In the Chinese higher education system, industry-oriented universities (referred to as industry universities) are a category of institutions with distinct characteristics closely tied to specific industries and the country's industrial development.
In 1998, China underwent adjustments and transfers of over 200 industry universities previously managed by central business departments. Many industry universities, after being placed under central or local management, began to show a trend towards "de-industrialization".
A significant indicator of this trend is the wave of "renaming" among industry universities - changing from "school" to "college", "college" to "university", "railway" to "transportation"... Behind this lies the dual choice for industry universities: staying true to their industry focus means maintaining in-depth research in specific industry fields, forming unique disciplinary strengths; while expanding means broadening disciplinary fields, increasing the proportion of comprehensive disciplines to meet diverse societal needs.
Which choice is better? This article selects 214 industry universities originally under various ministries from 25 industries such as aviation and agriculture as samples, analyzing their development paths to reveal the pros and cons of staying true versus expanding.
Sixty percent of industry universities choose to stay true
This article defines "staying true" and "expanding" as follows: after renaming, if the new name of an industry university still retains the original industry attribute or characteristic, directly linking it to the original industry, it is considered as staying true, such as Beijing Forestry University changing to Beijing Forestry University.
Conversely, if the renamed name does not contain the original industry attribute or characteristic, or it is difficult to directly link it to the original industry, it is considered as expanding, such as China Textile University changing to Donghua University.
According to statistics, among the 214 industry universities, 127 chose to stay true, accounting for nearly sixty percent; 87 chose to expand, accounting for about forty percent. This preliminary data suggests that more industry universities lean towards staying true to their original industry characteristics, which helps in forming unique disciplinary strengths, securing a place in fierce competition, and utilizing and accumulating existing educational resources to enhance education quality and academic standards.
Industry universities that choose to expand have enhanced overall institutional strength and expanded disciplinary fields through renaming and adding new majors. Comprehensive universities signify potential and opportunities for diversified development. Compared to staying true, these universities choose to enhance comprehensive competitiveness through expansion, better adapting to societal changes and development.
Since 1952, China has established a large number of industry-oriented institutions through department adjustments. As many institutions modify their development strategies, the trend of "de-industrialization" becomes more apparent, especially in the aspect of "renaming transformation".
From 1952 to the present, the number of industry-oriented institutions undergoing transformation through "renaming" has been increasing. Particularly after the institutional reform by the State Council in 1998, leading to a two-tier management system by central and local governments, the phenomenon of university "renaming" became particularly prominent in the following eight years.
Figure 1. Renaming and Transformation of Industry-Specific Universities
Comprehensive universities have advantages in research achievements
After outlining the development pattern of industry-specific universities, this study selected 10 industries and, based on the paths of adherence and expansion, chose one university from each industry for statistical analysis using four evaluation indicators: faculty level, scientific research index, employment index, and discipline assessment.
In terms of faculty level, this study counted the number of full-time teachers in different industry-specific universities and found that for universities that have transformed through expansion, their faculty level is not necessarily superior to that of universities adhering to industry characteristics, but rather shows a trend of polarization. Specifically, whether in terms of the total number of full-time teachers or the number of professors and associate professors, comprehensive universities show a high level in aerospace and transportation, and a low level in textiles and finance. In comparison, the faculty level of adhering universities is relatively average.
This indicates that the development of transforming universities faces more challenges. Some universities blindly pursue expansion and transformation while neglecting the construction of their faculty team, which is undoubtedly detrimental to the long-term development of the universities.
Figure 2. Number of Full-time Teachers in Different Industries and Universities
In terms of the index of technological research and development, under the background of breaking the "Five Only" constraints, this dimension statistically represents the number of academic papers published by selected universities in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) from 1958 to the present, serving as a reference indicator for measuring the development level of universities.
The results show that industry-specific universities following different development paths exhibit a balanced trend in their research output index overall.
Specifically, in industries with high technological content such as chemical engineering, aerospace, and transportation, expansion-oriented universities hold a significant advantage in the quantity of research output. These universities, through active expansion, continuously attract fresh blood and innovative forces, thereby demonstrating strong performance in research output and reflecting the high importance these industries place on technological innovation.
However, in traditional industries like agriculture and mining, perseverance-oriented universities demonstrate unique strengths. These institutions, while adhering to their own characteristics, continuously enhance their academic level and influence. Leading in the number of research outputs, they embody affirmation of their perseverance strategy and the industries' persistent pursuit of professional expertise.
Figure 3. A Comparison of Technology Research and Development in Specialized and Comprehensive Universities
In terms of employment index, this dimension records the employment rate of graduates from selected universities after 2022, reflecting their employment situation.
Overall, among the industry-focused universities studied, the employment rate of graduates from specialized universities is higher and more stable, with the lowest data reaching 91.02% and a narrow range of only 5.59%; whereas the employment index of comprehensive universities varies widely, with the lowest at 81.48% and a range of 15.38%.
Furthermore, graduates from specialized universities are more inclined towards direct employment. In comprehensive universities, especially in certain non-popular industries, direct employment is often not the first choice for graduates.
In summary, the employment index of more than half of the industry-specialized universities is higher than that of comprehensive universities. Against the backdrop of "difficulty in employment" and the trend of "taking civil service exams," industry-focused universities seem to be more favored by the job market, while graduates from comprehensive universities have more considerations in terms of choices.
Figure 4. Employment Index Statistics for Industry-Specific Universities after 2022
In terms of discipline evaluation rankings, the national discipline evaluation of universities is a comprehensive assessment of the overall level of first-level disciplines with the qualifications for graduate education and degree granting by the Degree and Graduate Education Development Center of the Ministry of Education. This work was first carried out nationwide in 2002 and has completed five rounds of evaluations by 2022. Due to limited public availability of data from the fifth round of discipline evaluation, this article observes the rankings from the first four rounds of discipline evaluation.
The results show that universities that adhere to the characteristics of their respective industries generally rank at the forefront in discipline evaluations. This indirectly reflects that in the path of comprehensive development, industry-oriented colleges and universities that have undergone expansion and transformation exhibit a certain lag in discipline construction compared to universities that adhere to their industry characteristics. This indicates the importance of adhering to industry characteristics in enhancing disciplinary strength.
Figure 5. Rankings of One to Four Rounds of Subject Evaluations in Different Industries and Universities
Three Types of Majors Become "Standard"
In order to explore which majors expansion-oriented universities tend to expand, this study analyzed 95 disciplines from 87 expansion-oriented universities and selected the top 30 most popular majors among expansion-oriented universities.
In the figure, the deeper the red color, the more universities expand in that major, while the deeper the blue color, the fewer expansions.
Figure 6. Expansion of Majors in Comprehensive Universities
Data shows a clear trend in the expansion of majors in comprehensive universities. Among various disciplines, over 95% of institutions have expanded majors in foreign languages and literature, electronic information, and computer science, making these majors almost a standard part of expansion. Additionally, majors such as mathematics, mechanical engineering, materials science, automation, and business administration are favored by the majority of universities. These majors either have a strong academic background or are closely linked to current industrial development, providing strong support for cultivating innovative professionals.
Furthermore, disciplines such as electrical engineering, environmental science, civil engineering, design, chemistry, law, physics, finance, economics and trade, and chemical engineering also demonstrate significant attractiveness, with 70% to 80% of universities choosing to expand these majors.
At the same time, some majors appear relatively conservative in terms of expansion. For instance, majors like energy and power, Chinese language and literature, architecture, journalism, management science, statistics, and instrumentation, although having certain market demand, have an expansion rate of around 60% due to industry characteristics or employment prospects. Majors like economics, biological science, bioengineering, and sociology, due to their strong specialization or narrow employment prospects, have an expansion rate of 50% to 60%. Overall, when expanding majors, comprehensive universities pay attention to aligning with social development trends and market demands, while also considering their own characteristics and development potential.
Whether holding ground or expanding, comprehensive universities are moving forward with the times. Although nearly half of comprehensive universities have expanded into comprehensive universities with richer resources, forming universities with strong faculty and comprehensive development, holding ground universities are not inferior in terms of employment data and discipline construction.
Holding ground and expansion are like two sides of a coin, with no absolute right or wrong. Each has its strengths when viewed from specific criteria. Comprehensive universities are products of the times, and as long as they steadily develop, whether holding ground or expanding, it may not be a choice of opposites, but rather a convergence towards the same goal.
(The content of this issue is provided by the Xiaoqiang Communication Team of the School of Journalism at Chongqing University. Except for the data in Figure 5 from the Ministry of Education's Degree and Graduate Education Development Center, all other data in the text and charts are from public data of various universities.)
