“Sustainable or Unsustainable” in Higher Education Internationalization Development: Exploring the Post-Doctoral System in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Abstract

The current reforms in the internationalization of the post-doctoral system in China’s higher education institutions is implemented using both governmental and institutional policies, especially in the humanities and social sciences. These reforms are situated in evolving strategies for the internationalization of China’s post-doctoral system. This study explored various stakeholder perspectives on this internationalization process; we analyzed 34 institutional post-doctoral recruitment documents and the transcripts from 36 interviews we conducted with academics, university senior administrators, and vice presidents. The findings suggest that internationalizing the post-doctoral system in the humanities and social sciences still faces challenges and difficulties: the postdocs’ role ambiguity as “temporary researchers” without the “iron rice bowl”; non-guaranteed funding, which creates a “survival of the fittest” postdoc environment; quality versus quantity of work positioning “paper as the primary productivity”; and governance and management disorder being seen as “shifting from management to service”. The internationalization of the post-doctoral system still embodies ambiguities and dilemmas. Suggestions are offered for future research in the last.