A Study on Academic Influence of the Chinese Translation Version of On the Philosophy of Higher Education by John S. Brubacher

Abstract

Using bibliometrics, this study analyzes the articles citing the Chinese translation of John S. Brubacher’s seminal text, On the Philosophy of Higher Education. The purpose and significance of this study is: through a comprehensive description of the academic influence of the Chinese version in China, to provide research hotspots and shortcomings for the researchers in this area, to seek scientific cooperation with the core authors, to provide reference for building and perfecting the philosophy system of higher education. So, this study includes a discussion of their academic influence by year, source, author and institution; and finds that the book has become a time-honored research classic cited or elaborated or questioned by scholars of higher education in China, Huazhong University of Science and Technology is greatly influenced by the Chinese translation version, and Wang Jianhua from Xiamen University Higher Education Institute is much more affected than other authors. In addition, this paper examines the high frequency keywords and their co-occurrence in these citing articles to investigate the hotspots of academic influence and focus of this influential book. The hotspots of citing articles mainly include academic freedom, university autonomy, general education, professional education, university culture, value orientation, education fairness, administrative power, government, university organization, professorship, liberal education, etc. A content analysis is used as well to sort the main ideas of his research and evaluate the impact of On the Philosophy of Higher Education in China.