Globalization, China’s drive for world-class universities (211 Project) and the challenges of ethnic minority higher education: the case of Yanbian university
This case study of Yanbian University, a Korean minority university in China, examines the challenges faced, strategies employed, and resources mobilized by a minority university in its attempt to become a world-class university. Specifically, this case study focuses on how the University is attempting to reach its goals within the context of the 211 Project, China’s plan to create 100 world-class universities capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century. The rise of the knowledge economy has resulted in an increased link between economic prosperity and higher education. Thus, higher education reform has explicitly tied higher education to economic development and attempted to transform economic structures by turning the labor force into a highly skilled, technologically competent, educated work force capable of competing in a global economy. The socioeconomic changes that have occurred as a result of globalization and China’s transition to a market economy have also created new imperatives and challenges for higher education institutions, particularly among minority higher education institutions endeavoring to carve out a unique place in China’s higher education landscape.