The politics of higher education in China: the signal–response mechanism, downward tiered pressure escalation, and the Double First-Class University Initiative

ABSTRACT

This article examines the politics of higher education in China drawing on empirical data collected from three elite universities listed in the ‘Double First-Class University Initiative’. We investigate how a ‘signal – response’ mechanism, in which the country’s top leaders signal broad policy goals and subordinate officials respond, works in China’s higher education arena. To address the uncertainties caused by vague signals and avoid blame for failure to fulfil policy goals, a strategy involving a gradual downward increase of implementation pressure within the bureaucratic hierarchy, termed cengceng jiama (层层加码), has been adopted. Universities and their faculties/departments now establish their own ‘up-or-leave’ systems to remove underperforming researchers, apply more stringent criteria when assessing faculty members’ publication rates, and discriminate against domestically trained PhDs when hiring. Consequently, faculty members, especially those in the younger generation, often experience high levels of anxiety, insecurity and inequality, which can hinder their development as scholars.

摘要

通过分析从三所列入‘双一流大学建设计划’的精英大学收集到的实证数据，本文探讨了中国的高等教育政治。我们探究‘指示—响应’机制在中国高等教育领域的运作方式，在这一机制中，国家最高领导层指示宽泛的政策目标，下级官员则做出响应。为了应对模糊的指令所带来的不确定性，同时避免因政策目标未能实现而受到指责，一种被称之为‘层层加码’的策略被采用，即在官僚层级内向下逐步加大执行压力。目前，中国的大学及其院系建立了自己的‘非升即走’制度，以撤换表现不佳的研究人员，并采用更严格的标准去评估教职人员的论文发表量，同时在招聘时歧视国内毕业的博士。因此，中国的高校教职人员，尤其是青年学者，常常受到不平等的对待，而且往往经历巨大的焦虑和不安全感，这可能会阻碍他们作为学者的未来发展。

KEYWORDS:

• Politics of higher education
• the signal – response mechanism
• cengceng jiama
• the Double First-Class University Initiative
• discriminatory recruitment practices
• China

关键词:

• 高等教育政治； 指示—响应机制； 层层加码； ‘双一流大学建设计划’； 歧视性招聘行为； 中国

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Paul Joosse, Hilary Wright, Jingyi Wang, Jun Li, Liping Wang, Mengyi Wang, and Xueying Fang for their valuable feedback on this manuscript. Additionally, the authors extend their sincere appreciation to the editor and three external reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments. Any remaining errors are their own.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval

This research obtained ethics approval from Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Hong Kong (Reference Number: EA2006036).

Notes

1 Authority relationships in an organization, according to Zhou and Lian (2020, 54), refer to ‘the legitimate power in command and responsibility associated with hierarchical positions, which are central to organizational design.’

2 For more information on the 2023 Best Chinese Universities Ranking, please visit https://www.shanghairanking.com/rankings/bcur/2023.

3 Compared with published materials, unpublished internally disseminated documents offer more details about university leaders’ interpretation of the Initiative and the implementation of university policies in practice. Under many circumstances, publicly disclosed information is different from internally disseminated information. For example, the faculty publicly claims that the candidates’ educational background (domestically trained PhDs or foreign-trained returnees) is not a core factor for consideration, but an unpublished faculty announcement shows that the faculty search committee should give priority to those who earn their degrees from foreign universities, especially from top American and British universities.

4 In addition to the MOE, which plays a leadership role in the implementation of the Initiative, other government departments, such as the Ministry of Finance (MOF 财政部) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC 国家发展改革委员会), also play critical roles in the process of policy implementation (MOE 2017).

5 According to our interview participants, the required number of publications in Q1 journals is a ‘mystery’ in the three universities. Neither interview data nor internal unpublished documents offer detailed information concerning the number of publications in Q1 journals required for tenure and promotion. Faculty deans, department heads and senior academic staff emphasized the principle of ‘the more, the better.’ They revealed that a higher number of published articles would provide more job security and better chance of promotion (Interview A10; Interview B3; Interview B5; Interview B8; Interview C5; Interview C7; Interview C8; Interview N4; Interview N5).

Additional information

Funding

Xinqu Zhang’s doctoral research is supported by a Postgraduate Scholarship (PGS) provided by the University of Hong Kong.

Notes on contributors

Xinqu Zhang

Xinqu Zhang is PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Xinqu’s research interests focus on bureaucracy, the sociology of higher education, the sociology and criminology of emotions, and China studies.

Peng Wang

Peng Wang is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, the University of Hong Kong. Peng’s research interests include economic sociology, institutional economics, criminology, and the Chinese bureaucracy.