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The article is devoted to the analysis of the processes of integration and differentiation of leadership higher education in the world’s leading state associations of various degrees of unitarity — the EU, the USA, China. In 2023, they concentrated 69% of world-class universities (WCUs), ranked 1-500 in the Shanghai Ranking (ShR), its general version (ARWU), compared to 67% in 2004. During this time of unchanged rating methodology, the number of WCUs in the EU decreased by 15%, in the USA by 31%, on the other hand, in China it increased by 7.3 times. At the same time, averaged by country/state(district)/region(province, etc.), the best university place in the ranking in the EU deteriorated by 9%, in the USA by 44%, while in China it improved by 2.8 times. Simultaneously, the 1st university place for the USA remains stable, the EU in the comparative composition of countries (without the United Kingdom) moved from 5th to 3rd position (thanks to France), China — from 25th to 5th place, bypassing Japan and Canada within the group of extra-class universities (ECUs), which are on 1-30 places of the extremely steep section of the rating. In terms of the level of university achievements, between the USA and the EU and between the EU and China, there are two European countries that are not members of the European Union: The United Kingdom (2nd position) and Switzerland (4th place), respectively. Examining the dynamics of university achievements of individual countries, states (district), regions (provinces, etc.) in the EU, the USA, and China, respectively, shows that the integration of universities into the single spaces of higher education in the EU, the USA, and China does not protect against university differentiation as a result of competition. Success is observed in those countries/states(district)/regions (provinces, etc.) that independently or together with the central union/federal/national government purposefully support the formation and development of WCUs. Own institutional efforts are not enough. In this regard, in the period 2004-2023, no such universities were created in 10 EU countries, instead, Hungary lost all 3 that it had. In the same way, 2 states of the USA have not created WCUs, and 11 states have lost those that they had. In China, on the contrary, thanks to the strong and consistent state policy regarding the development of WCUs, for which ShR was created, WCUs have appeared in 19 regions, in 3 — their number has increased many times, and only in 7 — there are none yet such institutions. It was concluded that the development of WCUs requires, in addition to endo-institutional, also exo-institutional targeted measures. Taking into account the experience of the EU, the USA, and China will contribute to the formation of leading universities in Ukraine, which is important for the approaching victory in the war, the post-war recovery of the country in terms of its entry into the European Union. At the same time, the findings of the study characterize the state of implementation of the second dimension of the European area of higher education regarding competitiveness and attractiveness.

The Western‐style internationalisation of Russian universities, which guided the evolution of the country's higher education sector for over three decades, has been challenged by Western sanctions following the 2022 Russian 'Special military operation in Ukraine'. The authors show through the prism of constructivist theory how the norm on the internationalisation of higher education characterised by the strive for Westernised world‐class universities was adopted and then came to unravel in Russia. A qualitative case study based on 42 expert interviews and an analysis of political discourse and legal documents reveals how the key features of the internationalisation of Russian universities are being challenged. The authors contribute to the expert literature the notion of 'norm reversal', defined as the process whereby an institutionalised and internalised international norm is 'cancelled' in a specific country. The paper shows that the reversal in Russian higher education, which was initially 'circumstantial' is becoming 'intentional', with legal documents being drawn up to accelerate and claim ownership of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International & Comparative Education is the property of International & Comparative Education Editorial, Beijing Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study contributes one of the first explorations into how provincial governments shaped the WCU building discourse in tandem with universities. Using a resource dependence approach and insights from institutional isomorphism, it develops a conceptual framework with three perspectives (national government, provincial governments and 'ministerial universities') to understand the relationship between national policies and local authorities' and institutions' strategic adaptations. This study shows that there are variations in how quickly provincial governments and universities within them respond to national policies. However, provincial reports and institutional strategies exhibit isomorphism with the national goals in the model of goal setting and interpretation of WCU definition. China's national policies for building WCUs reinforce provincial governments' and ministerial universities' resource dependence on national government, leading to the adoption of similar goal-setting approaches. However, an ambiguous understanding of WCU definition also prompts the imitation of building WCUs strategies. The ministerial universities develop tailored development plans, reflecting their reliance on provincial governments for critical resources, in light of the variable development advantages and requirements of provincial governments. Hence, the tension of homogeneous goals-setting oriented towards the national standard and diversified provincial development needs in the building WCUs pose a great challenge to local innovative practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging studies on university stratification have often attributed the developmental gaps between universities to the popularization of new public management in contexts where market mechanisms prevail in higher education governance. However, less attention has been paid to how state powers continue to mediate university stratification alongside market influence. Embracing the competitive emphasis of new public management, the Chinese state has launched a new world-class university scheme, the Double World-class (DWC) Project, replacing the past one, Project 985/211. Tracing the continuities and changes from Project 985/211 to the DWC Project, this study examines the mechanisms and outcomes of China's university stratification at two levels. Firstly, the DWC Project has reproduced and reinforced the overall stratified landscape of China's universities. The state-designated hierarchy of elite and non-elite universities is reproduced in a more complex form of market-based stratification through what we propose as a "lock-in cycle" mechanism. Secondly, the DWC Project is nonetheless reshuffling the internal stratification of elite universities in three aspects: privileged identities are becoming volatile, which catalyzes inter-university competition financed by local governments; the distinction between central and local universities is collapsing when stratification becomes increasingly discipline-based; and the rising market-based stratification is challenging the state-designated hierarchy and the lock-in cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global university rankings have reshaped the landscape of higher education (HE) across various parts of the globe. The intensified competition stirred by these rankings has significantly affected academic lifestyles. The quest for global university rankings has also inevitably increased the degree of homogenisation amongst universities. Given the negative impact of global university rankings on university development, these rankings have been criticised as game playing, whilst some countries and institutions are beginning to withdraw themselves from the competition. This article sets out against the above context to review Chinese government's response to the challenges and its policy changes. Findings suggest policy responses occur very differently in different areas. Instead of simply following the rules and criteria set by global university rankings, China is trying to set its own criteria. This article contributes to the theoretical and practical understanding of China's responses to the global rankings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores to conceptualize and practicalize three-dimensional interaction model of internationalization from China's higher education perspective. Applying documentary analysis, a qualitative method, and interviews, 15 international administrative staff and directors from eight sampled local universities were interviewed to present in-depth insights into the internationalization of the local higher education system in Beijing. The major findings are that strategic positioning in terms of the internationalization of local universities should be based on the following: top-level design of a national macro internationalization strategy; a focus on the internal need for internationalization at the regional level; and understanding the distinctive advantages of internationalization at the local level. The choices for the internationalization of local universities should focus on the absolute advantages of the 'scale' of resources and rationally expand the relative advantages concerning the 'structure' of resources. Implementation of the strategy for internationalization of local universities should actively build on the competitive advantage of 'strategic resource integration'. In conclusion, the need to combine national needs with regional development, the importance of combining connotation and capacity building, and of adhering to a combination of a top-level layout or design and local practice are explored and summarized. Finally, both the theoretical contribution and practical implications of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the problem of identifying world-class universities (WCU) on the basis of information provided by various ranking systems. The relevance of the problem is due to the fact that in 2022 Russia was “cut off” from the world community, including the interruption of cooperation with leading international ranking universities, so the country risks losing the opportunity to self-check its successes and failures by generally recognized criteria. In this regard, the purpose of this article is hypothesis verifcation that the “friendly” ranking of ARWU base can serve as an effective substitute for the “unfriendly” QS ranking base. To test the formulated hypothesis, we used the previously developed algorithm for identifying WCU using statistical data from the fve Global University Rankings — Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) and National Taiwan University Ranking (NTU) — and two University Rankings by subject — QS and ARWU. Conducted calculations disproved the general hypothesis and revealed a fundamental inconsistency of results obtained on the basis of different rankings. In addition, by the example of the ARWU, a profound contradiction in the logic of compiling the GUR and the SRU was uncovered. That raises a broader question about adequacy of the concept of the WCU itself. To answer this question, we conducted a “humanitarian test” for the validity of modern WCU, which showed the presence of elementary illiteracy and lack of culture among graduates of advanced universities. Collected stylized examples allowed to establish that modern world market leaders’ universities do not pass the “humanitarian test”, and therefore the entire rating system cannot be considered a reliable basis for conclusions about the activities of universities. The question of replacing the term WCU with a less pretentious “product” category — practice-oriented universities — is being discussed.

The geopolitical turbulence dictates the need to transform the science and education sphere and reconsider the role of universities in today’s world. The article deals with the issue of defining and identifying world-class universities (WCU) and their connection with the technological development of the countries, where they are located. In particular, the research considers the problem of the validity (adequacy) of the WCU rankings. Methodologically, the study relies on the global and subject rankings of universities compiled by leading rating agencies. The paper proposes a modified algorithm to increase the accuracy of the WCU identification. For the applied calculations, the paper uses data from five ranking products: Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) and National Taiwan University Ranking (NTU). According to the results, Russia has only one WCU, which is at the stage of losing this status. In order to check the validity of the list of WCU, the research suggests the validity index that takes into account the completeness of the representation of universities of the Nuclear Club countries in the above list. Calculations demonstrate that this index amounts to 43.3 %, which indicates that modern rating sources of information perform extremely poorly for Russia and Asian countries. The research concludes that the existing ideas about WCU, as well as the methods for their identification, no longer correspond to the new realities, and insists that the central property of WCU should be direct participation in real high-tech projects of the highest (world) level and a significant contribution made due to this to the development of the national economy.

Copyright of Tsinghua Journal of Education is the property of Tsinghua University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Struggles initiated to accomplish the target of higher education institutions as World-Class Universities required the support of an international branding strategy. Brand positioning that fits the target enables the higher education institution to be a public "Top of Mind". Higher education institutions must develop and improve the standard of branding. Thus, higher education institutions can handle the rising competition in the educational field, not only at the local and national levels but also at the international level. The researchers conducted a qualitative study with a literature study based on the Publish or Perish program to discover research trends on international branding of the higher education institution to achieve and maintain the title of World-Class University. The search results for journal publications on Google Scholar in 2017-2022 were subsequently processed using the Vos Viewer program to generate data visualizations that could elaborate on the development of research trends related to the abovementioned topic. The 89 most relevant terms were obtained and divided into six clusters. The most dominant research topic, especially in 2020, was the impact of Covid-19, which caused changes in various fields. Specifically, the teaching system, which was initially conducted offline, had changed to become more online in the education sector. "Covid" was also the word that arose the most in the results of this literature study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to unpack policy evaluation and measurement of creating world-class universities in China from an integrated policy analysis. Specifically, an integrated policy analysis of policy evaluation of creating world-class universities concentrated on exploring the world class evaluation index released by the university rankings organization and the scholars' views on the assessment criteria for world-class disciplines. The characteristics of policy evaluation of creating world-class (First-Class) universities included adhering to diversified comprehensive evaluation; clear educational objectives and positioning; taking students as the foundation and cultivate first-class talents and paying attention to scientific research and produce first-class achievements. In the meanwhile, problems existing in the policy evaluation of creating world-class universities were also explored in this study. The suggestion and implications were offered to deepen theoretical research and enhance the practical effect of third-party evaluation and improve the evaluation system for "Double Tops" construction and balance the two characteristics of "Chinese characteristics" and "world-class" and respect the development rules of universities and disciplines and create a systematic ecology of orderly competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the international environment remains characterized by the desire of states to strengthen their position, the literature has revealed a growing preference for soft power instruments over military intervention. Higher education has been repurposed as a tool to achieve foreign policy goals, with many states embracing the international norm on world-class universities in an attempt to improve their international competitiveness and their image abroad. This paper considers the soft power conversion model of higher education and attempts to determine its effectiveness through a case study devoted to Russian Higher Education. A survey of foreign students starting their studies and of another finishing their studies in three leading Russian universities reveals that receiving a higher education in Russia may contribute to aligning students’ positions with the Russian perspective on international issues diffused in these universities as was confirmed by surveying a control group of Russian students. These preliminary findings suggest that the benefits of internationalizing national higher education systems are not just reserved to the norm initiators (US, UK) but extend to second wave norm adopters (Russia, China).

This study investigates how talent cultivation contributes to creating world-class universities in China from the perspectives of characteristics, problems, and choices. A policy discourse perspective is applied to examine the overall landscape of policy formulation and implementation, relatively. It explores the policy discourse analysis of talent cultivation and indicates that the task of talent cultivation is to train student to undertake the great task of national rejuvenation; the goal of talent cultivation is to guide students to grow and become talents; the mission of talent cultivation is to spread advanced culture and core values; the object of talent cultivation is to strengthen undergraduate and graduate education development; the theme of talent cultivation is to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship development. In addition, this study also points out that the assimilation of the objectives of talent training and regional imbalance of talent training are considered as two problems of implementing talent cultivation strategies. This study also suggests that we might reasonably adjust the hierarchical structure of students and control the scale of the school; create the characteristics of first-class talent training and promote the personalized development of talents and reasonably allocate higher education resources to promote the balanced distribution of talents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to characterize the graduate education development for creating world-class universities from the insight of the doctoral education in China. A systematic review is applied to examine the doctoral education development in contemporary China. The findings argue that there are tremendous challenges in China's current doctoral cultivation system. The current doctoral talent cultivation encountered various difficulties, specifically for creating the effectiveness of world-class universities. The student–faculty relations were regard as a key theme to investigate the doctoral education development in current China's higher education system. The findings indicated that the selected studies in regard to the doctoral graduate education focusing on the cultivation of innovation ability, the interdisciplinary graduate student training has become one of the important ways of graduate education reform. In addition, the conclusion and remark were offered in the last. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only a few world-class universities are in inland regions. The development of inland universities is restricted by many factors, which is especially true in the construction of universities of the Double First Class initiative in China's western inland regions. To learn more about how this situation evolved, we conducted research focused on world-class inland universities in foreign countries to sort out their experiences during their development. Through literature reviews and online surveys, we found that the development of such universities is restricted by the economic and social environment of the cities and regions in which they are located. Further, these universities are good at seizing historic development opportunities to actively advance internal reform and fully integrate into regional economic and social development. As a result, they have made great contributions to talent training and scientific research. They have also enhanced their strength and international influence in the process of coordinated development with their region. Therefore, we suggest universities in western China draw on such experience to grow into double firstclass universities. Specifically, they should closely follow major national and regional strategies and comprehensively integrate into regional economic and social construction to seek opportunities by taking full advantage of local development. They should also continuously deepen institutional and systematic restructuring to unleash their vitality and potential in education management and development and focus on major projects to expand influence in their regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education modernization is a core driver in developing a nation's education. Creating world-class universities is one pathway toward educational modernization in the world's major developed countries and can help meet the challenge of education internationalization and globalization. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate world-class universities for higher education sustainability in China through a social networking approach. We aimed to explore the communication path and spatial distribution of social network information about education policies for creation of world-class universities. The core topics discussed by the public were enrollment and employment, followed by the level of institutions and their development. The public in East China discussed the most content, followed by people in North and Southwest China. Positive emotions were mainly found in East, Southwest and North China, while sensitive emotions primarily occurred in East and North China. In addition, the conclusion and implication are offered at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great deal has been written about the rise of the world-class university and global university rankings over the past two decades. Much of this work focuses on either the efficacy of the indicators used to measure world classness or on the purposes they serve regarding student choice in an international market. However, less attention has been paid to the ways in which spatial power, particularly the politics of sight and size, brings into view and makes visible and actionable new sets of socio-spatial relations between entities. In this paper, I draw on a spatial vocabulary of sight, vision, visibility, verticality, volume and vertigo. Taken together, these modalities of space 'V-Charge' the reimagining, recalibrating and remaking of universities as a global enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the higher education transformation strategy proposed in the vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia to supporting at least five Saudi institutions break into the top - 200 ranking list worldwide. A nationwide survey data obtained from faculty with good knowledge and experience on the subject of interest, was used to examine how these institutions have taken on this challenge. A theorized baseline model is specified that yields all other alternative models of interest as special cases. Generalized ordered Logit estimation is adopted for all models, and specification tests for model selection are based on AIC, BIC, RMSEA, and Δ(χ2). Study reveals that global engagement through active partnership was a real obstacle to world-class university status and might further undermine the commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. In addition, the marginal effect of the estimated communication and external research funding were both statistically negatives, creating confusions among stakeholders and uncertainty about the future of research outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curriculum is the core element of talent cultivation in universities, and its quality directly determines that of the talent cultivation. However, the efficiency of online course resource allocation in universities of China is unacceptable, and the corresponding driving mechanisms are unclear. Based on the data of iCourses platform for a top university (H University) of China, this paper develops the DEA-Malmquist index and Tobit regression model to evaluate the efficiency of university online course resource allocation and explore its main influencing factors. The empirical results indicate that, first of all, humanities and social sciences outperform natural sciences in the resource allocation efficiency of online courses. Compared with non-national premium online courses, the resource investment redundancy of national premium online courses appears relatively lower. Secondly, from the perspective of temporal changes, the total factor productivity of online course resource allocation generally has a downward trend. The innovation effect of technological progress is more significant, while the catch-up effect of technical efficiency is clearly insufficient. Scale efficiency is the main factor hindering its improvement. Finally, in terms of the factors affecting the efficiency of online course resource allocation, teachers' research guidance capability, teaching research skills, and the number of courses offered have significantly positive impact., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study investigates how to create world-class universities in China from a policy mapping perspective. Specifically, policy connotations of creating world-class universities in China have been explored in this study. Policy mapping of creating world-class universities in China is mainly divided into two stages: Stage 1 focuses on the introduction and continuous improvement of the guiding overall plan; Stage 2 concentrates on conducting specific implementation plans, speeding up construction, and implementing them in colleges and universities. In addition, policy strategies on further improving the "Double first class" (World-class) construction policy are also examined in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the reforming of the higher education system for economic growth since China opened up to the outside world. The result indicates that, although the decentralization of higher education was the platform for China's higher education, curricula adjustment was critical for qualification improvement to be recognized worldwide; Establishing key disciplines and universities at global standards was the priority of the Chinese government, attaining the mass higher education came after that. Lessons would be a valuable paper for researchers and policymakers in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pursuing world-class universities, China has emerged in recent decades as an increasingly popular destination for internationally mobile academics. The goal of this study was to identify current education policy dispositions toward foreign faculty at the national and institutional levels in China. Findings indicate that within China's higher education policy discourse, foreign faculty are identified as an advantage ("priceless treasure"), and a source of conflict ("hot potato"), ultimately having an ambiguous role as they attempt to manage their complicated status in Chinese higher education institutions. Foreign faculty are typically regarded as an international asset, accelerating global competitiveness and international rankings to enhance the acceleration of China's higher education system. They are also considered controversial in relation to Chinese culture, values, and traditions. However, the most prevalent policy disposition explored in this study was that of vagueness and marginality, indicating underlying ambiguity toward foreign faculty. The study concludes with implications for future scholars and policymakers to consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper synthesizes the characteristics of university rankings that cause pressure or ‘harassment’ on universities and analyses possible strategies for action that can be carried out in the real context of the three main university rankings (QS, THE, ARWU), suggesting the consequences for the so-called world-class universities and others (which represent 95% of the total). Although there is controversy over the criteria of the university ranking systems, many universities are establishing strategies aimed at adapting to these criteria and indicators and improving their positions. This study concludes that international university rankings should not be a relevant source of information to consider the quality of universities because this can have a negative impact on the development of medium- and long-term policies in higher education and the universities themselves. Universities should concentrate on their mission and must provide valid and reliable information to all stakeholders about the level of achievement of their goals.

The article is concerned with the issues of diagnostics of the status and identification of tendencies in the development of the international competitive potential of research universities of Ukraine. The dynamics of rating positions of the higher education institutions of Ukraine in the international rating system QS World University Rankings 2012–2019 is researched. It is determined that among seven national research universities present in the global rating for 2019 the undisputed leader is V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. An analytical assessment of the international competitive potential of research universities in Ukraine has identified significant disparities in: the overall contingent of Ukrainian students; the proportion of the number of Ukrainian students as to the education and qualification levels (EQL) of «Bachelor» and «Master»; the general contingent of foreign students; the proportion of the number of foreign students as to the EQL of «Bachelor» and «Master»; the total number of Ukrainian scientific and pedagogical workers; the proportion of Ukrainian and foreign scientific and pedagogical workers. The analysis of the number of institutions of higher education in Ukraine of the III.–IV. accreditation levels allowed to identify a tendency towards their reduction, which in turn will lead to higher quality education at those universities. The author presents fourteen Ukrainian higher education institutions with significant research potential, with the status of a research university in the period of 2009–2014. These institutions should become objects of a promising development, in order to increase their international competitive potential. It is necessary to develop clear criteria for obtaining and verification of the status of research university in Ukraine. It is important that these requirements correlate with the requirements of the world-class universities that are leaders at the international level. After that, work should begin on the formation and implementation of a strategic program for the development of international competitive potential of research universities in Ukraine.

This study aims to critically and systematically investigate the contemporary discourse within scholarship on world-class universities in different higher education context. It applies critical discourse analysis to review articles from some top higher education academic journals and books published between 2000 and 2019. Exploring the notion of world-class university involves international-level identities and models, national-level policies and strategies, and institutional-level responses and practices. Findings highlight the absence of a clear definition of the concept of world-class university, an obvious Western-dominated value-laden paradigm, hegemony of global rankings discourse, priority of policies and strategies and inexplicit suggestions for practical application of research findings. Applying the critical discourse analysis, we examine the mission of higher education research towards global competitiveness and global rankings and the attitudes towards the challenges in pursuing world-class universities and its dissemination through the international academic publications as value neutral. This study focuses on recognizing, articulating, and critiquing biases in research production and dissemination. Different researchers might provide multiple critical scopes to investigate international inclusive scholarship on world-class universities. This study also contributes to the approaches in which discourse both shapes and is shaped by globalization and internationalization trends in the higher education contexts, and future orientations in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating world-class universities (WCUs) has recently become a significant policy and practice in higher education in China under the Double World-Class Project. However, some negative effects have encouraged decoupling from the policy goals. To identify the reasons, we conducted policy document analysis and purposive interviews at three elite universities, focusing on financial funding, discipline development, and human resources. First, the uneven funding plans by central and local governments shape non-competitive environments for universities, hindering the dynamic adjustment of the Double World-Class Project. Second, universities have closed or merged programs in weak academic disciplines to gain legitimacy and stability in conformance to WCU guidelines. Last, as a result of the unbalanced development of universities in east, middle, and west China, universities in the west are facing a serious brain drain. To achieve a higher level of performance, an increasing number of 'shadow academics' are being recruited by Chinese universities. These decoupling responses and manipulative strategies result from the dominating constituent in WCUs, ambiguity in policy contents, hierarchical control systems in higher education, and uncertain environments for universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper employs a glonacal agency heuristic to explore how certain research-intensive Chinese universities exercise agency in response to global and national impacts in creating the world-class university. Two global forces (international scholarly discussions on the world-class university and global university rankings) and one national force (China's Double First-Class Project) are considered. Through an in-depth document analysis of 41 Chinese research-intensive universities' strategic plans, it is revealed that the universities have designed mainly three strategies to reply to the impacts. The first is to actively embrace global impacts, while looking for national supports for the embracement; the second is to partly draw on global forces while taking into account national considerations; and the third is to primarily draw on national forces while being minimally influenced by global forces. The three strategies point to possible ways for non-Western universities to balance global and national influences in their development, and reflect potential contributions of universities, as local organisational agencies, to global higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic ecology of China's elite universities has been deeply shaped by internationalization through the efforts of returnee faculty members. This study explores how to internationalize the Chinese academic ecology and create world-class universities by examining the experiences and perceptions of returnee faculty members in China's elite universities. Using a qualitative method, 18 returnees from three top universities were interviewed to present their in-depth insights into the dynamics of the academic ecosystem in China. The study findings highlight that bringing international academic peer review and tenure track mechanisms into China's current higher education system is necessary to meet the international academic standard pursued by world-class universities. Encouraging publications in English works to benefit the internationalization of China's academic ecology. Returnee faculty members underwent a re-adaptation socialization process in Chinese local academic discourse and used self-mockery to describe themselves as "abandoned orphans" to express their marginalized status in their local academic networks and communities. The returnees found that their academic identities needed to match the academic context of Chinese universities, especially in social science. The discussions also highlighted the current tensions in the drive to internationalize China's elite universities and the need to strengthen indigenous elements, international faculty practices, and local requirements, in addition to the career interests of returnees and local peers. These tensions contribute to the international awareness, engagement, and advances in the focus on Chinese characteristics to serve local and national agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of its intuitive and vivid characteristics and close to readers, video reading has been paid more and more attention by academic libraries, and has become one of t he important form s of reading promotion. Based o n the study on 42 World-Class Universities libraries in China, this paper introduces the of video reading promotion from four aspects including development process, brand construct ion, resource type and basic facility, summarizes the practical experience of activity planning and organization,compares and analyzes the typical model and characteristics of activities, and tries to provide methods to further improvement of t he model of activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Moscow International University Ranking (MosIUR) is a global university ranking launched in 2017 with the intention of evaluating universities by considering three essential dimensions (education, research, and knowledge transfer). This ranking was designed and developed by the Russian Union of Rectors following a direct request from President Vladimir Putin. The objective of this work is to perform a threefold analysis of this ranking. First, a methodological analysis is carried out, focused on describing the nature of the indicators and sources employed. Second, a geopolitical analysis aims to determine how countries are represented in this new global ranking. Third, a webometric analysis is done, focused on the online visibility of the ranking. The results reveal MosIUR to be a ranking with an outstanding number of webometric indicators and clearly oriented towards transference to society. However, some methodological concerns arise regarding a few metrics. The geopolitical position of developed countries is similar to that in other global rankings, but slight differences emerge, such as the stronger presence of Russian universities. The cybermetric analysis confirms that, despite being international, this ranking is strongly limited to Russia. It can be concluded that, except for the palpable predominance of the USA, each ranking tends to place universities from their own country in a better position. The creation of MosIUR by the Russian government can thus be perceived as a political strategy to improve the reputation of Russian universities, increase funding, and accelerate their transformation into world-class universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilises an institutional logic perspective to explore the dynamics and complexity of academic personnel system reforms at leading Chinese universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 participants from 10 highly ranked universities; these interviews obtained the views of key observers on four main reform initiatives: global recruitment, the adoption of a tenure-track system and improvements to performance criteria and review procedures. Findings reveal that the fundamental goal of academic personnel system reforms for leading Chinese research universities was to address increasing global competition and stimulate research outputs within a new managerial context. A unique 'two-tier' career system is emerging influenced by the interweaving of competing logics and complicated interactions between external influences and Chinese traditions, in which the traditional permanent employment system operates simultaneously with the newly introduced tenure-track system, and 'up-or-out' has transformed into 'up-or-transfer' due to the legacies of the danwei system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses John Hudzik's (2015) Comprehensive Internationalization as a conceptual framework to examine how two Singaporean universities, the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), leverage internationalization as a means to achieving 'world-class' status. Document analysis, semi-structured interviews and campus observations are used to provide a cross-case analysis of the universities' strategies related to partnerships, student and staff mobility, and internationalization of the curriculum. This analysis is placed against the backdrop of wider state policy to explore the relationship between institutional approach and national context. Overall, the findings suggest that a global frame of reference is embedded in the two universities' visions, and internationalization activities are aggressively pursued to achieve those visions. Factors related to each university's approach to comprehensive internationalization are explored in the discussion section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through analysis of the strategic ambitions of China's top universities, this article studies the relationship between governance structures at the system level and strategic institutional adaptations. In China, some top universities are governed directly by the national authorities while others have regional affiliations. By analyzing the strategic plans of a sample of universities in both categories the article examines how these differences in governance modes may impact the formal ambitions and objectives of the universities and discuss the potential system implications of these different governance modes, especially related to issues of excellence and diversity. The article find that differences in governance modes do affect the strategic positioning of Chinese universities, and different ways in which governance arrangements can be used to foster both excellence and diversity in a system perspective are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines international brain race for world-class universities as measured by the QS World University Rankings (QS) and the Academic Ranking of World Universities, particularly in the context of Asian nations' institutional competition and benchmarking against American counterparts. Applying mixed methods with statistical analysis of time-series data from 59 nations and case study of four selected nations, the study examines the cross-national trends of global university rankings and the roles of government policies during the era of performance-driven accountability in higher education. Tracking the zero-sum game of global university rankings over the past decade, the study accounts for key driving factors that produced divergent trajectories among the nations: how and why the USA as established leader and Japan as early catch-up leader become losers, whereas China and Korea as fast followers become winners? Although the Asian catch-up model of world-class university development, high-stakes institutional competitions and targeted funding with STEM priorities contributed to their rapid growth of research productivity and rankings, it reveals major limitations and problems. Drawing cross-national lessons and implications, we discuss new directions of higher education policies and global university ranking measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyze the concept of world-class universities asan object of dispute in the competitive field of higher education, based on the premise that in the globalized world its origin and consolidation occur taking as a basic reference international quality standards. Of a theoretical nature, the work problematizes higher education in the knowledge economy, in an articulated way to the exploration of data produced by the two main rankings that classify these universities - Academic Ranking of World Universities and Times Higher Education World University Rankings - published, respectively, in years 2019 and 2020. It is concluded that the concept of this new university model considers global quality criteria and indicators, but also the action of the other universities that are part of the field of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores best practices and roles of information and communication technology (ICT) in select professional development centers at 16 flagship universities. Through adopting a qualitative case study design, this study explores the strengths and weaknesses of current technology training initiatives in the selected professional development centers. As part of the research and teaching programs at flagship universities, professional development center leaders shared about the current ICT practices as well as the strengths and limitations of their own centers. The analysis section includes a critical look at ICT practices among flagship universities from a human resource theory lens. Findings indicate common successes that facilitate the ICT practices of these centers including delivery mediums, services, ideas, and goals, as well as various barriers of implementing ICT training initiatives. The paper concludes with suggestions on how professional development center leaders, senior administrators, and educational policy makers can help improve professional development processes with the assistance of optimal ICT initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]