Traces of the Development of Higher Education Research in China

With a Discussion on the Functions of China’s Associations of Higher Education

Abstract

　 The characteristic of China’s higher education research is that, based on an earlier research in issues concerning higher education, it focuses on developing academic disciplines and has formed two parallel but inter-related traces. One is concerned with research in disciplinary theory. The other is about research in practical issues. The first section of this paper examines the formation, development and major research achievements of higher education science and its discipline groups. The second section makes a brief introduction to the research in practical issues in educational reforms, including key research fields and issues in the early period of the implementation of the reform and open-door policy in the end of the 20^th century and in the stage of mass higher education in the beginning of the 21^st century. The third section deals with the general situation and functions of China’s associations of higher education. They include Association of China’s Higher Education, its branches and academic organizations which are not affiliated to the Association of China’s Higher Education.