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Changes and Challenges to Chinese Doctoral Education

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Doctoral Education for the Knowledge Society

Part of the book series: Knowledge Studies in Higher Education ((KSHE))

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of Chinese doctoral education, focusing on its recent changes, main characteristics, and major issues and challenges by analysing national statistics and documentation, as well as cases of individual universities. The study begins with a brief introduction to the outline and key features of Chinese higher education and global drivers as well as national contextual factors. It then discusses recent changes and challenges which have taken place in Chinese doctoral education since the mid-1990s. This study suggests that although there is still evidence of the impact of Soviet ideas on the existing system of doctoral education, China’s doctoral education has become increasingly affected by the US model in relation to the role of coursework and quality assurance frameworks. Furthermore, various challenges facing Chinese doctoral education include an increased marketisation or deregulation of government control on doctoral education, a lack of quality assurance mechanisms, and lower-quality full-time faculty members.

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Correspondence to Futao Huang .

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Huang, F. (2018). Changes and Challenges to Chinese Doctoral Education. In: Shin, J., Kehm, B., Jones, G. (eds) Doctoral Education for the Knowledge Society. Knowledge Studies in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89713-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89713-4_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-89712-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-89713-4

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