FACULTY OF EDUCATION& SOCIAL WORK

RESEARCHING ABROAD: developing self and nation? AC21 Conference – Shanghai | October 2010

LOUISE FRECKELTON | Manager – International RelationsOffice for Global Health, Sydney Medical School

PhD candidate, Faculty of Education and Social Work

Thompson Reuters Global Research Reportand China

Thompson Reuters Global Research Report and China

› Massive media coverage

“China’s ‘awe-inspiring’ growth meant it was now the second-largest producer of scientific knowledge and was

on course to overtake the US by 2020”(Cookson, 2010)

“China produced around 20,000 papers annually in 1998, the output rising dramatically to 112,000 by 2008” (Adams, et al., 2009).

Implications for China’s PhD candidates

› Implications for China’s science PhD candidates

If China is to lead the world in scientific research output by 2020,

- How are PhD students prepared?

- How are they formed / forming themselves?

- How do their international research experiences help/ hinder?

› Why?

- USyd hosting Chinese PhDs for a 1 year experience

- Not being looked at – yet they will take the reforms forward

This presentation

Map the territory that the Chinese PhD occupies

› Current research themes – HE China

› The role that

- Higher Education

- Research ‘quality’

- ‘Talent’ and its ‘cultivation’

play in the development of the nation .

› Governmentality and ‘patriotic professionalism’

› The experience of research students studying at the University of Sydney

Current research themes

Current research themes

› Macro issues

- History of Education reform - mergers, governance changes, massifying and creating world-class universities.

› Macro issues and their impact on

- particular universities

- publication quality

- academic staff

- increased university ‘autonomy’

› International issues

- the global mobility of the highly-skilled and the role of the Chinese academic diaspora

7

Current research themes

› Lots of work

- (trans)formation of China’s HE system and academic staff to carry out the (trans)formation of Chinese universities to ‘world class’ institutions

› Little work / no work

- (trans)formation of China’s PhDs

› Some work in anthropology and politics the formation of suitable citizens for rapidly changing China

- suzhi jiaoyu ( education for ‘quality’) and citizenship, responsibility, obligation and the ‘ideal citizen’

- How graduates are being made and making themselves thru employment by ‘mutual choice’ shuangxiang xuanze

The development of the nation andHigher Education

The development of the nation and Higher Education

› Higher education - key to the drive to develop China

- “Education must serve socialist construction, which in turn must rely on education. Our massive socialist modernisation program requires us …. to train, on a large scale, people with new types of skills who are dedicated to the socialist cause and to the nation’s economic and social progress into the 1990s and the early days of the next century.” (CCP 1985 – ‘Decisions’)

- “Higher education must implement the educational policy of the state [and] serve socialist modernization,… to train those educated to be builders and successors of the socialist cause with all-round development of morality, intelligence and physique.” (Art 4) (CCP, 1998 – Higher Education Law)

- “The task of higher education is to train senior specialized talents with innovative spirit and practical capability, develop science, technology and culture and promote socialist modernization.” (Art 5) (CCP, 1998 – Higher Education Law)

- “education should be oriented towards modernization, the whole world and the future.” (CCP, 2010 – 9th 5 year plan - The Three Orientations)

The development of the nation and Higher Education

Graduates need to be

› both ‘red’ and ‘expert’

› ‘practical’ and ‘innovative’

› develop ‘science’ and ‘culture’

› develop their ‘morality’, ‘intelligence’ and ‘physique’

› ‘develop of China’ by being ‘orientated to the world’

The development of the nation andresearch ‘quality’

The development of the nation and research ‘quality’

› Global Research Report notes increased scientific visibility but questions around ‘quality’.

- Mohrman & Wang, 2010 investigated

- 985 unis, Peking and Tsinghua

- increased productivity but only Peking with majority in cited journals

- Most Highly Cited Researchers index – all science fields (China)

- Top 25 – mostly HK based

- 5 mainland (2 CAS, 1 Beihang, 1 UST, 1 Fudan)

› Barriers are considerable (Altbach 2007, Hayhoe & Zhong, 1995; Zhong, 1998)

The development of the nation and research ‘quality’

› Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC) ‘An assessment of China’s Position and Impact in the Scientific World’

- 4th in world in national scientific strength, 13th in scientific influence (19)

› Vice-Director Zhao Zhiyun - interviewed

- “In all institutes and universities, assessment of research is done mostly by quantity. Scientists are evaluated by how many papers they have published, regardless of the quality of the papers or the prestige of the journal… As to quality, few institutes and universities have clear guidelines to evaluate this yet… To change this way of thinking and improve our quality of research requires a total change of the current evaluation systems, especially those used to measure innovation and give out awards, as well as a change in government thinking.”

- “Currently there is a bad trend in China’s science policy. It is geared toward pragmatism and a desire for quick returns. This report reminds us that the policies which go against the nature of scientific development have become fetters around China’s strength. Not only our worldwide scientific influence, but also our national strength are being dragged down by these chains.”

The development of the nation and‘talent cultivation’

The development of the nation and ‘talent cultivation’

› President Hu Jintao - Human Resources Conference – noted the need for

“the creation of a more competitive and innovative workforce in the country, with the focus on training more top-notch specialists...essential to the development of the Party and the state.”

› Opening of the Chinese-Foreign University Presidents Forum, Councilor Liu Yandong

“Education and talent were the key elements in China's development [and that] the government would reform the education system to promote innovation, international vision and comprehensive abilities among students.”

The environment of the science PhD

Graduates need to be

› both ‘red’ and ‘expert’

› ‘practical’, ‘innovative’ and ‘competitive’

› develop ‘science’ and ‘culture’

› develop their ‘morality’, ‘intelligence’ and ‘physique’

› ‘develop China’ by being ‘orientated to the world’

› have ‘international vision’ and ‘comprehensive abilities’

and

› the nation’s strength is threatened / enhanced by the quality of their work

How will students international experiences help or hinder?

Governmentality

Governmentality

› Governmentality covers

- The practices thru which citizens are governed

- The way in which subjects are made and make themselves

- Allows for ‘How’ questions

› How are new PhD citizens made / making themselves in the context of

- increased autonomy for universities

- increased scientific visibility

- increased focus on ‘quality’ research

- focus on creating ‘world-class’ universities

- linking of science and their ‘talent’ to ‘national strength

Governmentality and the making of the new worker

› Economic reform

- Planned economy to Market economy - job assignment to ‘mutual choice’.

- Few role models - rapid change to environment

› Hoffman – graduates looking for work in Dalian

- What new types of graduate citizens are required?

- How do they learn to be ‘active’ in their pursuit of jobs?

- How do they use the ‘talent markets’?

- In desiring jobs in foreign owned firms, how do they view issues of ‘nationalisim’ and ‘national development’?

- ‘Patriotic professionalism’

- Seeking challenging positions, financial reward, and serving the development needs of their country

Researching abroad: the student experience

Researching abroad: the student experience

About the students

› Medical science ‘joint training’ PhD candidates enrolled at Shanghai Jiaotong University - most funded by CSC.

› 1 year research experience in Sydney

About the ‘data’

› Extracts from writings provided for University of Sydney website – in English

› Consistent themes - ‘research efficiency’, ‘developing a scientific attitude and morality’ and ‘the sharing of information’.

Researching abroad: the student experience

Research ‘efficiency’

“The most impressed thing is their efficiency. They would get more done in less time.”

› Linked to research productivity.

“ I was first impressed by the efficiency of their working. In spite of no working overtime, the number and quality of publication

remains high.”

›  Linked to laboratory management and equipment.

“The sophisticated equipments and well-regulated laboratory management render the efficient work.”

› Linked to planning and ‘thinking’

“[My Sydney supervisor] always instructs me to think intensively and broadly before experiments and to complete the experiments accurately and efficiently.”

Researching abroad: the student experience

Developing a ‘scientific attitude’

“I learnt not only the technical skills, but also the knowledge, learnt not only how to produce a scientific hypothesis, but also how to

prove it thoroughly.”

› Linked to carefully developed plans.

“My one-year study in Sydney opened a new horizon in front of me, teaching me the real meaning of science, which consists of the curiosity for the unknown and well-designed plans.”

Researching abroad: the student experience

Developing a ‘scientific morality’

› The right attributes

“Remember the most important thing is not the result but the progress.”

“In addition, the colleagues [in Sydney] immersed themselves in the research demonstrated the highly-admired scientific qualities of

earnest, persistence and responsibility, which is a must and good example for me to pursue.”

› Attitudes to publications

“Another thing is their attitude to the publication. The publication is not their own purpose, the researchers are really interested in the

research.”

Researching abroad: the student experience

The Sharing of Information

“The seminars of every week are the place where ideas spark during discussion, not just boring experiment results. People were always trying to help each other to refine the designs and improve the literature of the thesis”.

› Linked with research efficiency.

“One of the reason [for the efficiency in the lab]” , I think is because they are working in a team, not only the people in one lab, but also the ones in the whole … building and even in the whole university.”

Final comments

Final comments

› China’s young researchers have tremendous expectations placed upon them

- to cultivate their talent,

- develop ‘science’, and

- their nation.

› Their international experiences have common themes around:

- Research ‘efficiency’

- Developing a ‘scientific attitude and morality’

- The sharing of information

› Australia/ China/ stage of their PhD?

› How durable their experiences on return?

› Will they be able to use new ways of working and thinking on return to China?

› How will their international experiences assist or hinder developing China’s research endeavour and the scientific status of their nation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In Australia

› University of Sydney, Faculty of Education and Social Work Postgraduate Research Support Scheme

› Supervisors: Professor Anthony Welch and Professor Lesley Harbon

› University of Sydney, Office for Global Health

In China

› Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine

› Our shared PhD candidates