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This paper contends that the inclusion of meso- and micro-level perspectives has been under exploration in the study of the internationalization of humanities and social sciences, in particular, in a state-mandated system where policy interventions in higher education and knowledge production have typically been aligned with state construction and national development. It argues that institutional and individual responses to state policies on the internationalization of humanities and social sciences should be investigated due to their respective roles in policymaking and implementation. It has, therefore, retrieved recent and historical policy documents during the post-WTO period and collected empirical data from two Chinese universities. A constructivist-interpretivist qualitative approach and a qualitative case study strategy were adopted for this investigation. Based on an in-depth analysis of the empirical data, this paper reveals the gap between the macro-level ambition of achieving outward-oriented diffusion of innovations and the local-level realities, as well as institutional dilemmas and conflicts in facilitating the internationalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical ideas about globalization and internationalization of higher education emphasize the tension among different ideologies of higher education. According to literature, a competition among states, economy, knowledge, and status generates this tension to drive higher education development. This theoretical understanding not only shapes our global imaginations but also permeates the organizational behavior of universities. In this paper, we focus on the institutional logics that motivate universities in Kazakhstan to engage with China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We investigate the ways that Kazakhstani higher education interprets and responds to China's vision of a global order. Based on interviews conducted at 10 higher education institutions (HEIs) in Kazakhstan, we argue that Kazakhstan's engagement with the BRI circumvents the cultural connectivity and global cooperation that are embraced by Chinese policy discourse and perpetuated by academic literature. Rather, institutional leaders in Kazakhstan operate with a utilitarian logic that seeks revenue generation, links with industry, and opportunities for students in employment and further education. The pursuit of these strategic outcomes demonstrates a bilateral engagement with China rather than the multilateral cooperation envisioned by policymakers. In a higher education system dominated by the state, the institutions in our study exhibit partial agency to accrue pragmatic benefits rather than concede to isomorphic pressures or mimic internationalization from neoliberal contexts. The discrepancy between policy discourse from China and policy reception in Kazakhstan raises questions about the rhetoric of a multipolar global order and the realities of international cooperation in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to better understand the process of educational transfer from Western countries to developing ones by proposing an analytical framework. The framework, besides counting for the major challenges of a specific educational transfer, also proposes to analyse some of the factors of different cultural-educational contexts that may help or burden institutional innovation. The framework had been tested by case study research focusing on the educational transfer of liberal arts colleges from the Netherlands to China. In the cities of Chongqing and Taigu, two undergraduate colleges grounded the case of investigation in order to study the experiential perceptions of stakeholders shortly after the implementation of liberal arts programmes (2012). Meanwhile, the data revealed different interest groups and particular institutional constrains, and the analytical framework greatly helped to understand and illustrate issues of compatibility, acceptance, mobilization of different stakeholders, and strategies for both individual and institutional agency. As the research contributed to a dissertation essay completed in 2016 at Beijing Normal University, the present study's objective is to highlight the importance of analytical framework(s) in the process of interpreting data into research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the local conceptions, interpretations, and implementations of internationalization at one Chinese higher education institution, to provide a more complex and nuanced understanding of internationalization in the globalizing educational context. In particular, we explore the analytical capacity of Marginson and Rhoades High Educ 43(3), 281-309, () glonacal (global + national + local) agency heuristic by examining the local 'layers and conditions' of our research site. We found two local conceptions, Xue Shu Feng Qi (a Mandarin phrase relating to the academic culture) and Jie Gui (a metaphor for internationalization) were used by local actors in relation to the inbound and outbound flows of scholars and disciplinary norms that influenced the global and national reputation of the department. We interpret these local concepts as salient 'layers and conditions' of the glonacal agency heuristic, providing an empirical example to more fully understand the theoretical implications of this perspective in higher education research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2010s witnessed unparalleled policymaking and development in international higher education in China. Whilst research has shed light on the broader historical spectrum of China's international higher education policies, few studies have focused exclusively on those of the 2010s. This study builds upon the theoretical perspectives of wenjian zhengzhi and institutional logics to offer a timely and comprehensive analysis of the dynamics between Chinese policies on international higher education, practices of higher education institutions, and macro-societal orders. It examines two research questions through in-depth analysis of policy documents and scholarly literature: what institutional logics underpin China's international higher education policies of the 2010s? How have Chinese higher education institutions negotiated multiple and sometimes competing institutional logics in response to these policies? Findings show the ways that the state, market, corporation, profession, and community logics are embedded in the international higher education policies of the 2010s. Two specific areas of HEI practices are discussed to illustrate how higher education institutions blend and negotiate the competing logics in a search for compatibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]