ENGINEERING CULTURES CHINA

Engineering and Engineering Education

in the Post-Mao Era (1976-present)

Engineers employed

by the Swiss company

Sulzer at work in

Shanghai, China

Photo: Sulzer

“Expertise does not equal Redness, but reds must be experts.”

- Deng Xiaoping, January 16, 1980

Engineering Education, Post-Mao

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Engineering Education, Post-Mao

University Gate, Tsinghua University, Beijing Source: http://krivesinchina.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/tsinghua_erxiangmen.jpg

Tsinghua Transformed (again)

o College entrance exams restored in 1977

o Education pyramid rebuilt; elite, tiered system revived

o Mid-1970s to mid-1980s, pre-1966 model of university education is largely restored; Mid 1980s to the present,

American model largely replaces Soviet model

o During the 1980s, Tsinghua once again takes on the

profile of a comprehensive university

o Rank, benefits, and salary of faculty corrected

o Single hierarchy of organizational authority restored

o Under Deng, party credentialing system restored and

rationalized; by 1990s, party membership increases with

rank (by 1993, 77% of full professors are party members)

Rise of the Red Engineers

o During the post-Mao era, the Communist Party embraces

technocratic values, pragmatism, organizational

efficiency, scientific management, and political order

o Percent of engineers in the Party’s ruling Political

Bureau increases from none in 1982 to 50% in 1987 to

75% in 1998 and 76% in 2002

o At 16th CCP Congress in 2002, all nine members of the

Political Bureau’s Standing Committee were engineers; four were Tsinghua alumni

o 1980s: “probably the most massive tranquil elite

transformation in history”; lesser qualified veteran

cadres systematically replaced by younger, better

educated counterparts

Rise of the Red Engineers

“Today, Red engineers continue to govern China,

using a technocratic state apparatus to regulate a

dynamic and unruly capitalist economy. Ultimately,

it is the party’s control over the appointment of

officials in the public sector that continues to give

the Chinese state its technocratic character. The

party is fundamentally committed to technocratic

principles and it runs a personnel system that –

through rigorous competitions – selects and trains

officials with technocratic credentials and values.”

– Andreas, Rise of the Red Engineers, p. 255

Changing Career Patterns

o 1970s – 1980s

- Engineers placed in state-run companies

- Many top “red engineers” follow trajectories from state-run enterprises into party leadership

o 1990s

- Many engineers still placed in state-run companies

- More opportunities opening up in private or foreign

companies

o 2000s:

- Students must find their own positions

- Positions in foreign company become preferable, in

part due to higher salaries

Decline of the Red Engineers?

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QUANTITY AND QUALITY

QUANTITY AND QUALITY

o In 2005, one prominent source reports that 390 higher

educational institutions provide engineering education.

o By early 2000s, more than 350,000 university students

graduating annually with 4-year engineering degrees.

o From 1995 to 2006, number of masters degrees granted in

engineering and technology increases from 15,391 to 82,386.

During this same period, number of doctoral degrees granted

in engineering and technology rises from 1,784 to 12,130.

QUANTITY AND QUALITY

o Challenges for engineering education and profession:

- Shift from teacher- to student-centered instruction

- Shift from theory to balance of theory and practice

- Shift from narrow specializations to greater breadth

- Promote development of global and professional skills

- Build bridges to industry, for both students and faculty

- Develop accreditation system for engineering programs

- Develop system for professional registration of engineers

- Balance supply of graduates with market demand

ENGINEERING CULTURES CHINA

Engineering and Engineering Education

in the Post-Mao Era (1976-present)

Engineers employed

by the Swiss company

Sulzer at work in Shanghai, China

Photo: Sulzer