Date of Award
5-2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Abstract
The focus of this research was on the similarities and differences in higher education between America and China during the period of 1945 and 1997. Two purposes of this dissertation were to identify and analyze selected themes from literature on American and Chinese higher education written during the period of 1945 to 1997 and apply the basic premise of Hutchins' theory that society determines the nature of higher education at any given time to that analysis. The selected themes were (l) purpose of Higher Education; (2) Equality of Educational Opportunity; and (3) Academic freedom. No attempt was made to validate attainment of those goals in either country during the prescribed time period.
Qualitative and content analyses were applied to the writings of various authors including Robert Maynard Hutchins, John Dewey, Abraham Flexner, John Henry Cardinal Newman, Jose Ortega y Gasset, Karl Jaspers, Clark Kerr; Derek Bok, Mao Zedong, and Deng Xiaoping. In addition, documents of this period of time were reviewed with specific attention to the purpose of higher education, educational opportunity, and academic freedom in both countries.
Based on the material reviewed, it was concluded that as a part of society, American higher education represents the end product of a long period of over three centuries of interaction between the Western European university heritage and the society of the United States. Similarly, Chinese higher education is the end product of interaction of over a half century between the Russian university heritage and the heritage of the Western world, and the society of China. The study shows that there are more similarities than differences between the United States and China in higher education. The goal of both systems is to meet the needs of society. In a sense society determines the culture, and the culture determines many of the goals of the instrumentality of higher education.
Recommended Citation
Zhai, Liming, "A Comparative Study of Higehr Education in The United States and The Peoples Republic of China 1945-1997: Purpose, Equality and Academic Freedom" (2003). Theses and Dissertations. 6343.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/6343