Chinese University Administrations: Chinese Characteristics or Global Influence?

Abstract

In this article, we examine the units of the central administrations of Chinese universities to ascertain to what extent they reflect Chinese structural and cultural characteristics or global templates, seen through certain administrative units in the US model of excellence for universities. We describe and analyze the main features of the Chinese university administrations and compare our case with similar US studies. The data from the websites of 174 universities reveal that the main structures of Chinese university administrations are highly standardized and that apart from some notable differences across differently ranked universities they are homogeneous. We also find that Chinese universities are structurally distinct from their US counterparts in most respects, but there are also some similarities. Most universities have set up development offices similar to the US ones, but few have diversity or legal offices. These findings suggest that Chinese universities diverge strategically from global trends but there is some selective convergence.