Higher education research as a field in China: its formation and current landscape

Abstract

This paper outlines the field of higher education research in China from its historical roots through to its current development. It is a case study of how the field of higher education research emerged and was co-constructed by the state and the academic community of higher education researchers to become an established and recognised discipline in a national context. The rise and formation of higher education as a research field in China has been closely related with the substantive growth of the higher education system itself. Knowledge production in the field is currently characterised by being increasingly outward-looking and supported by the state.