137An Organized Academic Community
The community of researchers in China includes researchers in HER centers or
specialized higher education departments based in schools of education and other
self-identified researchers from universities and think-tanks, such as official research
institutes (e.g., the National Educational Development and Research Center affili-
ated to the Ministry of Education in China). The China Association of Higher
Education is the officially endorsed society of higher education researchers in
China. These organizations and associations have constituted a strong institutional
basis for higher education research community in China.
By 2001, over 700 HER units existed in Chinese universities and 30 provincial
HER institutes (Li 2005 , 285). Due to university mergers and institutional restruc-
turing, the number of HER institutes dropped to fewer than 400 by 2010 (Wang and
Liu 2014 ).
Beyond the higher education researchers in the above units, some policy officials
and practitioners working in the field of Chinese higher education also contribute to
higher education research in China. Nongovernmental research organizations exist
as well, such as the 21st Century Education Research Institute and Mycos Research
Institute.
Academic Programs Academic programs are a vital institutional basis to generate
impacts through people. Academic programs are artifacts as well as social spaces
and processes to accommodate future members. According to the database on the
national postgraduate students information website (http://yz.chsi.com.cn), 91
higher education programs and 96 education economics and management programs,
which also focus on economic perspectives and administration in higher education,
currently exist at a masters level. At the doctoral level, 18 institutions are authorized
to grant PhD degrees in higher education, and 15 EdD programs can confer profes-
sional doctoral degrees. Part-time students with full-time positions at various edu-
cational authorities and universities can regularly meet and interact with researchers
by socializing with the teachers and future researchers who are their peers in the
programs. Networking, understanding, and developing friendships through experi-
ences in academic programs facilitate the research-policy-practice nexus in a grad-
ual but deep manner. Although no comprehensive data is available, in the prestigious
HER centers in China, e.g., Peking University, Xiamen University, and Huazhong
Science and Technology University, senior policy-makers from the Ministry of
Education and veteran university administrators did choose those academic pro-
grams, especially the EdD programs.
Key National Journals Specialized on HER Academic journals represent the orga-
nized institutional efforts to shape the research field by publishing articles, which
are accounted as the major source of knowledge production constituting the field.
7 Higher Education Research in China: An Independent Academic Field Under the State