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Revival of “internationalization” in mainland Chinese universities with Christian roots? Historical and empirical inquiries in overseas experienced talent recruitment

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Abstract

Given that the recruitment of overseas returnees has become a strategic approach to facilitate the internationalization of higher education (HE) in mainland China, this paper adopts historical and empirical approaches to explore this phenomenon. By examining two Chinese universities with pre-1949 Christian roots, it intends to identify successful historical experiences with recruiting talent and current challenges and problems with this strategy concerning HE internationalization. Data were collected through historical files, policy documents, interviews, and observations. The research found that the role of the current wave of talented overseas returnees has not been fully operative in HE development for institutional and macrolevel reasons, such as utilitarianism and an unhealthy academic culture, which dominate academic communities at the local level and beyond.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (Education) project titled “Comparing higher education internationalization in China and major OECD countries: Policies and practices” (Grant no. BIA180196).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Jie Zheng

  2. College of Education, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Hantian Wu

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  1. Jie Zheng
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  2. Hantian Wu
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Correspondence to Hantian Wu.

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Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Committee on Human Research Protection of East China Normal University (Approval number: HR 458-2019). Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Zheng, J., Wu, H. Revival of “internationalization” in mainland Chinese universities with Christian roots? Historical and empirical inquiries in overseas experienced talent recruitment. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-023-09889-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-023-09889-3

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