to support and promote internationalization on campus. Based on the
phase two of the analytical framework, the organizational infrastructure supporting
internationalization of Chongqing University is exemplified by five factors, which are
‘the existence of a standing campus-wide internationalization committee’, ‘administrative
personnel with overseas experience’, ‘communication on internationalization on campus’,
‘physical facilities exemplified as dedicated office space’ and ‘dormitory for international
students and faculty’.
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Campus-wide internationalization committee.
The Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges is the central
administrative unit responsible for the University’s global development based on
academic cooperation and exchanges. Director Zhao explained in detail about its
responsibilities and structure:
The duty of our office includes strategic planning of internationalization,
developing global partners and coordinating in the process of carrying out such
plan. The office consists of four sections, namely, the Section of Overseas Faculty
and International Relations, Section of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs,
Section of Exchange and International Student Office. The College of
International Cooperation and Exchanges is under the office's administration. This
college offers classes for international students, and coordinates its overseas
Chinese language program in partnership with Confucius Institute.
The set-up of the Office is based on the services needed for the
internationalization of Chongqing University. Under the leadership of Director Zhao, two
deputy directors are in charge of overseas faculty and international relations and
exchange programs respectively. There are also two associate deans of the College
responsible for recruiting international students, coordinating fee – paying study abroad
programs for domestic students; and coordinating overseas Chinese language program
respectively. There is a head responsible for each section's function.
The majority interviewees from the Office of International Cooperation and
Exchanges identified the office more as a service unit to assist the internationalization
development in each college and school, than an administrative unit supervising the
implementation of university policies.
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Director Zhao shed light on the distinction:
The administrative function of our office is mainly related to personnel traveling
abroad regulation. As the central administrative unit in charge of international
affairs in a national university, we need to make sure that our practice aligns with
national policy and regulation. But the service function, which is to assist the
institution and individual college and school to create and executive the
internationalization initiatives, remains our main responsibility.
The emphasis on providing service, according to the program administrators of
the Office, is to encourage individual college, school and faculty to lead the
internationalization efforts within their unit, or across the campus, rather than passively
follow the University’s policy. The deputy Director of the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges, Ms. Chen expressed this idea: “I hope that other academic
and administrative units will be able to understand that we are here to facilitate their
work, and take initiative to increase its internationalization activities.”
The relatively weak administrative authority owned by the Office is a concern
among some program administrators. The deputy Director Ms. Chen commented: “As
one of the central units with limited policy-making authority and financial resources, our
office had been marginalized for a long time. Administrative units with policy-making
authority could easily reject our policy proposals, and individual college and school
tended to move our projects at the bottom of its priority list.” Some other program
administrators echoed this sentiment and contributed the lack of authority and access to
financial resources to the reluctance of many colleges, schools and faculty to engage in
internationalization of Chongqing University.
The Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges reports directly to the
newly-appointed Vice President Dr. Liu, who is in charge of international affairs of the
University. It is a consensus among the interviewees that Vice President Liu will
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accelerate the internationalization development in Chongqing University. President Lin
shared this sentiment: “As a former Professor and administrator in Tsinghua University,
and the Dean of School of Material Science and Engineering in Chongqing University,
Dr. Liu has rich experience in leading internationalization efforts. I have faith in his
ability to advance the internationalization initiatives in our university.” Interviewees from
the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges also expressed their excitement
about working with Vice President Liu. The deputy Director of the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges, Mr. Li said: “Vice President Liu works closely with us and
often invites us to have dinner after work. We are confident that Dr. Liu is able to provide
the leadership needed for our internationalization goal.”
In addition to the institutional leadership, there is an associate dean responsible for
its international affairs in each college and school. Director Zhao described the
responsibility of the associate dean as “to make sure that both national and institutional
policy and regulation related to internationalization will be communicated to all faculty
and staff in each college and school”. A new proposal is underway to ensure a better
leadership at college and school level to promote internationalization. Vice President Liu
was the advocate of the proposal:
The main change needed is to replace associate deans who fail to fulfill their
responsibility for international affairs, with new personnel who are equipped with
foreign language proficiency and experience. It is a consensus among the central
administrators that the main entity to engage in internationalization is individual
college and school. We need to enhance the leadership at college or school level
in order to obtain breakthrough in internationalization.
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A recent organizational adaptation designed to enhance human resources in this
office is the establishment of four deputy director positions of the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges. Vice President Liu, who supervises the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges directly, offered the detail:
Each associate director comes from one of the four newly-constructed colleges,
holding a full-time tenure-track faculty position in their college. All of them
earned their doctoral degree overseas within last three years, most from the
United States. They become a focal point connecting the central administrative
office and academic unit to further internationalization in a manner that meets the
needs of both sides. Currently the primary job responsibility is to identify key
partner institutions overseas for their own college. It is a two-year part-time
contract position, and those who successfully fulfill their responsibility will get
the position full-time in two years when their current contract expires.
Recruiting four faculty members from the four colleges of Chongqing University,
who are study abroad returnees, to join the Office of International Cooperation and
Exchanges is a response to the University’s recent plan of identifying key partner
institutions overseas for the four colleges. The overseas experience, personal connection
and communication skills are the key asset of those four deputy directors the institutional
leadership is looking for. Moreover, a call for organizational adaptation in the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges emerged from the interview, which is to
increase staff numbers.
Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Ms.
Chen: Instead of focusing on expanding exchange program opportunities for
students, I spent a significant amount of time every day processing paperwork for
individual faculty and administrators’ overseas travel preparation. It left me
almost no time and energy to come up with new strategies or plans for my job. It
can be a serious obstacle to further development of internationalization in
Chongqing University.
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The conflict between daily work and strategic planning is worth the attention,
given the new goal of Chongqing University, and its impact on its internationalization
strategy. The deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges
Mr. Li offered another example: “Overseas scholar recruitment right now is one of the
top priorities of our university, and my main responsibility. I wish I had one or two staff
to help me coordinate logistics for overseas visitor receptions, so that I would have more
time to come up with a recruiting plan.” With the increasing demand for
internationalization of Chongqing University, the existing work force in the central unit
may not be able to satisfy the need.
In summary, the first indicator of organizational structure and adaptation to
support internationalization in Chongqing University is exemplified by the existence of
central unit, the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, the appointment of
Vice President Liu as the central administrator in charge of international affairs of
Chongqing University, the appointment of four deputy directors with international
experience in the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, and the proposal to
replace associate deans in colleges and schools who fail to lead internationalization
advancement at college or school level. The organizational adaptation is to enhance the
capacity of the institutional leadership to advance its internationalization level.
Administrative personnel with overseas experience.
A significant percentage of the central administrators in Chongqing University
have overseas experience. President Lin conducted postdoctoral research in both
Germany and the United States between 1988 and 1993. His international experience
moved beyond research since he became a central administrator in Peking University.
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The interview with President Lin demonstrated his extensive international experience and
how it supports the internationalization initiatives in Chongqing University.
President Lin: Through my personal and professional relationship with overseas
institutions and scholars, I was able to recruit foreign scholars to join Chongqing
University. One has agreed to join the School of Economics and Business
Administration as a full-time professor. Another Chinese-American senior
administrator who has worked in international affairs in American universities
will join us later this year as my secretary for international affairs. A most recent
partnership project with University of Pennsylvania is also made possible through
my connection with overseas scholars.
Vice President Liu was also identified as a scholar with extensive overseas
experience. It is widely agreed that under his leadership as the Dean of the College of
Materials Science and Engineering before promoted as the vice president, the College
was among the most active schools in internationalization at Chongqing University.
In contrast to the institutional leadership, not all program administrators and staff
working at the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges have overseas
experience. The majority personnel in the Office of International Cooperation and
Exchanges graduated in English language major, and did not necessarily have overseas
experience before acquiring their position. The Deputy Director Ms. Chen explained that
“English language proficiency was one of the qualifications whereas overseas experience
was not required”.
Administrators and staff are another shareholder group, together with the faculty,
who plays a key role in advancing the internationalization level at Chongqing University.
Including overseas experience as a key qualification of newly hired administrative
personnel for internationalization activities to have overseas experience is another
strategy adopted by Chongqing University to facilitate its internationalization
development.
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A significant change in internationalization personnel selection criteria in
Chongqing University is the emphasis on overseas experience. The four newly appointed
deputy directors in the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges obtained their
doctoral degree in American universities. The proposal of replacing associate deans with
those with extensive international experience and foreign language proficiency is another
example of this change.
Communication on internationalization.
The third indicator of organizational infrastructure supporting internationalization
is communication among institutional units pertaining to internationalization. The
website of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges serves as the
information hub providing access to a wide range of available internationalization
opportunities, policies, reports and statistics for anyone with an interest in participating
the internationalization activities, or knowing more about the University. Moreover, a
top-down communication channel is at place to disseminate related information across
the campus, which may not be suitable to share with the public. The vice president, the
Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, and senior administrators in each
college and dean in charge of its international affairs constitute the communication
channel. Vice President Liu explained
This communication channel facilitates campus-wide information dissemination.
Once a new national or institutional policy related to internationalization is
released, or new international opportunities are initiated, information will be sent
to the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, and become official
documents to be shared with associate deans of each college and school
responsible for international affairs. These deans then will decide what
information will be shared with whom within their own college or school.
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The communication channel connecting the University’s central administrators,
central office in charge of internationalization activities – the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges, and individual colleges and schools, facilitates the central
administrators to organize its internationalization activities.
The website of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges allows the
public and its students immediate access to the upcoming internationalization activities,
available opportunities and related policies, whereas the top-down communication
channel enables instant policy update without delay. However, not everyone is satisfied
with current communication channel. The Deputy Director of the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Chen argued: “As the central unit responsible for
internationalization, our office unfortunately fails to keep up with every single academic
and administrative unit in terms of their internationalization plan and activities, as well as
relevant concerns and suggestions.” She urged more organizational adaptations to be
made to help the communication more inclusive. She said
Since internationalization has been increasingly penetrating administrative units
that are not traditionally involved in international programs and activities, to
ensure a smooth communication system encompassing the entire academic and
administrative units involved in internationalization becomes critical.
In addition to her concern about the lack of communication among various
administrative and academic units in internationalization on campus, Ms. Chen also
identified the need to improve the communication among the staff of the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges. She said
Currently I am responsible for student exchange programs, while the other deputy
director is in charge of in-bound visiting universities and scholars. It would have
been a great opportunity to meet with overseas visitors and hopefully establish
student exchange programs with their institutions, if the other deputy director
shared such information with me. So I approached him and proposed that I
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participate every reception of overseas visitors. Communication among our own
staff can facilitate each other’s work, and I hope that we are able to find ways to
improve it.
Effective communication on the internationalization activities and policies on
campus is critical to the development in internationalization, in that it facilitates
collaboration and resource sharing among various units in a higher education institution.
In the case of Chongqing University, effective communication emphasizes more on the
disseminating the information from the central administrative unit to individual college,
school, faculty, and students, a top-down communication.
A more common concern among interviewees regarding information
communication is how to effectively communicate with faculty about information they
may be interested in. Within current communication channel, the university leadership
expected the head of each college and school to share the latest policies and opportunities
related to internationalization of Chongqing University with its faculty. However, only a
limited number of faculty from the college or school that are highly active in
internationalization took part in those internationalization activities. Those interviewees
suggested that solutions be made to “effectively communicate with faculty about the
available internationalization opportunities for them and benefits they can get from those
opportunities”. Ms. Chen, the Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation
and Exchanges suggested that “the university leadership and her office expand direct
communication with faculty about internationalization policies and activities”. As faculty
being identified as a key shareholder group in advancing the internationalization
development at Chongqing University, including faculty in the communication channel is
a necessary step in encouraging their participation.
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In summary, the communication on internationalization on campus mainly relies
on the communication channel led by Vice President Liu, with the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges as the central unit, and senior administrators in each college
and dean at the bottom to share with faculty and staff.
Physical facilities.
The fourth indicator examines the physical facilities dedicated to
internationalization, including both office space for internationalization personnel, and
living space for international students and faculty. The interviewees with both the central
administrators and program administrators in the Office of International Cooperation and
Exchanges and College of the International Cooperation and Exchanges took place each
individual’s office. The researcher was surprised by the large space for those personnel.
All sections of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges locate on the third
floor in the main newly-constructed administrative building of Chongqing University,
which are only two floors away from both the president and vice president's office. The
four newly-hired deputy directors share an office right next to that of the director, making
it convenient for them to consult with and report to the director. There is a billboard on
the passageway with pictures and brief introduction of the function and personnel of the
office. The College of International Cooperation and Exchanges is located on the second
floor of the building, with colorful billboards on the passageway advertising fee-paying
study abroad programs. Physical facilities for internationalization activities are well-
equipped.
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The dormitory for international students and faculty currently accommodates
international students and faculty. The Associate Dean of the College of the International
Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Jiang said: “A large number of international students,
who are Chinese Scholarship Council Scholarship and Confucius Scholarship recipients,
are assigned rooms by the International Students Office with no need to book rooms in
advance.” This is a common practice across national research universities in China to
better serve international students and faculty.
Free housing is provided to both short-term visiting scholars, and tenured faculty
recruited from overseas. According to Vice President Liu, exchange scholars and visiting
scholars are provided with free housing accommodation, whereas newly-hired tenure-
track faculty through national and institutional talents projects are rewarded an apartment
in Chongqing Municipality once starting their position. Vice President Liu explained:
“We want to provide the best living condition for our faculty so that they can dedicate
their time and energy to their work. It is also to compete for the best faculty to join our
university.” Solving the housing issues for overseas scholars is another strategy to attract
overseas talents to join Chongqing University as either a visiting scholar, or a tenured
faculty.
In summary, the organizational structure in Chongqing University to support the
internationalization development is functional, and adaptations have been made to
improve the structure. A strong standing campus-wide internationalization committee is
leading the University’s internationalization effort, which consists of Vice President Dr.
Liu, and the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges. Four deputy directors
were appointed in 2011 to enhance human resources in the Office of International
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Cooperation and Exchanges, mainly responsible for identifying “key partners” for each
college of the University for long-term meaningful international partnership. Under the
new University leadership, establishing a team of administrative personnel with overseas
experience is emphasized. A new human resource policy was proposed to replace those
associate deans who fail to fulfill their responsibility for leading their college or school’s
internationalization efforts, with qualified personnel who are equipped with foreign
language proficiency and international experience. A communication channel is
functional to facilitate campus-wide information communication from the institutional
leadership to individual college and school. Physical facilities such as dedicated office
space, dormitory for international students and free housing for overseas faculty are well
provided.
Internal and external funding for internationalization efforts.
This section examines the financial resources dedicated to internationalization of
Chongqing University. Without access to the University’s financial report, the researcher
was unable to retrieve data needed to compile a thorough analysis of this issue. But the
responses from the interviewees demonstrated the financial commitment made by the
University to internationalization. Overall, no internal earmarked funds are dedicated to
internationalization activities in Chongqing University. The fund is granted on a case by
case basis. Requests for funding will be approved as long as the purpose is in alignment
with the institutional strategic plan. The external funding from both the national and
municipal government constitutes a significant part of total funding for
internationalization activities, with the majority percentage granted on a project basis.
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According to Vice President Liu, part of the internal funding for
internationalization activities comes from the academic expenses, and the tuition subsidy
from the Ministry of Education. He added: “We have a pretty flexible budget, which will
ensure the financial support for internationalization activities.” The flexibility of internal
funding for internationalization activities was further explained by President Lin: “We
encourage individual schools and faculty to come up with new ideas to internationalize
Chongqing University. As long as the idea is tangible and a workable plan is presented,
the University will provide appropriate funding. I believe providing a flexible funding is
practical.” Despite of the lack of a funding plan, several interviewees praised the
university leadership’s financial commitment to internationalization of Chongqing
University. One example was the recent overseas scholar recruitment campaign. The
deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges pointed out:
“The University now offers a highly competitive salary and benefits package to attract
overseas talents to work at Chongqing University. It demonstrates the leadership’s
commitment to internationalization.” The rest of program administrators in the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges echoed their satisfaction with the availability of
the internal funding for internationalization of Chongqing University.
With regards to external funding, the vast majority comes from national and
municipal governments, in the form of annual fixed funds and project-based funds. Vice
President Lin said: “Every year, our university receives 10 million from the State
Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs to cover part of the expenditures on
international affairs. The Ministry of Education is another financial source. Usually we
receive funding from the Ministry of Education on a project basis.” Data shows that
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project-based national funding for internationalization constitutes a significant part of the
external funding for internationalization of Chongqing University. Project 985 is an
example of national projects Chongqing University participates which bring funding for
internationalization at the University. According to the Director of the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges Professor Zhao, Chongqing University receives
540 million CNY funding from Project 985, which has been an important financial
source for its internationalization activities. Additional project-based national funding is
received by participating in national Program of National Key Laboratories. Government
agencies regularly hold competitions to identify the best university programs in different
fields, designating the winners as key laboratories and research bases and providing both
national recognition and substantial financial support (Mohrman, 2008). Universities that
host these research centers receive extra funds and research grants to launch new research
projects so as to enhance their overall research capacity and to improve their international
reputation in those fields (Ngok & Guo, 2008). Chongqing University currently has 12
national key labs, and ministerial key labs and 42 provincial key labs. Funds and research
grants support recruiting international scholars to join in research projects, sending
students and faculty abroad for research cooperation.
The China Scholarship Council, a non-profit institution affiliated with the
Ministry of Education, is another funding channel for selected universities’
internationalization activities. The Deputy Director of the Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Chen stated: “High-achieving students and renowned
faculty are sent abroad for further study and experience, with substantial subsidy from
this organization. Qualified international students also receive scholarship from China
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Scholarship Council to study at Chongqing University.” It is apparent that only a limited
number of selected faculty and students can benefit from funding from the China
Scholarship Council.
In addition, the municipal government provides a Mayor’s Scholarship to
outstanding international students studying at Chongqing University. Several
interviewees, such as Director Zhao and Deputy Director Chen from the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges pointed out that the limited amount of this
Scholarship was “not sufficient” to substantially increase the number of international
students studying in the municipality. The input also “fell behind what major cities in
more developed areas offer”.
In general, the prevailing opinion of interviewees about the funding for
internationalization of Chongqing University was that there is no funding shortage for
internationalization activities. The distribution of funding on a project-basis is widely
accepted by the interviewees, who expressed no concerns about the lack of a funding
plan. This sentiment was supported by the fact that current institutional leadership
continues their financial support for internationalization activities. Internationalization of
Chongqing University is associated with cost, rather than income generation. The
availability of funding, therefore, demonstrates the institutional commitment to
internationalization, and plays an indispensable role in advancing internationalization of
Chongqing University.
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Institutional investment in faculty.
The fourth category, institutional investment in faculty, measures the professional
development opportunities available to faculty to help advance their knowledge and skills
by engaging in internationalization activities. This dimension was illustrated by four
indicators, including ‘overseas faculty recruiting’, ‘earmarked funds for full-time faculty
to participate in international activities’, ‘the availability of international opportunities for
faculty’, and ‘the collection of foreign journals and books’.
Overseas faculty recruitment.
Overseas faculty recruitment has become one of the University's top priorities to
enhance the overall quality of its faculty force, and its internationalization. Vice President
Liu explicitly confirmed that “overseas faculty recruiting is a top priority of
internationalization strategies at Chongqing University.” According to an official report
from the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, between 2000 and 2004,
Chongqing University recruited 82 overseas scholars as the University’s long-term
scholars, from a variety of disciplines including language, biology, chemistry,
architecture and law. Most scholars come from the United States, as well as the United
Kingdom, Australia, Japan and India (Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges
Report, 2011). President Lin added that the University has recruited several long-term
overseas scholars to initiate research projects at the newly-established research institute
in social science. He explained: “Social science is a well-established discipline in
Western society, which, however, is underdeveloped in China. Inviting overseas scholars
to join our research institute is the most efficient way to lead the institute to a fast-
growing path.” The recruitment of overseas faculty to both the renowned programs and
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newly-established research institutes manifests the leading role the recruited faculty are
expected to play in teaching and research.
Meanwhile, over 400 overseas scholars have been served as short-term scholars at
Chongqing University. The short-term scholars fulfilled their responsibilities by visiting
the University, giving lectures and research collaboration. Moreover, by participating
“Changjiang Scholar Incentive Program”, Chongqing University has recruited 20
overseas young and middle-aged leading scholars to be the University's Special
Professors or Lecture Professors. Through the most recent “Thousands Talents Project”
and “Hundreds Talents Project”, nine distinguished scholars are recruited. In addition, 24
overseas graduates with doctoral degree are hired as full-time faculty (Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges Report, 2011).
A new focus of overseas faculty recruitment is to recruit foreign-ethnic scholars to
work in China. Chongqing University has just recruited a professor of European ethnicity
to work as a full-time professor and associate dean at School of Economics and Business
Administration. President Lin highlighted this national shift: “The vast majority of
overseas faculty recruited during the first phase of Thousands Talents Project are Chinese
ethnically. The second phase, I believe, has started and the focus has shifted to recruiting
foreign-ethnic scholars to work in China. I believe that those scholars will bring about
different chemistry to our Chinese community, scholarly and culturally.” Dean of School
of Economics and Business Administration, Dr. Liu also touted its recent recruitment of
this professor of European ethnicity. He was hopefully that this future foreign professor
and senior administrator will assist the development of a real-world “global village”
atmosphere in the school, which is much needed in business administration.
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As demonstrated in the above interview quotes, overseas faculty recruiting is an
important internationalization strategy adopted by Chongqing University, and supported
by the national government. The recruited overseas scholars are expected to elevate the
teaching and research quality of Chongqing University by introducing their expertise and
Western university practice to Chongqing University. With regards to overseas recruiting
approach, utilizing personal contacts and traveling overseas for recruitment are the most
common approaches adopted by Chongqing University. According to both President Lin
and the Dean of School of Economics and Business Administration, the recently-
recruited overseas scholars of the School were referred by President Lin’s personal
contacts. The deputy Director Chen from the Office of International Cooperation and
Exchanges echoed that: “schools with more faculty with international experience tend to
be more successful in overseas faculty recruitment, because these faculty have personal
contacts overseas to help them connect with overseas scholars.” This approach manifests
the president’s support for and engagement in internationalization of Chongqing
University. Traveling overseas for faculty recruitment is another approach adopted by
Chongqing University. The Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation
and Exchanges, Mr. Li commented: “With the depressing overseas job market caused by
the financial crisis since 2008, and China’s increasing economic competitiveness, it is a
good time to recruit overseas talents. More international recruiting trips have been made
during the last year, led by the institutional senior administrators.” The institutional
leadership’s support, and the global environment in favor of overseas faculty recruitment,
explain the reason why overseas faculty recruitment is an important internationalization
strategy adopted by Chongqing University.
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In general, the vast majority of overseas scholars working at Chongqing
University are recruited through national projects, which provide policies and guidelines
for recruiting institutions, and monetary subsidy to recruited scholars. In alignment with
the Opinions on Furthering Study Abroad Talent Recruiting by the Ministry of
Education: “Both the national government and individual higher education institutions
shall secure earmarked funds for rewarding study abroad talents who choose to work as
full-time faculty, and provide services to diminish various concerns those recruited
scholars may have (p.1-2)”, special funds and talent-reserves have been established to
facilitate recruited scholars' academic activities in Chongqing University. The University
also coordinates with relevant ministries and sectors to diminish various concerns the
recruited scholars may have, such as visa, housing, spouse's employment, and children's
education. As a national research university, Chongqing University is actively engaged in
overseas faculty recruiting with the institutional leadership's dedication and financial
support, as well as the national government's policy and financial support.
Internationalization opportunities for faculty.
Internationalization opportunities for faculty have been increased and diversified.
Currently, internationalization opportunities for faculty include government- and
institution-sponsored professional training overseas, going abroad as visiting scholars,
participating international conferences home and abroad, and teaching or conducting
research with incoming visiting scholars on campus. Several interviewees confirmed the
increasing international opportunities for the faculty, and joined in offering examples of
international opportunities for faculty. The Director of Academic Affairs noted that: “The
academic programs in partnership with foreign universities not only benefit students, but
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our faculty. Taking the undergraduate program in partnership with National University of
Singapore for instance, our faculty leaders who accompany participating students on their
stay in Singapore work with the local faculty in teaching and curriculum development.”
Such international opportunities allow the faculty to enhance their teaching skills.
International opportunities to enhance the research capacity in its faculty have also
increased at Chongqing University. Dean Liu noted that: “Our school has established
partnerships with foreign universities to provide a variety of short-term professional
development opportunities for our faculty.” The Deputy Director of the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges Mr. Li also commented: “More faculty have
been supported to participate in international conferences to share their research with
overseas scholars, and to keep up with cutting-edge knowledge, which is key to
improving their research ability.” These remarks show that enhancing the research
capacity is another motivation to provide international opportunities for faculty.
In addition to institutional opportunities, national projects also offer faculty of
Chongqing University international opportunities. Dean Liu said: “Our faculty have been
actively participating overseas programs initiated by Chinese Scholarship Council. On
average, eight faculty participate those programs every year.” The deputy Director of the
Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Chen added that: “One of our
responsibilities is to share the information about international opportunities offered by the
national government to individual schools and faculty, and to provide logistics support
such as visa application.” The active participation of its faculty in national projects, and
the central administrative unit’s support, confirm that taking part in national projects is an
important internationalization strategy adopted by Chongqing University for its faculty.
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The achievement in offering international opportunities for its faculty at
Chongqing University is undeniable. According to the Director of Academic Affairs, the
majority of its faculty have at least one-year overseas experience. The institutional report
also demonstrated the benefits faculty has received with increased international
opportunities: “By enhancing professional training opportunities both home and abroad,
increasing investment, and the adoption of rewards and subsidy, the overall quality of our
faculty has been significantly improved (CQU, 2011).”
International opportunities for faculty is a common approach of
internationalization in higher education institutions, in that internationalizing the faculty
has a direct positive impact on the internationalization of teaching and research of an
institution. In the case of Chongqing University, offering international opportunities for
its faculty is also an indispensable part of its internationalization strategies.
Earmarked funds.
The third indicator of institutional investment in faulty is the ‘earmarked funds for
faculty participating internationalization activities’. Since the release of Opinions on
Furthering National Support for Higher Education Institutions in Western China from
the Ministry of Education in 2010, faculty of Chongqing University have had more
opportunity to receive professional training or to conduct research overseas with subsidy
from the national government.
In order to enhance the educational quality in higher education institutions in
Western China, the national government will further its support to improve the
teaching and research performance of faculty in those universities through a
variety of professional development programs. More government-sponsored
international opportunities will be given to faculty from Western China (Opinions
on Furthering National Support for Higher Education Institutions in Western
China, p.1).
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The Opinions made by the Ministry of Education not only allows more earmarked
funds from the national and municipal government to be allocated to Chongqing
University to subsidize international opportunities for its faculty, but guides Chongqing
University to follow the national lead. The Director of Human Resources confirmed that
the University also reserves earmarked funds for this purpose: “Earmarked funds are
secured by the institutional leadership. Each college and school will receive a fixed
amount of funds and is given the authority to decide how to spend the money, as long as
it is used to support its faculty to gain international experience.”
Earmarked funds from both Chongqing University and the national government
provide significant support for increasing its international opportunities for the faculty. It
is clear that the two strategies, increasing the international opportunities for the faculty
and ensuring earmarked funds are supporting each other to meet the goal of enhancing
the teaching and research quality of its faculty to catch up with world-class standard.
Collections of foreign journals.
The last indicator, ‘collections of foreign journals’, exemplified again the
institutional investment for faculty. According to the University library reports, the
library is one of the largest institutional libraries in Western China. Continuing efforts
have been made to build the library into an institutional library with international
reputation. There are about 20,800 electronic foreign journals, a variety of foreign
research database most higher education institutions overseas subscribe across all
disciplines. Individual schools also have its own foreign journal collection. Comments
from Dean Liu confirmed the leadership’s investment in faculty to pursue scholarship:
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“Our school is going to build a library for our faculty to access the most influential
international journals and research database.”
The positive impact of this strategy on the teaching and research quality is
confirmed by comments from the interviewees. According to Dean Liu, “Providing free
recourses for faculty that are critical to their research and scholarship pursuit can enhance
the research and knowledge production.” Foreign academic journals open the access for
the faculty to world-class knowledge without traveling overseas.
Overall, Chongqing University has laid great emphasis on faculty investment to
enhance their teaching and research ability. Overseas faculty recruitment stands as the top
priority in this regard, which is in alignment with the national government’s initiative to
attract overseas talents to boost its knowledge economy. By participating the national
talent projects, and initiating overseas recruiting trips, Chongqing University is engaging
in overseas faculty recruitment to attract both young study abroad returnees with doctoral
degree and renowned overseas scholars. Providing diverse opportunities for its local
faculty to engage in international activities remains a common practice of faculty
investment. Those opportunities include working overseas with foreign faculty, attending
international conferences, and teaching and conducting research with incoming visiting
scholars. Earmarked funds for international opportunities are received from both the
national government and the University. A rich collection of foreign journals is available
for faculty to pursue research and scholarship.
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International students and student programs.
This category not only examines international students, but the interaction
between local and international students. ‘International students’ indicator not only looks
into the number of international students, but the international student recruiting efforts.
Student programs, on the other hand, examines how internationally oriented
extracurricular activities foster intercultural understanding between domestic and
international outside classroom, and to broaden students' international vision. By
combining these two indicators together, the researcher was able to analyze
internationalization efforts from an intercultural perspective. The three indicators
included in Phase two of the analytical framework were identified in the case of
Chongqing University, namely, ‘number of international students’, ‘internationally
oriented extracurricular activities for students’, and ‘funding for international student
recruiting and internationally oriented extracurricular activities for students’.
Overall, the number of international students in Chongqing University has
increased substantially, thanks to increasing recruiting efforts. Extracurricular activities
to foster intercultural understanding between domestic and international students outside
classroom are available in a non-regular basis. Activities coordinated by the institution at
past included international cultural festival in 2010, and distinguished international guest
lectures on campus.
Number of international students.
The number of international students in Chongqing University, has reached 1043
by 2011 from 103 countries, from about 200 in 2005. Director Zhao from the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges commented that “a big jump of the number of
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international students in Chongqing University happened since 2005”. Despite the
different understanding on why international student recruiting is critical to the
internationalization development in Chongqing University, a consensus among the
interviewees was the importance of international student’s presence on campus. The
associate Dean of the College of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Mr. Xu is a
strong advocate for increasing international student population. He argued: “International
alumni are valuable asset of a university to raise its international reputation.” The other
associate Dean of the College of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Ms. Jiang
shared the same sentiment from a different perspective: “A diverse student population on
campus would provide our local students with the opportunity to communicate with
people from different culture and background. Our local students would eventually
improve their intercultural communication skills.” Apparently increasing the number of
international students serves the purpose of student success and university development.
With regards to overseas recruiting experience, most program administrators
from the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges lamented the University’s
great disadvantages in attracting international students when compared to its peers in
Eastern China, proclaimed that several factors have contributed to this great difficulty,
including lack of history, its geographic location and unfriendly environment for
foreigners. According to the deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation
and Exchanges Ms. Chen, the “geographic location, and a lack of history in international
recruiting”, put the University in a difficult position with respect to attracting
international students.” The associate Dean of the College Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Jiang echoed the University's advantage in international
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student recruiting: “Even traveling is a chore for international students. For example,
Korean students can fly from Korea to Beijing in 2 hours. But they need another 3 hours
to fly from Beijing to our municipality. Let alone Beijing’s acknowledged reputation as
the destination for foreign students to study in China, the additional 3 hours to get to
Chongqing simply intimidates a lot of applicants.” Coming from Beijing, the
municipality with the largest international student population in China, President Lin
added: “Chongqing Municipality is far from internationalized. Lack of a friendly
environment for foreigners deters international students to study in our university.” The
comments from the interviewees partially explain why the number of international
students of Chongqing University is smaller than that of elite research universities in
China. The University’s lack of history of serving international students, its geographic
location and unfriendly environment for foreigners of the municipality, prevent
international student recruiting from becoming a major internationalization strategy of
Chongqing University.
Internationally oriented extracurricular activities.
Internationally oriented extracurricular activities for students in Chongqing
University are institutional efforts designed to foster intercultural understanding between
domestic and international outside classroom, and to broaden students' international
vision. The activities serving this purpose happen both at home and abroad. According to
Director Zhao from the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Chongqing
University sends its student folk art group to perform overseas as its major non-academic
international activities abroad. Director Zhao added: “By performing Chinese folk arts at
foreign universities, we are enhancing intercultural understanding between our students
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and foreign students. I believe this is also a purpose of internationalization.” The
internationally oriented extracurricular activities at home, on the other hand, include the
international festival, and distinguished international guest lectures. The first
international festival held in 2010 was referred by several interviewees as the University's
commitment to internationalization. Director Zhao said: “We hope that our local students
will be able to experience and understand the diverse culture in the world.” The associate
Dean of the College of International Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Jiang added: “This
festival created a great opportunity for our local students and international students to
interact and communicate with each other, which had been under-emphasized for a long
time.” A more significant impact of the international festival was that “it helped promote
internationalization on campus and showed the University's commitment to
internationalization to its students, faculty and staff.” Another example is the
distinguished international guest lectures. Internationally renowned scholars,
distinguished alumni, business leaders, and politicians are invited to give speech on
campus to its students. The associate Director of the College of International Cooperation
and Exchanges Mr. Xu commented: “With eight consulate or consulate – general in
Chongqing University, and its increasing opening-up to the rest of the world, more and
more internationally renowned professionals have been invited to speak to our students.”
These lectures are also internationally oriented extracurricular activities that “enhance the
understanding of the outside world and broaden the vision of the students”, as
commented by the associate Dean of the College of International Cooperation and
Exchanges Ms. Jiang.
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The presence of international students on campus does not necessarily enhance the
international experience of its students. Therefore, creating internationally oriented
extracurricular opportunities for its students on campus is of great significance in
broadening the global vision of its students by utilizing the University's resources at
hand.
Funding for international student recruiting and internationally oriented
extracurricular activities.
Costs associated to the internationally oriented extracurricular activities are
covered by the University. No earmarked funds are reserved for these activities. Instead,
the fund is granted on a project basis. The funding allocation policy again reflects the
University's flexibility in this regard.
Output exchange.
This category includes two strategies, ‘hosting international conferences’ and
‘publishing articles on international research article databases and foreign journals’.
Output exchange significantly affects the national funding individual higher education
institutions in China will receive, as well as factoring into faculty promotion and tenure
decision. Both institutions and individual faculty therefore are engaged in international
research collaboration to increase the number of international conferences held on
campus and published articles on international research article databases and foreign
journals. By investigating output exchange, the researcher was able to evaluate the
achievement of Chongqing University’s international research collaboration.
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International conference has been identified by the new leadership as a new
internationalization focus to increase Chongqing University’s international reputation. A
prevailing sentiment of hosting international conferences among the interviewees was its
benefits for the internationalization development. Most interviewees shared the belief that
international conference serves as a platform to exchange knowledge and to advance
academic development among scholars and experts from different countries. President
Lin emphasized its role in enhancing the University's international reputation:
“International conferences can effectively present the research achievement of our faculty
to the international community.” Dean Liu echoed: “Our school hosts at least one
international conference every year. It is an effective brand marketing tool. We need to
establish the national and international reputation.” Several interviewees mentioned the
University's proposal of “Chongqing Forum”. According to the Director of the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges Professor Zhao, “Chongqing Forum will be
held annually at Chongqing University to discuss emerging issues on China’s economy,
politics, society, as well as local and regional issues.” President Lin envisioned:
“Chongqing Forum one day will become another international forum comparable to Boao
Forum for Asia, with larger and broader impact than our current school- or college-
initiated international conferences.” The University’s ambitions vision in its international
forum, and the institutional leadership’s commitment and support, confirm that hosting
international conferences has become one of the primary internationalization strategies of
Chongqing University.
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The other indicator, publishing articles on international research article databases
and foreign journals reflects a common trend in Chinese academia. With the priority shift
from teaching to research among Chinese public higher education institutions, national
universities encourage faculty to publish frequently in international journals as a way to
catch up with Western institutions (Mohrman, 2008). Chongqing University is no
exception. Dean Liu confirmed: “We encourage our faculty to publish articles on foreign
journals, especially those that are influential in its specialty.” Each college and school in
Chongqing University takes the number of articles published into consideration when
evaluating faculty’s performance, as well as faculty promotion and tenure decision.
With the increasing emphasis on university's research function in the international
community, the national government has been encouraging individual universities to host
international conferences and to increase its number of international research articles
published on international research article databases and foreign journals. Chongqing
University takes actions in alignment with the expectation.
Results for Research Question Three
The third phase of the analytical framework, Institutionalization of
Internationalization Approaches matrix, answers the third research question about what
remaining work needs to be done for Chongqing University to reach its future
internationalization goal. Guided by the matrix, the researcher first analyzed the
characteristics of Chongqing University’s current internationalization status, and its
future internationalization goal from a systematic approach (see Figure 3). A comparison
between its current status and future goal was then conducted to identify what the
remaining work needs to be done. Answers to this question are crucial to the
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development of an internationalization strategic plan in alignment with Chongqing
University’s new mission.
FIG 3: Institutionalization of Approaches to Internationalization at Chongqing University
Marginal/Ad Hoc Systematic/Marginal
Central/Ad Hoc Systematic/Central
Currently Chongqing University is on the B stage of the Institutionalization of
Internationalization Approaches matrix, where the amount of business is still relatively
small, but is well organized. Areas of international activity are precisely identified, and
correspond with fields of internal strength and market opportunity. Projects and efforts
are focused on particular market segments in which the university will endeavor to
become expert and niche marketing is usual. Costing and pricing are accurate and
realistic. A small number of institutional agreements are meaningful, and work.
Compared to the C9 institutions, Chongqing University still lags behind in terms
of the number of overseas partners it has and, the amount and variety of international
activities it pursues. A common theme throughout the interviews was the University's
persistent lag behind its C9 peers in terms of the scope of internationalization activities. It
is widely acknowledged that only a small number of programs with national reputation
are engaged in internationalization activities. The rest of the University’s academic
A B
Current Status
C D
Future Goal
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programs and faculty have neither the motivation nor the capability to initiate its own
internationalization activities. President Lin remarked that the fundamental issue
inhibiting campus-wide internationalization is the University's educational quality. Rather
than merely pursuing a larger number of internationalization programs and activities,
improving education quality has become the goal in next five years to form a solid
foundation for institutional advancement, President Lin believes this will elevate the
University’s internationalization to a new level. One strategy is restructuring the
academic units of Chongqing University to better utilize available resources and to
facilitate academic development. Based on common practice in world-class universities,
and its background, four colleges have emerged, namely, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty
of the Built Environment, Faculty of Information Science and Technology, and Faculty of
Arts and Sciences. The new academic unit structure will strengthen renowned programs
such as engineering, and develop its social sciences as the leader among Chinese research
universities.
Despite falling behind its C9 peers, internationalization in Chongqing University
is well organized. Under a centralized administration, the senior administrators (president
and vice president) provide the vision and strategic plan, and instruct the University to
establish regulation and guidelines.
When it comes to areas of international activity, new focus and plans are
identified based on the University’s new mission “to become one of the best universities
in China by 2029”. Given the definition of “best universities” as a university with
selective excellence, efforts have been concentrated on selected areas. A primary focus is
to recruit overseas talents to improve its teaching and research, which was explicitly
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identified by most interviewees. Another focus is to establish top-notch research institutes
in social sciences, through partnership with world-class universities and recruiting
international scholars. Regularly hosting international conferences as the premier forum
on China's regional and national development issues, is another new area to expand the
University's international recognition.
Under the centralized administration, financial resources allocated to
internationalization remain an institutional decision. Each academic and administrative
unit is required to follow institutional guidelines for institutional subsidies or support. A
large portion of cost is related to administrators' international business travel.
Reimbursement policies regulate the amount of reimbursement per person per day during
travel, based on national and municipal standards. Another cost is to subsidize students
and faculty abroad programs. While the national government subsidizes those
participating in national programs, the institution is responsible for the cost of its own
programs. The amount of subsidy per person has been clearly defined in each program,
allowing the University to determine the budget based on its current financial situation. A
gap between overseas living standards and reimbursement standards set by national
government has emerged as a discussion regarding who should be given the authority to
determine the amount of subsidy. During a meeting hosted by the Vice President Dr. Liu,
and his staff in the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, some raised their
concern that current reimbursement standard fails to keep up with overseas living
standard, causing more paperwork to be prepared for reimbursing extra expenses beyond
the standard. Staff strongly hoped that either the central government will update the
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standard based on current situation, or the authority will be given to individual
institutions.
An emerging cost is the salary for recruited overseas talents through national,
municipal and institutional talent projects. The salary range for each position category is
a combination of national and municipal policy, as well as local living standards. Pricing
its international programs is also based on national and municipal standards, as well as
the local living standards. Tuition fees for international students are set under national
guidelines. The pricing of fee-charging study-abroad programs takes into consideration
average local household income, making it affordable for local students. Overall, the
costing and pricing are accurate and realistic.
Currently the most renowned programs of Chongqing University, such as urban
construction and environmental engineering, are leaders amongst the rest of academic
programs in its internationalization efforts, maintaining meaningful and functional
partnership with a small number of overseas renowned institutions. The new leadership is
expanding such partnership to each newly-constructed college, by initiating a project to
establish long-term all-around partnership for each new college with its “key partners”.
The quality, rather than the quantity of the partnership, is emphasized in this project.
Based on the institutional documents and interviews with central and program
administrators, the researcher was able to understand the institutional internationalization
goal the central and program administrators envision.
First, internationalization will receive extensively support by students and faculty
which will lead to greater participation. While lamenting the lack of support from the
majority of faculty and staff, and lack of interest of its students, most interviewees
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identified that providing extensive institutional support for internationalization of
Chongqing University as part of its future goal. The deputy Director of the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges Ms. Chen commented that “Most faculty
members regard internationalization irrelevant to their job. This situation needs to be
improved in order to compete with other leading research universities to become one of
the best universities in China by 2029. Faculty and staff across all academic and
administrative units shall show their support for internationalization.” Urge for extensive
faculty support was echoed by Vice President Liu:
Most faculty invest most time and energy in teaching and research to get
promoted and tenure. What we shall do is to raise the faculty’s awareness of the
positive impact internationalization has on their teaching and research. Besides,
we need to find a way to encourage the faculty to create more international
opportunities for our students…because faculty plays a significant role in
cultivating students’ global vision and skills, which is the ultimate goal of our
education.
With regards to increasing students’ support for internationalization, several
interviewees connected it to students’ English language proficiency. It is hoped that with
their increasing English language proficiency, more students of Chongqing University
will be willing to participate in the internationalization activities. Vice President Liu
found that “the poor English language skills of most students of Chongqing University
has prevented them from considering study abroad, or connecting international
experience to their overall development.” Several interviewees also identified a vicious
circle where “students’ poor English language skills lead to disqualification for a large
number of national and institutional international opportunities, which then results in the
lack of enthusiasm about participating the internationalization activities of Chongqing
University, and ultimately a lack of support for internationalization.” Most interviewees
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called for the improvement of its students’ ability to participate in international activities,
which will lead to extensive support for internationalization from students.
Second, the number and diversity of internationalization activities will be greatly
increased. Internationalization will not limited to a small number of programs, but the
vast majority of academic units. A prevailing sentiment among the interviewees is that as
one of the best universities in China, a variety of internationalization activities will take
place across all academic programs of Chongqing University. Strategies recently adopted
by Chongqing University, such as identifying key partner foreign institutions for each of
the four colleges, serve the purpose of engaging each college in the internationalization
agenda. Moreover, internationalization will facilitate the establishment and development
of new academic disciplines at Chongqing University. As mentioned earlier, the
establishment of the first research institute on social science was supported by partnering
university overseas, and international renowned scholars joining in its research projects.
Internationalization activities will continue taking place in new academic units of
Chongqing University to maintain its growth.
Third, a proper reward and incentive mechanism with supportive institutional
policies will be available to sustain the internationalization development. The central
administrators acknowledged the negative effect current personnel and curriculum
policies have on encouraging great faculty and student participation. Therefore, part of
the internationalization goal is to establish a proper system to sustain the development of
internationalization of Chongqing University. President Lin advocated that “we need
policies to align personal interest with the institutional goal. Appropriate personnel
policies will serve as incentive for faculty to engage in internationalization.” According
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to President Lin, the ultimate purpose of a proper personnel system is to “create an
environment where everyone is accountable”. Vice President Liu shared this sentiment
and added that “We need to improve current faculty and program evaluation system to
reward input with broad and deep impact. We would like to see a positive human
resource management system to encourage our faculty to engage in internationalization.”
As discussed earlier, the evaluation criteria for individual faculty and college’s
engagement in internationalization activities is an example of the ineffective personnel
policies that may hinder faculty’s participation in internationalization activities.
Fourth, a dedicated organizational structure to support a range of international
efforts will be in place. Chongqing University’s current internationalization task
committee and communication channel exemplifies the stress laid on supportive
organizational structure led by central administrators and spread across academic units.
The proposal Vice President Liu made to enhance the quality of personnel in the
committee demonstrates the continuing dedication to improvement of the organizational
structure to support internationalization.
Vice President Lin: We are in a process of enhancing the leadership skills in
developing internationalization, by replacing program administrators and
associate deans in charge of international affairs with those having extensive
international experience and language skills. It is a necessary step to expand
internationalization across all disciplines.
One can conclude that Chongqing University is committed to moving forward its
internationalization to stage D, with a systematic and central internationalization. At this
stage, internationalization is extensively supported by all shareholders of the university,
including students, faculty, administrators and staff. There is a large volume of
international work in many categories, which serve to reinforce each other and have
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intellectual coherence. Internationalization is not limited to a small number of programs,
but is instead present in the vast majority of academic units. Personnel and curriculum
policies are continually appraised and readjusted to support the international effort.
Substantial financial commitment to international projects is apparent. A dedicated
organizational structure to support a range of international efforts is in place, and the
tension existing between these organs and mainstream faculties is usually constructive.
Reward and incentive mechanisms are properly used.
Based on the analysis of the current internationalization development status at
Chongqing University, and its future internationalization goal, the remaining work that
needs to be done to reach the goal is identified as follows:
First, the institutional support for internationalization needs to be expanded. A
systematic internationalization required extensive support from students, faculty,
administrators and staff, whereas currently only a limited number of central
administrators, international program administrators and staff, and faculty in colleges and
schools that are active in internationalization activities support internationalization and
engage in related activities.
Second, the number and diversity of internationalization activities needs to be
increased. The internationalization goal of Chongqing University is to have a large
volume of international work in many categories across all disciplines. A large number of
academic units lag behind in developing international opportunities for its students and
faculty. Newly-developed internationalization initiatives, such as identifying key partners
for each newly-constructed college, and establishing a research institute of social science
through international partnership, also await to be implemented to diversify the
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internationalization activities.
Third, adequate personnel policies should be developed. Current personnel
policies fail to provide incentives for faculty to engage in internationalization.
Internationalization is considered as an executive fiat, rather than an institutional priority
all faculty members are accountable for.
Fourth, a dedicated and functional organizational structure is yet to be established
to support the internationalization development. Current institutional internationalization
task committee functions as a top-down communication channel to implement the
national and institutional policy and activities related to internationalization, which
awaits to be improved to encourage grass-root innovation and initiatives from individual
college and schools to diversify Chongqing University’s internationalization activities.
Summary
This chapter presented the findings from the two research instruments –
interviews and document analysis. The discussion of each research question applied the
research covered in the literature review in Chapter II. Chapter IV first discussed the
rationales and strategies for the internationalization of Chongqing University. A
systematic analysis of the institutional characteristics of internationalization in
Chongqing University was then followed to present the landscape of internationalization
in Chongqing University as a whole, and where the University stands with regard to its
internationalization map. Such approach was also employed to analyze the
internationalization goal envisioned by the institutional leadership. A comparison was
then made to identify what remaining work needs to be done to reach the University’s
internationalization goal. Suggestions for future practice will be provided on Chapter V
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based on the analysis and a valid framework, which makes the recommendations
approachable and suitable for its current internationalization capacity. The findings
analyzed in this chapter were reviewed for any patterns that could shed lights on a better
understanding of the landscape of internationalization of Chinese higher education
institutions that share great similarities with Chongqing University. Several notable
findings were derived from the data.
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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter reviews the three research questions that guided this study,
commenting on conclusions reached from the research data. Next, some general
conclusions and recommendations are offered, with special focus on Chongqing
University's current internationalization status, its internationalization goal, and
suggestions on how to bridge the gap between its current status and future goal.
Research Questions
Research question one.
What rationales guide internationalization strategies Chongqing University
utilizes at present?
The rationales for internationalization of Chongqing University were analyzed at
the institutional and national level. The institutional rationales provided by the
interviewees and stated in the institutional documents focus primarily on academic
reasons for pursuing internationalization. The academic rationales at the institutional
level include enhancement of the quality of education, research and knowledge
production, and student success by providing students with high-quality education.
Strategic alliance is another institutional rationale to help the University achieve its
academic, scientific, technological, and cultural objectives, and integrate into the
international community. Eventually, the national profile and reputation will be
enhanced, which will lead to the achievement of becoming one of the best universities in
China, as the new institutional goal goes. One notable phenomenon is the
interrelationship among the above institutional rationales identified at Chongqing
University. The identification of the enhancement of the quality of education as the
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predominant task of the University for the next five years is owing to the institutional
quest for student success and national profile and reputation. The pursuit of research and
knowledge production also comes from the institutional goal of prestigious national
reputation. As a national research university, the achievement in research is directly
linked to its national university ranking. The improvement of the University’s ranking
will in turn facilitate the University to obtain more resources for research. The
establishment of strategic alliance also serves the purpose of increasing national profile
and reputation, by facilitating the enhancement of educational quality, research and
knowledge production through international partnership and collaboration. The
improvement of national profile and reputation will in turn encourage and facilitate the
University to more actively engage in expanding its strategic alliance to integrate into the
international community.
The national rationales provided by the interviewees and stated in the institutional
documents focus primarily on economic reasons and, to a less extent, on social and
cultural purposes. This conclusion aligns with national economic context for
internationalization of higher education generalized in Chapter II. The Chinese
government regards internationalization as a strategy to strengthen national economic
competitiveness (Yang, 2005). In order to facilitate the economic development of the
less-developed Western region, the national government encourages internationalization
of Chongqing University for the rationales of human resources development and
educational quality improvement. Some attention was also given to social and cultural
rationales of promoting intercultural understanding, and national cultural identity.
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Enhancement of the quality of education is one of the predominant rationales for
internationalization of Chongqing University, at both the institutional and national level.
This finding also reinforces internationalization as a means to enhance educational
quality as stated in Chapter II (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007). Current institutional
leadership prioritizes educational quality improvement as the fundamental task in the
next five years. Internationalization is regarded as a process of learning the teaching,
research and management practices from world-class universities, and to improve the
overall educational quality of the University. The national government, on the other hand,
is aware of the gap in educational quality between China’s East Coast and the Western
region where Chongqing municipality is located. Financial support and favored policies
to internationalize Chongqing University are for the purpose of improving the quality of
education in Western China.
A prevailing sentiment among the interviewees is that internationalization is a
process during which Chongqing University catches up with international standards by
emulating the teaching, research and services practices of their Western peers with world-
class status. The idea of catching up demonstrates the popular concept of Jiegui (to
connect tracks) in China, as mentioned in Chapter II. Specifically, interviewees of
Chongqing University believe that it is a process to link up China’s educational practice
with the mainstream of international trends (Zhang, 1994). This sentiment shares with the
national government the belief in the positive impact internationalization has on the
overall development of higher education in China, as exemplified in national policies
such as National Education Reform and Development Program Outline for Medium and
Long term. As one can see, the internationalization of higher education in China still
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maintains its basic character as a process of catching up with advanced countries and
approaching the current centers of learning, mostly identified with the English-speaking
countries in Europe and even more so the United States (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007;
Chan & Lo, 2008; Huang, 2007; Mok & Welch, 2003). The practice of catching up with
international standards and practices of higher education institutions from developed
countries demonstrates the inequality in the world of globalized higher education
proposed by several scholars, which has been discussed in Chapter II (Altbach, 2004;
Back, et al., 1997; Knight & de Wit, 1997; Yang, 2002b). Major international academic
centers – namely the leading research-oriented universities in the West, especially those
that use one of the key world languages (particularly English) – have always dominated
the production and distribution of knowledge, weaker institutions and systems from
developing countries, with fewer resources and lower academic standards, have tended to
follow in their wake.
The pursuit of national profile and reputation is another major institutional
rationale for internationalization of Chongqing University. As discussed in Chapter II, the
surge of world university rankings in recent years with the rising globalization of higher
education, has inevitably affected Chinese higher education system. While C9
universities are striving for world-class status with the support of national government
(Ngok & Guo, 2008), Chongqing University is also dedicated to a higher ranking in
China’s league table, as well as increasing international reputation.
Research and knowledge production is also an institutional rationale for the
internationalization of Chongqing University worth of attention. As a national research
university, research and knowledge production not only serves its interest in raising
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institutional prestige, but in developing solutions to major societal issues and problems.
The national government provides continuing financial support on a project basis to
facilitate and encourage international collaboration on research. Efforts at Chongqing
University focus on disciplines of national interest, by overseas scholars recruitment and
collaboration with world-class universities overseas.
A new phenomenon arising from the case study as an institutional rationale worth
of attention is the increasing emphasis of the University administration on student success
as the ultimate goal of higher education. The emphasis on student success is not only a
recent trend in internationalization of higher education as identified in Chapter II, but also
reflects the national government’s changing definition of quality education in higher
education during the last decade. To compete in a global knowledge market, an
increasing number of higher education institutions have identified cultivating their
students into global citizens as a priority in their mission statement (Altbach et al., 2010).
At Chongqing University, student success is also identified as the ultimate mission of the
University, which goes beyond academic success, but overall development, with the
capability to cope with and succeed in the global society with innovation and critical
thinking skills. The emphasis on students success also aligns with the national
government’s changing definition of quality education during the last decade, as a
response to the nation’s new demand for human resources in knowledge economy.
Internationalization has been acknowledged as an effective approach to improving
educational quality, which ultimately facilitates student success.
The pursuit of high quality education, research and knowledge production and
student success as the primary rationales for the internationalization of Chongqing
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University is in close relation to another predominant national rationale, which is human
resources development. Building research universities with world-class status or
international reputation through national projects such as Project 985, is to provide a site
to concentrate top professors and students so as to meet the society’s needs for elite
personnel, knowledge and technology, and ultimately to enhance countries’ global
competitiveness (Chan & Lo, 2008). As for the region, since China's Western
development in 2000, Chongqing municipality has been transforming itself into the
region’s economic, trade, and financial center. As a national research university and a
leading university in the Western region, Chongqing University identifies its primary
social responsibility as producing qualified graduates needed for the regional and national
economic development. Internationalization serves this purpose by improving the
teaching and research functions of Chongqing University, the educational quality and
ultimately producing graduates with skills needed in global economy.
The academically-driven internationalization of Chongqing University also
explains the fact that income generation, as a major institutional rationale in Western
analytical framework, is not evident in the case university. As discussed in Chapter II, the
export-dominated internationalization in developed countries, particularly English-
speaking countries in Europe and the United States, is more commercially-driven by an
entrepreneurial spirit (Huang, 2007). On the contrary, internationalization of higher
education in developing countries is dominantly imported-oriented (Huang, 2007), for
example by dispatching students and faculty members abroad for advanced studies or
research, and importing academic programs from foreign institutions as part of efforts to
enhance the quality of education and research activities and to establish world-class
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universities in China (Brandenburg & Zhu, 2007; Huang, 2007). Such
internationalization model requires significant financial investment. Chongqing
University is an example of a higher education institution in a developing country,
seeking quality advancement through imported-oriented internationalization. Therefore
interviewees associated internationalization with costs, rather than income.
Some attention is given to social and cultural reasons. A significant national
rationale for the internationalization of higher education is social and cultural
development, which attends to the promotion of intercultural understanding, and national
cultural identity. In alignment with this national rationale, Chongqing University lays
attachment to strategic alliance through internationalization, in order to achieve not only
academic objectives, but cultural objectives. The cultural perspective in both national and
institutional rationales exemplifies China’s effort to integrate into the international
community.
Research question two.
What strategies does Chongqing University utilize to advance its
internationalization?
The majority of current internationalization strategies and those underway fit in
the Internationalization Index in the analytical framework, demonstrating the similarities
in the range of internationalization strategies between higher education institutions in
China and in Western countries. Meanwhile, data also shed lights on strategies unique to
Chongqing University.
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The primary strategy is to identify overseas world-class universities as key
partners for each of the four newly-constructed colleges. Partnership with the key
partners will establish long-term, substantial cooperation, which will ultimately facilitate
Chongqing University to achieve its institutional goal. Like President Lin said, it is the
quality, rather than quantity of the partnership that the University is pursuing.
Another major strategy is to recruit overseas talents to strengthen teaching and
research of Chongqing University, which is a common strategy utilized by Chinese
higher education institutions in order to realize leaping forward in development
(kuayueshi fazhan) (Min, 2004). Similar to its C9 peers, Chongqing University has
developed the idea of leaping forward in development (kuayueshi fazhan) to catch up
with the first-rate universities in China. Currently, the most effective way to achieve
leaping forward in development is identified as inviting in talented people from all parts
of the world (Min, 2004). Chongqing University is no exception, and it actively recruits
overseas talents as the major approach to internationalizing its faculty.
In addition to overseas recruiting, Chongqing University relies on institutional,
municipal and national talent projects to attract international renowned scholars and
recent doctoral graduates, ranging from the well-established “Yangtze Scholar Project” to
the latest “Thousands Talents Project”. Those talent projects provide hiring policies,
rewards and benefits overseas scholars will receive once hired through those projects.
Establishing talent projects to attract overseas talents has become an effective approach
nationwide to satisfying the country’s needs to talents, reversing brain drain to brain gain
(Ministry of Education, 2012).
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Some attention is given to the expansion of disciplines engaged in
internationalization activities. Humanities and social sciences have gained unprecedented
supported from the institutional leadership to internationalize. By recruiting overseas
scholars and partnering with world-class universities, a research institute in social science
has been created, with the ultimate goal to establish an academic program in social
sciences, as President Lin envisions. Humanities and social sciences have long been
marginalized at Chongqing University compared to engineering and other applied science
programs. In times when societal issues are directly linked to economic development,
social sciences and humanities have become more relevant and useful by devoting their
attention to society’s major problems. This shift in focus not only serves as an
institutional strategy to establish its reputation in the less-developed disciplines in China,
but reflects an emergence of attention to societal issues nationwide (Ministry of
Education, 2012).
Hosting international conferences is another major approach to improving the
University’s national and international reputation, and benefits from a consensus among
senior administrators of Chongqing University. An annual “Chongqing Forum” has been
proposed, with the ambition to become the most influential forum in Southwest region of
China, addressing emerging issues critical to China’s economic and overall development
in the twenty-first century.
A common feature of the above major strategies is to enhance the University’s
international research collaboration, and eventually to improve its research performance.
As a research university under the direct administration of national Ministry of
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Education, and a participant in the national Project 985, Chongqing University lays its
emphasis on international collaboration on research.
In addition to those strategies identified above, traditional internationalization
strategies focusing on teaching and student learning remain a significant part of
Chongqing University’s internationalization efforts. Sending students abroad for further
studies constitutes an important part of internationalization activities, which consists of
short-term study abroad programs, and dual-degree programs. A large number of short-
term study abroad programs are national government initiatives, executed by the
University. Dual-degree programs, on the other hand, are institutional initiatives to offer
cost-effective opportunities for domestic students with limited travel. Such program
reflects the rapid increase in the number of joint or transnational programs in partnership
with foreign institutions since 1995 (Huang, 2007). Currently, the University is
increasing self-supported short-term programs for students to study abroad, due to
increasing interest among students and the improving financial situation of their family.
The faculty, on the other hand, also benefits from the increasing international
opportunities offered by both the national government and the University, including
going abroad as visiting scholars, participating international conferences home and
abroad, and teaching or conducting research with incoming visiting scholars on campus.
Internationalizing university curricula has also been utilized to enrich
internationalization on campus. Students are required to satisfy English-language
proficiency requirement in order to graduate or to apply for graduate programs. English-
taught courses are offered in eight graduate programs. English text books are adopted for
a variety of courses.
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In addition to international programs and activities for domestic students and
faculty, Chongqing University is actively engaged in recruiting international student and
expanding its courses for international students. The University also participates in a
national initiative to coordinate its Chinese language program partnering with overseas
higher education institutions, a national effort to export Chinese education overseas.
The identified rationales and strategies for the internationalization of Chongqing
University conform to national policies for internationalization of higher education. Such
an alignment can be interpreted as a result of China’s centralized higher education
system. Under this system, the national government regulates individual higher education
institutions by its policies and guidelines (Ngok & Guo, 2008). National research
universities, such as Chongqing University, rely more on the national government, which
remains their major financial resources provider. By providing funding for international
program and subsidy to students and faculty, the national government effectively directs
individual higher education institutions to focus its internationalization efforts to areas of
national interests.
From the perspective of organizational infrastructure, adaptations have been made
to provide organizational support for internationalization. Changes made at Chongqing
University primarily emphasize the restructuring of academic units, as well as the
enhancement of the senior administration to lead internationalization, and the creation of
a supportive environment on campus holding everyone accountable for
internationalization. Specific measures include the establishment of four colleges after
the restructuring of academic units, the appointment of a new vice president in charge of
internationalization, the appointment of four associate directors in the Office of
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International Cooperation and Exchanges representing each of the four newly-constructed
colleges in developing internationalization, and new selection criteria of the associate
dean in charge of each college or school’s internationalization efforts. Adaptations
underway are proposals to refine internationalization engagement evaluation and faculty
promotion policy, and to provide opportunities for a broader range of staff to gain
international experience. Data demonstrates that organizational adjustment contributes
significantly to the internationalization development.
The emphasis on organizational adaptation is to strengthen leadership in
internationalization, involving both the president and the institutional committee. Such an
emphasis reflects the centralized institutional structure at Chongqing University, which is
common among the rest of Chinese higher education institutions. The emphasis on
leadership's role in internationalization development also demonstrates that currently
internationalization in Chongqing University is mainly an administrative function. While
faculty remains key personnel executing international programs in teaching and research,
senior administrators’ leading role in enforcing institutional plan for internationalization
cannot be emphasized more in the case of Chongqing University.
A concern raised from the case of Chongqing University is the lack of clear vision
for internationalization development in Chongqing University. This concern was
exemplified by a question about the existence of up-to-date internationalization strategic
plan, the confusion of the legitimacy of plans and policies made by previous leadership,
and to some extent, the uncertainty of the sustainability of the leadership’s commitment
to internationalization. The President of Chongqing University admitted that there is no
up-to-date internationalization strategic plan and commented that the University will not
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create a new internationalization strategic plan until its five-year goal of enhancing its
educational quality is realized. Despite a lack of written internationalization strategic
plan, both the president and vice president of the University seem not to fully embrace
the Chongqing University Project 985 Plan in 2009 as the guidance to further
internationalization, by challenging the evaluation criteria adopted by the Plan. Not
addressing the legitimacy of the Plan has caused some confusion among several program
administrators in the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, who not only
participated in drafting the internationalization section in the Plan, but relied on the Plan
to pursue program development.
From the administration’s standpoint, the absence of a strategic plan, and
abandonment of the inappropriate evaluation criteria including in the Plan, serves to
generate flexibility and openness to evolving ideas and proposals. This is part of the
strategy to help the university grow into its place as one of the best universities in China.
From the standpoint of some other members of the campus community, the lack of a
strategic plan and focus can, at times, hold the University back from making larger strides
in terms of specific internationalization initiatives. No evidence showed that President
Lin’s understanding of internationalization, its relation with current institutional goal, as
well its status among institutional priorities was explicitly communicated with students,
faculty and staff. The lack of communication between the President and the rest of senior
administrators and staff, combined with a lack of institutional plan under current
leadership, explained the fact that no participants except for the president of Chongqing
University referred current institutional leader’s mission statement as the official
institutional document explicitly endorsing internationalization initiative. Participants
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from the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, academic department and
administrative units expressed various interpretations about the legitimacy of institutional
goal defined during Project 985, and the internationalization plan and policies made by
previous leadership. Some believe in the legitimacy of the plan and policies, whereas
others believe they are outdated. The rest are left in confusion. Their replies suggested
that the discourse included in the new mission statement had not yet made its way into
the discussion of internationalization on campus at all levels.
Overall, Chongqing University has adopted a two-pronged approach to the
internationalization process, encompassing home – based (internationalization at home)
and overseas – based (internationalization abroad) activities, as Knight (2004)
categorized. Home-based international programs aim at providing cost-effective forms of
international learning to benefit a wide range of the University’s shareholders. The
overseas-based activities, on the other hand, refer to those activities that happen abroad or
across borders to enhance international linkages, partnerships and networks (Knight,
2004). The internationalization of Chongqing University is dominantly import-oriented,
primarily emphasizing on applying international practice to the University, and recruiting
overseas talents. This finding also aligns with the international trend that most developing
countries with a weak modern higher education system adopt an import-oriented
internationalization model (Huang, 2007).
Internationalization strategies adopted by Chongqing University demonstrate the
different roles the national government and the institution play in internationalization.
National government plays a significant role in guiding and financing institutional
internationalization in disciplines with national interest (Zhang, 2010). Institutions then
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decide what activities to fulfill its internationalization goal based on its own history,
resources, and culture (Yang, 2002b).
Research question three.
What remaining work needs to be done at Chongqing University to reach its
future internationalization goal?
Based on the third phase of the analytical framework, the Institutionalization of
Internationalization Approaches matrix, Chongqing University is on the B stage with a
systematic – marginal internationalization. The characteristics of the internationalization
of Chongqing University are demonstrated by the limited yet well-organized
internationalization activities available among a small number of academic units, the
commitment to internationalization from the institutional leadership but a lack of support
from faculty and staff, and projects and efforts in alignment with national
internationalization policies and initiatives.
The goal of internationalization in Chongqing University can be located on the D
stage of the matrix, with a systematic and central internationalization. With the absence
of a specific internationalization strategic plan, the analysis of the characteristics of the
internationalization goal of Chongqing University is based on interviews. The consensus
among all interviewees about the internationalization goal is 1) internationalization will
receive extensively support by students and faculty which will lead to greater
participation, 2) the number and diversity of internationalization activities will be greatly
increased, 3) a proper reward and incentive mechanism with supportive institutional
policies will be available to sustain the internationalization development, and 4) a
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dedicated organizational structure to support a range of international efforts will be in
place.
Based on the analysis of the current internationalization development status at
Chongqing University, and its future internationalization goal, the remaining work that
needs to be done to reach the future internationalization goal of Chongqing University
include 1) the institutional support for internationalization needs to be expanded, 2) the
number and diversity of internationalization activities await to be increased, 3) adequate
personnel policies shall be developed and 4) a dedicated and functional organizational
structure awaits to be established to support the internationalization development.
Summary of Findings
While many conclusions can be drawn from the array of data collected from the
case study, this section highlights themes evident in the data, which is unique compared
to internationalization in western higher education institutions.
First and foremost, this study has demonstrated the impact globalization has on
Chinese higher education. Individual research universities, such as Chongqing
University, are striving to integrate into the international community. The national
government, on the other hand, has identified a new mission for higher education, which
is to play a role in providing educated and trained personnel to enhance the country’s
global competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy (Ngok & Guo, 2008).
Increasing financial resources have been allocated by the national government to support
national research universities improving their educational quality. By participating
national projects, such as Project 985, research universities have gradually shifted their
focus toward the new mission identified by the national government.
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Second, internationalization is evidently confirmed by policies and activities of
Chongqing University as a formidable force of change in its role as an agent and reactor
to the realities of globalization. The internationalization policies and programs adopted
by Chongqing University gradually integrate an international, inter-cultural, or global
dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of postsecondary education.
Third, this study has demonstrated the increasing autonomy Chinese public higher
education institutions have with regards to identifying their internationalization strategies.
Under the imperative of globalization, the national government ceases direct control of
internationalization of higher education, and move to more of a steering role. Individual
higher education institutions, on the other hand, have become the major player in
internationalization providing internationalization programs and activities in alignment
with national policy. Such a phenomenon illustrates the global trend that nationally-
oriented or-organized programs have basically been replaced by institution-based projects
in most countries. However, most Project 211 and Project 985 universities, especially
those under the direct administration of the national government, are dependent on
financial resources the central government provides to carry out their internationalization
activities. Therefore, research universities share great similarities in terms of the goal of
internationalization, the variety of international academic programs, the areas of research
cooperation, and the geographic distribution of partnership.
Fourth, leadership’s commitment to internationalization sustains
internationalization development at both the national and institutional levels. At the
national level, leadership’s commitment to internationalization is illustrated by financial
resources and policies to secure internationalization development. At the institutional
193
level, leaders of higher education institutions make sure that internationalization is widely
accepted as an institutional priority and proper strategies and adequate resources are
present to make this mission happen. What has been highlighted in the case of Chongqing
University is the presidential role in internationalizing higher education institutions.
Internationalization requires substantive, transformative change at all levels. That change
will be possible only with the determined leadership of presidents and chancellors
(NASULGC, 2004). In the case of Chongqing University where internationalization is at
its systematic/marginal stage, with a limited amount of internationalization activities,
presidential commitment is essential in moving internationalization beyond executive fiat
and becoming an institutional goal. The newly-elected President Jianhua Lin and Vice
President Qing Liu demonstrated their determined leadership by advocating for
international education among senior institutional administrators, and implementing
transformational change. Both President Jianhua Lin and Vice President Qing Liu
frequently communicated with senior institutional administrators and deans about
presidential efforts and initiatives on behalf of internationalization. The presidential
commitment to internationalization on campus was also mirrored by an equally pervasive
presence beyond the campus, making the case in the broader community home and
abroad. By presenting its internationalization efforts to the municipal government,
President Lin not only secured the financial support from the municipal government for
internationalization, but reached an agreement on sharing international resources from
each other. Presidential advocacy also encompasses communities abroad, by actively
seeking out opportunities to forge new ties with institutions, organizations, and
individuals outside China.
194
Both President Lin and Vice President Liu also played a leading role in
implementing action strategies, focusing on building capacity and identifying and
maintaining partnerships. Building capacity refers to establishing a team to implement
internationalization strategies. The team includes Vice President Liu as the head, senior
administrators in the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges as the main
institutional administrative unit maintaining and expanding internationalization activities,
and associate dean of each college and school in charge of international affairs engaging
faculty and students in internationalization activities offered by both the University and
their own college or school. International partnerships are forged through President Lin’s
extensive connection with overseas institutions and scholars.
The primary rationale for internationalization is academically-driven, at both the
national and institutional levels. Internationalization of higher education in China is a
process of linking Chinese educational practice with the mainstream of international
trends, which enhances the capacity building of Chinese higher education to compete
with their Western peers (Xie, 1994; Zhang, 1994). Therefore, internationalization of
Chinese higher education remains import-oriented, which is characterized by applying
international practice to local institutions, and recruiting faculty from overseas. Such an
imported-oriented internationalization model requires substantial financial input, and
yield few if any financial rewards. This academically-driven internationalization of
higher education with an import-orientation explains why income generation was not a
rationale for internationalization in the case of Chongqing University, nor among the
majority of Chinese institutions.
195
This case study also provides a framework for understanding institutional
internationalization in China. The literature on internationalization of higher education in
China is not yet sufficiently developed to provide a clear understanding of what is
happening at the institutional level. Part of the reason is that few case studies have been
done on internationalization of higher education in China.
This case study addresses itself to the gap. It provides a picture of institutional-
level characteristics of internationalization in a typical Chinese research university, a
representative of mainstream Chinese public universities with less capacity for
internationalization than members of the C9 league. Lessons drawn from the
internationalization of Chongqing University will likely to be useful to researchers,
institutional leaders and policy makers to understand the characteristics of
internationalization at the majority of Chinese public universities, and to work out
internationalization policies. The similarities Chongqing University shares with those
higher education institutions in terms of local economic development, regional
distribution and funding allocations to higher education sector historically, the financial
commitment from central government, and higher education status, make its experience
more relevant to those institutions which lag behind. This study, therefore, provides rich
empirical data for development of higher education institutions located in regions with
low development status and potential in higher education, Western China in particular.
Second, the analytical framework developed in this study is valuable to both
researchers and higher education practitioners. This analytical framework identifies three
steps necessary for a holistic understanding of internationalization at the institutional
level from a process approach, rather than a simple evaluation of input and output.
196
Information obtained from such a systematic approach allows researchers and
practitioners to identify the gap between an institution’s current internationalization status
and its future goal, which lays the foundation for generating recommendations for
practice. The framework was based on the examination and refinement of existing
English, and Chinese literature and data generated from these studies, which can be
applied to institutions in developing countries whose higher education sector shares great
similarities with that of China, as well as institutions in pursuit of internationalization
despite their circumstances. Although the range of internationalization activities is
presented in the Phase two, the Internationalization Index, this is not a prescriptive model
for internationalization: the choice of strategies will depend on the contextual needs of
and the resources available at each individual institution. Nor should the Index serve as a
check list for internationalization. It only identifies the breadth of efforts that could be
undertaken but it does not indicate the desired quality of such efforts. The flexibility
enables the analytical framework to be applicable to any higher education institutions.
Implications for Practice
This case study of internationalization at Chongqing University not only reinforces
the tenets of good internationalization practice that have been articulated throughout the
literature, but generates rich information about the unique characteristics of Chongqing
University that suggest the following recommendations for advancing its
internationalization to a systematic and central stage:
First and foremost, the University leaders must articulate a vision for
internationalization. Internationalization is an institutional transformation which requires
substantive, transformative change at all levels (NASULGC, 2004). However,
197
internationalization of Chongqing University is more administrative than academic. The
institutional leadership transition at the end of 2010, and the re-definition of institutional
mission at the end of 2011, has inevitably created a sense of uncertainty among
administrators and staff with regards to the legitimacy of internationalization plans and
policies made by previous leadership, and the existence of plans and policies embraced
by current leaders. President Lin needs to articulate a clear vision for its
internationalization to clarify the uncertainty among administrators and staff who are the
main personnel implementing internationalization strategies. He should also engage more
faculty, students and staff in a wide range of internationalization activities. Successfully
articulating the internationalization vision involves attention to three important aspects:
the effects of internationalization on students, on faculty and staff, and on the institution
itself (NASULGC, 2004). In each case, the goal should be helping individuals and the
University more globally competent, able to contribute to and thrive amid the demands of
an inter-connected world, and eventually reach the institutional goal of “becoming one of
the best universities in China by 2029”. Internationalization will then move beyond an
administrative action, and become an institutional goal every student, faculty and staff
embraces.
Second, the gap between faculty’ actions and the leadership’s expectation in
internationalization needs to be closed. A widely agreed obstacle for a comprehensive
internationalization in Chongqing University is the lack of involvement among faculty.
Most faculty consider internationalization as an executive fiat, and therefore lack
motivation to engage in internationalization activities. However, faculty are critical
contributors to achieving a more internationalized campus (Green & Olson, 2004).
198
Institutional leadership can start with an institutional discussion of what global
competency can be and what benefits faculty can obtain with this competency. The
leadership should also create an environment where academics actively and creatively
integrate internationalization with, and implement it into, their everyday life. One
strategy could be improving faculty promotion policies to generate incentives to engage
in internationalization.
Third, more efforts should focus on curricula reform to ensure students are
exposed to international skills and knowledge. Despite a significant increase in the
number of students who participated in academic programs abroad, the overwhelming
majority of students of Chongqing University did not go abroad nor did they participate
in internationally oriented extracurricular activities on campus. The classroom remains
the primary means used to expose students to international issues, events, and cultures.
Strategies that Chongqing University could use to internationalize their curriculum
include incorporating international courses into the general education requirements, and
providing faculty with support and incentives to internationalize their courses.
Furthermore, communication on internationalization opportunities and activities
needs to be enhanced among various academic and administrative units. Administrative
units in international education should maintain regular communication about
internationalization opportunities and activities. Academic units should not only
communicate with each other to foster inter-disciplinary collaboration in
internationalization, but maintain meaningful dialogue with the central office of
International Cooperation and Exchanges so that resources can be better utilized and data
base can remain updated. Communication is critical to Chongqing University’s moving
199
forward to a central and systematic approach to internationalization, in that with
increasing internationalization opportunities offered by a larger number of schools and
programs, communication is able to ensure effective coordination from the central office.
Chongqing University has made some notable progress in internationalizing the
university, but much work remains to be done. More efforts need to focus on the
curriculum to ensure broad exposure to international learning, identify and build upon
existing resources, resolve the disconnect between actions and expectations, articulate
and more effectively declare their commitment to internationalization, and create
conditions that will increase the level of international learning on campus.
In addition to recommendations for Chongqing University, this case study also
sheds light on how the national government could facilitate further internationalization of
higher education in areas with low education development status and potential, such as
Western China. More earmarked funds should be allocated by the national government to
support internationalization activities in Western China, since those institutions are
unlikely to be able to compete with leading research universities in areas with high
education development status and potential for government funding. Supportive policies
should also be made to initiate communication and collaboration between elite
universities with broad internationalization activities and those left behind.
Future Research
Given the limitations of this study, a set of recommendations for future research
on internationalization of higher education can be made. First, in order to reduce the bias
of interviewees’ responses, interviews in future studies of this nature should involve a
broad base of shareholders of the institution, including faculty and staff who are not
200
involved in internationalization, and students at both the undergraduate and graduate
levels.
Second, a comprehensive analysis of motivation, strategies and organizational
structure and adaptation requires that attention should be given to multiple actions and
cases. The study also needs to involve an enormous outlay of resources. At the
institutional level, a reasonable approach is to study a wide range of academic units’
engagement (or lack of engagement) in internationalization. A cross-case comparison
within a single university will enable researchers to see how academic programs with
different focus and history perceive the impact of internationalization and plan its
internationalization efforts, and thus lead to the identification of characteristics of highly
active programs in internationalization.
Third, given the importance of internationalization in influencing the quality of
higher education, a comprehensive research study on the impact of internationalization on
the overall quality of China’s higher education would be warranted. The majority of
research on internationalization of higher education in China focuses on the input and
output of internationalization. Research on the impact internationalization has on the
overall development of quality of China’s higher education will not only shed light on
effective internationalization strategies Chinese higher education institutions can adopt,
but it may also yield more favorable national and institutional conditions under which
internationalization functions as a contributor to facilitate the development of educational
quality.
201
Fourth, the potential conflict of interest between institutions from developing
countries and developed countries in establishing and maintaining international
partnership needs to be studied in greater detail. This study confirms that
internationalization of higher education in China is academically-driven, and income
generation is not a motivation for internationalization. In many developed countries,
particularly English-speaking countries, such as United Kingdom, Australia, and the
United States, the internationalization of higher education is more commercially-driven
by an entrepreneurial spirit (Huang, 2007). Given this conflict of interest between the
partnering institutions, its impact these different approaches may have on the
sustainability of such international partnership need to be studied. Studies on this issue
will shed light on best practices in accommodating the needs of both parties to maintain a
sustainable partnership.
Conclusion
Globalization has resulted in and will continue to give a rise to new forms or
wider dimension of the internationalization of higher education in China. China’s
growing role in the global economy, and continuing efforts to establish a knowledge-
based economy, have been and will continue to serve as the fundamental motivation for
high quality postsecondary education that will eventually be able to compete with world-
class universities. Internationalization, therefore, will remain an institutional priority
among Chinese public universities, particularly research universities. This case study
showed that Chongqing University, a representative of mainstream Chinese research
universities, undertook a wide range of international activities, often supported by
national funding. Internationalization of Chongqing University is a two-pronged import-
202
oriented approach, encompassing home-based (internationalization at home) and
overseas-based (internationalization abroad) activities. It is essentially a process of
catching up with developed countries by applying the common teaching, research and
service practices of Western higher education institutions to its functions. Due to its
geographic location, institutional history and culture, the current internationalization
status of Chongqing University significantly lags behind its internationalization goal. The
analytical framework for institutional internationalization developed in this study helped
identify the gap, and generate recommendations for practice. For Chongqing University
to emerge as a nationally eminent institution with an international reputation, several
steps will be required: continued leadership involvement, faculty support, curricula
reform, further changes to the organizational structure, and a sustained commitment to
global engagement as an institutional priority. The foundation has been set at Chongqing
University for a future of national eminence and influence that will permeate the
academy.
203
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APPENDIX A: PERSONNEL TO BE INTERVIEWED
Identification Current Position Date
Interviewee
#1
President Jianhua Lin 11/09/2011
Interviewee
#2
Deputy Director Mr. Bin Li, Overseas Faculty and
International Relations, Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges
11/09/2011
Interviewee
#3
Director Professor Chenpin Zhao, Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges
11/09/2011
Interviewee
#4
Vice President Professor Qing Liu 11/10/2011
Interviewee
#5
Head Ms. Weiqun Sun, Section of Hong Kong, Macau
and Taiwan Affairs, Office of International Cooperation
and Exchanges
11/09/2011
Interviewee
#6
Associate Dean Mr. Jun Xu, College of International
Cooperation and Exchanges
11/10/2011
Interviewee
#7
Associate Dean Ms. Yan Jiang, College of International
Cooperation and Exchanges
11/13/2011
Interviewee
#8
Deputy Director Ms. Yin Chen, International Students
and Exchanges Programs, Office of International
Cooperation and Exchanges
11/14/2011
Interviewee
#9
Dean Dr. Xing Liu, College of Economics and Business
Administration
11/14/2011
Interviewee
#10
Director, Academic Affairs 11/09/2011
Interviewee
#11
Director, Human Resources 11/09/2011
215
APPENDIX B: RESEARCH OUTLINE
Internationalization of Higher Education in an Era of Globalization:
A Case Study of a Top Chinese University
In order to enhance the country’s global competitiveness in the knowledge-based
economy, internationalization has emerged as an institutional priority for the top-tier
Chinese universities, such as the Project 985 participants. The primary aim of this study
is to examine the internationalization strategies utilized by a Project 985 university, the
guiding principles behind the chosen internationalization activities and strategies, and the
gap between the University’s current internationalization status and future
internationalization goal. The research questions are:
• What rationales guide internationalization strategies Chongqing University
utilizes at present?
• What current internationalization strategies does Chongqing University utilize?
• What remaining work needs to be done to reach Chongqing University’s future
internationalization goal?
This study will contribute to the broader literature on Chinese internationalization
of higher education at an attempt to identify the salient internationalization characteristics
of leading Chinese universities, to enhance the information bases, and to provide useful
references for further study.
Methodology
A multi-method qualitative case-study research methodology will be utilized. First,
semi-structured, open-ended interview questions will be conducted to administrative
personnel, including the senior institutional administrators, deans, and program
administrators in the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges. Documentation
216
related to the Project 985 as manifested at the University selected will be analyzed,
including policy statements, press releases, project announcements, speeches and
publications by executive administrators of the institution as well as the Ministry of
Education.
217
APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS
Interview Protocol for the President and Vice President of Chongqing University
(English Translation)
1. Does Chongqing University have defined internationalization strategies? If so, what
are they?
2. What are the current institutional priorities in internationalization of Chongqing
University? Have they been changed since you became the (Vice) president of
Chongqing University? How will they change in future?
3. What are the rationales for enhancing internationalization of Chongqing University
since you became the (Vice) president of Chongqing University?
4. Where do the major financial and other resources used for internationalization of
Chongqing University come from? Have they been changed during last five years? How
will they change in future?
5. Do you think that internationalization has become part of the institutional culture?
6. What do you think is the relationship between Chongqing University’s
internationalization mission and its commitment to serving the local community? How do
you reconcile the relationship when there is conflict?
7. How do you see the impact internationalization of higher education has on Chongqing
University, from both positive and negative perspective?
8. Compared to C9 League, what are the advantages and disadvantages Chongqing
University has in internationalization?
9. Is building world-class university a goal of Chongqing University? If so, what is the
role of internationalization playing in building Chongqing University a world-class
218
university?
10. Would you provide me with your institutional documents, such as strategic plan,
mission statement and other documents related to internationalization of Chongqing
University?
11. Who do you recommend I interview to gather information about internationalization
of Chongqing University?
Interview Protocol for Personnel in the Office of International Exchange and
Cooperation of Chongqing University (English Translation)
1. How long have you been working in this office? What is your responsibility?
2. What are the priorities in your unit? Have they been changed during past five years?
3. How does your office communicate the international opportunities to faculty and
students?
4. What role does your office play in creating and implementing internationalization
strategies?
5. Do you regularly conduct program and service assessment in your office? If so, how
do you make use of the result?
6. How has your work facilitated the internationalization of your university? What is the
overall impact to the university?
7. What are your suggestions on enhancing the internationalizing your university as a
whole?
8. Would you provide me with your office documents related to internationalization of
Chongqing University, such as work report, project and program assessment,
international partnership history record, and international student statistics?
219
9. Compared to C9 League, what are the advantages and disadvantages Chongqing
University has in internationalization?
10. Who do you recommend I interview to gather information about internationalization
of Chongqing University?
Interview Protocol for the Dean of School of Economics and Business
Administration (English Translation)
1. Does your school have currently active partnership with foreign institutions? If so,
please give a brief introduction of those partnership programs in terms of the overseas
partner, participants, and length and content of the program.
2. Does your school have regular international opportunities for faculty and students?
What are they?
3. Does your school have an earmarked fund specifically for international opportunities
for faculty and students? If so, where does it come from? Has the amount been constantly
increased during past five years? How will it change in future?
4. How internationally engaged are your faculty in teaching and research collaboration?
5. Is internationalization a priority in your school? If so, what are the strategies? Have
the strategies been changed during past five years? How will they change in future?
6. What is the impact internationalization has on your school?
7. How does your school cooperate with other schools and units in Chongqing
University to engage and promote internationalization?
8. How do you see the impact internationalization of higher education has on Chongqing
University?
220
9. Would you provide me with official documents related to internationalization of your
school, such as faculty’s international collaboration in teaching and research, overseas
partnership program assessment, and international partnership history record?
10. Who do you recommend I interview to gather information about internationalization
of Chongqing University?
Interview Protocol for Director of Academic Affairs of Chongqing University
(English Translation)
1. What are the internationalization strategies implemented in your office to
internationalize the academic affairs? What has been achieved? Have the strategies been
changed during past five years?
2. How internationalized is the undergraduate curriculum?
3. Has internationalization been included in teaching reform in your university? If so,
what are the strategies?
4. Is international focus a criterion in selecting best teaching practice?
5. Is participating in international exchange activities a criterion in recommending best
Chongqing University graduates to its graduate school without taking the National
Entrance Examination of Postgraduate?
6. Is international student recruiting an emphasis in undergraduate student recruiting?
7. Regarding internationalizing academic affairs, have the university and your office
created a long-term plan? If so, what is it?
8. How do you see the impact internationalization of higher education has on Chongqing
University?
221
9. Would you provide me with official documents related to internationalization of
academic affairs, such as the percentage of curricula using foreign textbook, the
percentage of course taught by foreign languages, the best teaching practice awarded, and
student learning evaluation?
10. Who do you recommend I interview to gather information about internationalization
of Chongqing University?
Interview Protocol for Director of Human Resources of Chongqing University
(English Translation)
1. What is the policy regarding sending faculty or administrators for overseas
professional development programs? What are the criteria for the selection of candidates?
2. Among the “Talents Exchange” projects managed by your office, are there
international exchange projects? Are those projects exclusively for faculty, or for both
faculty and administrators?
3. Does your institution have guidelines that specify international work or
experience as a consideration in faculty and administrator hiring decisions?
4. Does your institution have guidelines that specify international work or
experience as a consideration in faculty promotion and tenure decisions?
5. What are the measures to recruit overseas talents?
6. Does Chongqing University have an earmarked fund specifically for providing
international opportunities for faculty or administrators? Has the amount been increased
during the past five years?
7. Does your office assess the overseas professional development programs
annually? If so, how do you make use of the report?
222
8. Would you provide me with official statistics related to internationalization of
human resources, such as the percentage of full-time faculty with more than one-year
overseas experience; the percentage of full-time senior administrators with more than
one-year overseas experience; and the record of international professional development
opportunities for faculty and administrators during last five years?
9. Who do you recommend I interview to gather information about
internationalization of Chongqing University?
223
APPENDIX D: PRPGRAMS OF CHONGQING UNIVERSITY TAUGHT IN
ENGLISH
International Master Degree Programs (2 academic years)
1. Software Engineering (taught in English)
2. Mechanical Engineering (taught in English)
3. Electrical Engineering (taught in English)
4. Urban Construction & Environmental Engineering (taught in English)
5. Electronics &Telecommunication Engineering (taught in English)
6. International Master of Business Administration Program
7. Architecture and Urban Planning(taught in English)
8. Chinese Law (taught in English)
9. Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL) (taught in
Chinese)
Doctor’s Degree Programs (3 -5 years) (Most doctorate programs can be taught in
English)
Faculty of Economics & Business Administration
1. Quantitative Economics
2. Managerial Science & Engineering
3. Business Administration
4. Accounting
5. Enterprise Management
6. Tourism Management
7. Technical Economics & Management
Faculty of Construction Management & Real Estate
8. Managerial Science & Engineering
College of Mathematics & Statistics
9. Computational Mathematics
College of Physics
10. Agglomerate State Physics
College of Mechanical Engineering
11. Mechanical Engineering
12. Managerial Science & Engineering
College of Optical Electronic Engineering
13. Optical Engineering
14. Instrument Science & Technology
College of Material Science & Engineering
15. Material Science & Engineering
16. Metallurgical Engineering
College of Power Engineering
17. Power Engineering & Engineering Thermophysics
224
College of Electrical Engineering
18. Electrical Engineering
College of Telecommunication Engineering
19. Electric Circuit & System
20. Telecommunication & Information Systems
College of Automation
21. Control Theory & Control Engineering
College of Computer Science
22. Computer Science & Technology
College of Architecture & Urban Planning
23. Architecture
College of Civil Engineering
24. Civil Engineering
College of Urban Construction & Environmental Engineering
25. Municipal Engineering
26. Heating, Gas Supply, Ventilation & Air Conditioning
27. City Environment & Ecological Engineering
28. Environment Science & Engineering
College of Bioengineering
29. Botany
30. Biomechanical Engineering
31. Cell/Tissue Engineering & Biomaterials
32. Biomedical Electronics & Information Technology
33. Biopharmaceutical Engineering
College of Resource & Environmental Science
34. Mechanics
35. Mineral Engineering
36. Environmental Science & Engineering
Law School
Environment & Resource Protection Law
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
With their increasing engagement in the global economy, Chinese higher education institutions are striving for producing educated and trained graduates to enhance the country’s global competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy (Chan & Lo, 2008). Internationalization is then regarded as a response to the challenges issued by globalization and is conceived as a way for active Chinese universities’ agency to further their research, teaching and service functions to compete with foreign rivals. However, the regional disparities in Chinese higher education development and national policies that concentrate its financial support on top-tier research universities result in an increasing gap among Chinese higher education institutions in their internationalization development. ❧ This study analyzed the dynamics of internationalization of Chongqing University, a national research university located in Southwest China, where higher education development status and potential significantly lag behind average. A case study was conducted at Chongqing University to examine the rationales and strategies for its internationalization, and to identify the remaining work needed to be done to reach its future internationalization goal. This study answered the following research questions: What rationales guide internationalization strategies Chongqing University utilizes at present? What strategies does Chongqing University utilize to advance its internationalization? What remaining work needs to be done to reach Chongqing University’s future internationalization goal? ❧ Due to the absence of sound theoretical framework in current research, the researcher developed a hybrid framework for institutional internationalization combining aspects of several existing frameworks into a new tool suitable for this study. This three-phase analytical framework is a process approach providing a holistic understanding of the dynamics of internationalization of the study institution, rather than a fragmented activities-based approach to simply quantify the output. ❧ This case study provides a picture of internationalization at a typical Chinese research university, a representative of mainstream Chinese public universities with less capacity and fewer resources for internationalization than China’s top-tier universities. It also adds to knowledge on the internationalization of Chinese higher education as a whole, which has unique attributes that distinguish it from internationalization at Western higher education institutions.
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Jiang, Xin
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The internationalization of higher education in an era of globalization: a case study of a national research university in an emerging municipality in southwest China
School
Rossier School of Education
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Publication Date
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