University governance is a core issue of higher education, and faculty plays a critical role. In a structured interview, 10 faculty members from a case university in central China elaborate on their university's governance structure and their own leadership in university governance. One distinctive feature revealed is that there are dual…

The vast majority of Chinese universities have embraced higher education reform that emphasizes a "publish or perish" ideology. This brings challenges to the early-career academics, especially those working in language-related fields. This paper employs a multiple case study to explore the identity tension of early career academics in…

While there has been increased scholarly interest in the translator trainer's competence, the translator trainer's professional identity, that is, how they conceptualise their work and roles in daily teaching practice, remains an unexplored area. This multiple-case study aims to fill this gap by examining four university translator trainers'…

Since implementing the postdoctoral system in China, the number and quality of postdocs have improved greatly. Under the policy of creating world-class universities, most universities have focused unprecedentedly on recruiting postdoctoral fellows, and the management regulations for postdocs have become increasingly diverse. Through in-depth…

Conducted in a Chinese university, this study tracked eight students' changes in their beliefs and practices of translanguaging when developing academic literacies throughout a 14-week English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course, where translanguaging pedagogy was systematically planned and implemented. Data were collected from classroom…

This paper reports on a study designed to explore the educational affordances of mobile social media and how teachers' private theories mediate integration of the affordances in teaching practice in higher education in China. Four university teachers were included as cases for an in-depth inquiry in this study. Qualitative data were collected…

Developing and implementing impactful international partnerships was the top priority for higher education institutions prior to the pandemic breakout. The pandemic forced higher education to change and act quickly to avoid international enrollment crash and spurred some unprecedented international collaborations. This case study examines an…

Many Studies have been conducted on the internationalisation of higher education. Yet little is known about institutional plans for internationalisation on an operational level. This paper was written to provide some insight into the current barriers to the implementation of internationalisation plans. The authors present a case study of…

This report and the accompanying online repository (https://sfdora.org/dora-case-studies/) bring together and analyse case studies in responsible academic career assessment. The case studies are intended to serve as inspiration for institutions planning to become or already engaged in a complex review process, and to provide potential pathways of…

Chinese universities are being continually subjected to new managerial practices and technologies that have fundamental consequences on the university faculty's academic life. Within a predominantly communitarian theoretical framework of academic identity, this qualitative case study draws upon interviews with 25 academics in Mainland China to…

Background: Over the past few decades, higher education institutions worldwide have experienced substantial changes, including: massification, internationalisation and increasing demands for exceptional instructional quality and research quantity in environments that have also seen heightened competition for students, faculty and resources.…

Internationalization is an integral part of the strategies of leading Chinese universities to strive for world-class standing. It has left its marks on the academic life of China's social scientists. This article explores the impact of internationalization on the academic life of Chinese social scientists using Tsinghua University as an example.…

Against the backdrop of globalisation, many English language teaching (ELT) curricula emphasise the need to promote awareness of intercultural communication. However, in many settings, the current ELT practices still predominantly focus on Anglophone cultures or interactions with Anglophone speakers, as the teachers and materials may not fully…

Internationalization has become a new landmark of Chinese higher education, measured by indicators such as personnel mobility, number of offshore/joint programs, and international publications. Chinese universities have moved from isolation to the forefront of internationalization in a short timeline and amid the dramatic expansion of Chinese…

While assessment for learning (AfL) has been widely used in college English classrooms in China where teachers usually teach large classes, how AfL is implemented in the large-class higher education (HE) context is relatively underexplored. To address this gap, this study explores some of the challenges presented by large classes and the teachers'…