How academics perceive their participation in applied projects: a case study of a third-tier university on the Chinese Mainland

ABSTRACT

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology in Mainland China have stressed facilitating knowledge transfer of research output in recent years. By facilitating this transfer, the government aims to enhance authentic productivity and boost economic development. Due to this facilitation, universities have encouraged academics to conduct applied projects. To examine this process, this study employed a qualitative research method, carrying out in-depth interviews with 20 academics in a third-tier university in Mainland China. The study observed that first, academics were torn between academic and applied projects. Second, the status of being in a third-tier university affected academics’ participation in applied research. Third, project leaders had to perform specific roles (including the work of managerial professionals) as academic entrepreneurs. Social connections (guanxi) played a prominent role in academic entrepreneurship in the authors' case study.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic capitalism
• applied research projects
• academic entrepreneurs
• Mainland china

Acknowledgements

The research for this article was partially supported by the General Research Fund (CUHK14618118) offered by the Research Grant Council in Hong Kong, the Teacher Studies and Development Project at the Education University of Hong Kong and the International Centre for Teacher Studies and Development at Beijing Normal University. Their support has facilitated the collection and analysis of data for this article.

Disclosure statement

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