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…

This research explores how geopolitics and 'Neo-tributary' relations influence the distribution of TNHE partnerships in China. Specifically, this research situates China's TNHE cooperation in policy reforms and designs since 2010, and explores how geopolitics influences the regional practice of re-organisation of the joint programmes between 2018…

In the last three decades, a networked global system has emerged in the natural-science-based disciplines, sustained by collegial epistemic relations in universities. Nationally ordered and funded science has expanded alongside the global science system. The common global pool of papers, defined by bibliometric collections, nevertheless excludes…

The paper presents a scoping review of research on transnational education in China published from 2016, the last year that a comprehensive literature review on the subject was published in "Chinese Education & Society." The authors delimited a corpus of 88 articles focusing on collaborative transnational education in China and…

In China, formal school groupings known as 'education collectives' have become one of the most common forms of school-to-school collaboration, promoted by policymakers to narrow the achievement gap between schools and optimise resource allocation. Previous research has focused on the purposes and achievements of education collectives rather than…

Leadership is a critical determinant of university performance. While much attention has been given to the personal traits of university leaders, the differences in leaders' political capital are largely neglected. Grounded in the framework of power relations in the management domain and contextualised in Chinese elite universities, the study has…

The inclusion of intercultural communication and intercultural competence in English language education in Chinese Higher Education is now firmly established in the 'National Standards' (2020). In a post-project reflection, we explore the opportunities and challenges in co-constructing an interpretive (non-essentialist) approach to…

This paper investigates China's present approach of using "outward-oriented" higher education internationalization for status and image enhancement, and the challenges it faces in the response to this approach. It examines the three major dimensions of China's present approach including its cultural diplomacy based on Sino-foreign higher…

This study explores the evolving landscape of international higher education partnerships, with a specific focus on the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). These countries, representing a significant portion of the world's population and economy, are redefining collaborative models in higher education, particularly…

International research collaboration is a way to facilitate original knowledge production, share research equipment, promote learning together and talent pooling at a cross-border level. However, it takes place in a hierarchical and unequal global research space. Conditioned by various structural factors, researchers actively exercise their agency…

Along with its unprecedented economic rise over the past several decades, debates about China's soft power push have become heated. Yet, consensus on what exactly constitutes China's soft power has not been reached. Findings of how resources of Chinese soft power play their roles in the national strategy for global rise are conflicting and lacking…

Bourdieu's concept of field offers an alternative explanation for the inevitable gap between policy initiative and implementation. While the existing literature mostly concentrated on the dichotomy of macro- and micro-politics in enacting education policies, the missing attention to meso-level, local governments as policy interpreters and…

Applying a Bourdieusian lens, this study seeks to explore the interactions between secondary and higher education and how these interactions impact marginalised students in an elite university in China. It presents accounts of the educational experiences of 13 marginalised students of rural origin. The findings suggest that for them educational…

Today, teachers around the world are facing tremendous challenges in not only being responsive to their students' learning needs and strengths, but also in preparing them for an increasingly globalized world (Byker & Ezelle, 2021). Language teachers are often in a pivotal position to address such issues about equity because of the subject they…

Internationalization of higher education is a major characteristic of China's higher education policy. Accordingly, the Chinese government is fervently encouraging the spread of Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes, student exchange programs, recruitment of international students, and international collaborations. South Asia…