High quantity but low quality? Analysing the Education of international students in China from the perspective of institutional logics

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the education of international students (EIS) in China to explore the “high quantity and relatively low quality” outcomes of EIS by reference to the microlevel actions of organizations. Semistructured interviews were conducted with different organizational actors. These interviews showed how organizational actions in terms of student enrolment, training and assessment have led to “high quantity and relatively low quality” outcomes. In regard to the reasons underlying these organizational actions, Chinese universities face complex and competing institutional logics with incompatible prescriptions. Chinese universities have prioritized the state and market logics over professional logic; thus, they have made substantive efforts to meet the demand for quantity but have responded only symbolically to the demand for quality. This research also shows that universities are not only shaped by institutional logics; their actions can also reproduce institutional logics.