Transnationalisation of higher Education in China - Institutionelle Governance chinesischer Hochschulen und transnationale Elitenbildung

Project objective

The project analyses the strategies, policy frameworks, and institutional initiatives that China is pursuing to internationalise its higher education and examines their impact on the global education market, particularly in Germany. The results are instructive for German higher education and science policy, highlighting the challenges associated with the transnationalisation of China's universities and the German labour market. The project provides an empirical basis for current transnationalisation developments and efforts in the Chinese higher education system and determines the implications for Germany's education system. It outlines clear evidence about the changing logic and patterns in the Chinese context, highlighting how top-tier universities are becoming transnational. Additionally, it examines the concept of “lived transnationalisation” among Chinese educational elites in Germany.

Project procedure

This project examines the transnational practices of leading Chinese universities and educational elites. Considering the limited empirical data and the inapplicability of existing higher education studies from other regions to China, the research employs a multi-method approach. It combines qualitative research methods to generate new insights: systematic document analysis, organisational case studies of selected top-tier universities, expert interviews with university administrators and faculty staff, and semi-structured interviews with transnational elites in Germany.