The higher education systems of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China : a comparative study.

This study explores the tension between the preservation of cultural and political identity and economic modernization in the higher education systems in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) between 1949 and 1993. Chapter One introduces the research problem, theoretical orientation, main argument, and organization of this thesis. Chapter Two examines the historical context of the higher education systems of the PRC and the ROC, and identifies the similarities between the pre-1949 higher education system and the two contemporary Chinese higher education systems. Chapter Three analyzes the contemporary (domestic and international) contexts of higher education in the PRC and the ROC. The chapter highlights the monolithic, state-supported, official value systems of both countries; the domestic relations between the ruling party, the state, the economy and the people; and the international relations of the two countries, as these affect the higher education systems. Chapter Four investigates the cultural tasks of both higher education systems, and reviews the ways in which they have institutionalized different forms of cultural and political identity. Chapters Five and Six analyze the economic tasks of both higher education systems. Chapter Five examines the importation of science and technology, and the social values of science and technology in both countries. Chapter Six examines the processes of institutionalizing, in higher education, different foreign models of science and technology. Chapter Seven reviews the patterns of similarities and differences between both higher education systems, and explores the specific and the broader implications of the thesis