Diversification or homogenization

This central research question unfolded into two major objectives, and the thesis consisted mainly of two parts, with each reflecting one of the research objectives. The first was a search for a theoretical framework suitable for explaining processes of differentiation and increases or decreases in diversity in Chinese higher education. This investigation resulted in a theoretical framework rooted in three related theoretical perspectives from organizational theory: the population ecology perspective, the resource dependency perspective and the institutional isomorphism perspective. The other objective was an empirical investigation into the actual process of differentiation and the increases or decreases of diversity at the study program level in the Chinese universities.This study examined recent policy changes in Chinese higher education that have affected differentiation and diversity of the system. It was intended to answer the following research question: How have governmental policies influenced and shaped the processes of differentiation and diversity in Chinese higher education, in particular of the universities, and how can the changing patterns of differentiation and diversity be explained and contested?The empirical analysis of diversity in Chinese higher education provided the foundation for an examination of the influence of China's governmental policies on differentiation and diversity, which was discussed against the benchmark of whether or not the Chinese government had achieved its goals with respect to diversity. Also, this study concluded that the existing classification system of Chinese higher education institutions had not been sufficient for describing the systemic and structural, and the study suggested a new classification framework for China's higher education system, which draws on studies by Chinese scholars in recent years, and on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.Finally, suggested areas for future research were outlined, with two possibilities highlighted. One possibility is to look at the issue of differentiation and diversity in a larger perspective by placing it in the context of internationalization and globalization. In contrast, the other possibility is to explore the issue with a micro perspective, at the institutional level.These two objectives coincided with the two major parts of this study, and enabled this work to approximate an optimum research design by combining the elements of a theoretical framework, assumptions, hypotheses, operationalizations, testing and feedback to the theoretical framework. In the field of Chinese higher education studies, this is a path-breaking study as little theory has been tested in this field in China, and few concepts have been operationalized as observable variables.