Chinese higher education Made in Germany

In a recent article originally written for the US magazine Science, Premier Wen Jia Bao reasoned about an ambitious development plan praising innovation, science and technology as preconditions for further growth of China’s economy until 2020. As one of the implementing bodies, the Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE) followed suit with their education initiative which aims to build the foundation for innovation, research and science – a modern and strong education system. Similar to the approach taken by the Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) when developing China’s basic industries, the MoE avails itself of the knowledge and experience of more developed countries in the area of education.

According to a recent study conducted by the German Council on Foreign Relations – Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Auswaertige Politik e.V. – (DGAP), Germans have increasing concerns about the economic rise of China and the implications this development has on Germany’s and Europe’s future. Cultural-theory research suggests that these concerns might be a result of Germans generally being less comfortable with uncertainty. Looking at how Europe is perceived through Chinese eyes, a study recently sampled in Shanghai shows that the majority of interviewees see Europe, including Germany, as major economic, though not political, players; Interestingly, despite Europe being the number one trade partner of China, there is a tendency among Chinese to address more importance to the US.

With the Germany-China trade balance being continuously negative in recent history, and with no signs of improvement on the trading horizon, one might ask whether Germany is now seeking to correct the deficit by adding education, and higher education in particular, to the trading equation. What are the motives of promoting the export of German higher education to China? And how does the German higher education system benefit from cooperating with Chinese universities? While conducting a set of interviews, Totuba confronted German planners and decision makers in higher education with these and other questions.

German strategy – changing from Give to Gain

With the ongoing formation of the European Higher Education Area and with the Bologna Process starting in 1999, the necessity to change the then internationally incompatible academic degree system became apparent. However, Bologna not only created room for a Europe-wide compatibility of German degrees but led to universities looking to actively cooperate with higher education institutions to extend their presence beyond Europe. Juergen Werner, Head of the Higher Education Export Department with the German Academic Exchange Service – Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – (DAAD), confirmed that the general higher education export policy also applied to projects planned and operated in China. Its main intention was not to establish profitable business lines but to help internationalise and better position German universities on the international education market. This is a view he shares with Marijke Wahlers, Head of the International Department with the German Rectors’ Conference – Hochschulrektorenkonferenz – (HRK), a lobbying organisation counting around 260 German higher education institutions as their members.

Wahlers stated that, unlike China’s strategy of acquiring targeted competencies from foreign partners to gain competitiveness, the German strategy was to target Chinese students as future partners for Germany – particularly the German industry – and to promote German research in China, thus pursuing the idea of a network of German centers of excellence in science and research abroad. This projection was also conveyed by Rolf Cremer, Dean and Vice President of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). According to Cremer, German universities still suffered from the fact that they were barely visible in global rankings – a situation that would only change gradually. CEIBS’s importance as a hub for European management excellence also resulted from strategically planned networks operated by the school’s management as well as through a vivid Alumni community.

Rigorous planning and continuous measuring – preconditions for successful higher education export programs in China

Driven by the German federal government’s policy to internationalise science and research, the DAAD, in 2001, acquired funding to launch a program aiming to financially support German universities with their export endeavors abroad. The program’s 2009 budget amounts to EUR 4 million. From its launch to the present, 50 higher education export projects have been funded by the DAAD, with 38 currently receiving financial support. “Universities planning to launch a collaborative arrangement, branch campus or off-shore institution in China have to undergo a thorough process from feasibility to business planning and funding”, said Werner. “To receive financial aid, the program has to have proof of success in Germany and show enough potential to achieve further innovation in cooperation with a Chinese university; It is also advised for academic and administrative staff to be familiar with societal and educational aspects of the Chinese culture.”

“Initial funding is provided for a period of the first cycle of the program – usually 4 years – where the program has to show its self-sustaining character as projected by the business plan” explained Werner. Thanks to the federal funding of German universities to date, this requirement “forces academic staff to rethink the way they submit proposals”. Werner elaborated further that “the DAAD considers itself a ‘turn-key’ assistant for exporting education, offering free advice throughout the proposal process by bringing in years of experience in overseas education and a strong network of regional offices and lecturers in China.”

“During the period of receiving financial aid, export projects must continually prove that they are on their way from a subsidised to self-sustainable program, and the DAAD will not take fright in prematurely ending the subsidy if a project failed to meet targets”, clarified Werner. Subsequently, a program could receive extended financial aid of up to 10 years, with the DAAD funding proportion decreasing on an annual basis.

“Founded in 1998 and now in its eleventh year of operations, the Sino-German School for Postgraduate Studies – Chinesisch-Deutsches Hochschulkolleg (CDHK) – represents the flagship of German higher education export to China. Our exceptional position is not only visible from the extended financial support we have continued to receive from the DAAD, but also from the now 30 chairs (professorships) solely sponsored by German enterprises.” said Jari Grosse-Ruyken, Vice Director of this joint venture between Tongji University and DAAD in Shanghai. At the CDHK, postgraduate programs in electrical, mechanical, and automotive engineering, economics and economic law are offered to Chinese students.

Initial haste turned into strategic approach – channeling a fresh breeze into stuffy German university administrations

A quick glance at the public database of about 500 higher education cooperations between Germany and China suggests that the strategies sketched above have been successfully implemented so far.

“Experiences professors acquired while operating economically viable export projects are directly taken into the German universities, hence channeling a fresh breeze into stuffy university administrations,” as Werner put it, and he advanced by mentioning that the experience could be used to establish awareness of the funding mechanisms steering higher education operations – a fact shielded from most professors at German universities, even at present.

With the onset of the global financial crisis, the American banking system suffered a reputational shock, particularly in China, where the banking system is still being elevated to international standards. “As a result,” Cremer reasoned “there was an increasing demand for German finance and banking excellence in China, which led to the recent founding of the German Centre for Banking and Finance at CEIBS as a joint finance research and education institute of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and CEIBS in Shanghai.” He also stated that “CEIBS further acts as a hub and multiplier for German enterprises and institutions looking to cooperate with China on multiple levels”.

Wahlers emphasised that “the Initiative for Excellence, which is jointly run by the German Federal and state Ministries of Education and Research, contributes to German universities being more strategic and selective when dealing with university partners in China.”

“The CDHK”, Grosse-Ruyken pointed out, “considers itself as bridge in two ways: by serving as intermediary between the German and Chinese higher education system, it helps their German partner universities internationalise their academic body. And, by having German enterprises shoulder part of the educational responsibility, it helps them build a platform for tailoring their products to the Chinese market and gain access to talented people needed for their operations in China. As an integral and obligatory part of studying at the CDHK, an internship guarantees the development of skills that are immediately applicable in the real world.” Proudly, Grosse-Ruyken remarked that CDHK graduates typically ranked best at the German language proficiency exam TestDaF among their peers from other universities in China. And he further stated that the recently launched center for entrepreneurship at the CDHK catered for an increasing number of Chinese students planning to operate their own businesses after they graduate.

Mismatch in expectations and education culture are chief among threats to fail

“With the Chinese still considering global ranking a main criterion for choosing a foreign cooperation partner, smaller German universities, though leading the global academic crowd in their field, sometimes find it difficult to attract an adequate Chinese partner university”, said Werner. He also sees room for improvement with regard to “providing a common contractual framework for German academic staff teaching in China”. In some cases, professors experienced hardships when adding overseas lectures to their already loaded regular schedule at home. Werner indicated that projects encountering temporary staff shortages were eligible to utilise the DAAD network of lecturers in China.

“Initially,” Wahlers stated “projects were often operated by individual professors without integrating the projects into the wider context of internationalising the university, which in some cases led to projects fizzling out when the main driving individual retired.” As a result, the HRK in 2005 developed a set of recommendations for German universities seeking cooperation with their Chinese counterparts. Covering the whole life cycle of higher education cooperation, recommendations span from analysing whether the intended program fits into the long-term strategic plan of participating universities, to quality control during program operations – considering both German and Chinese universities’ interests – evidently targeting a win-win situation. According to Wahlers, these recommendations “have helped to raise basic awareness at German universities of issues, such as higher education export projects requiring continuous resources – a fact that had widely been neglected before”.

“Ignorance of differences in societal and educational culture, as well as unrealistically high expectations of what can be achieved within a set time frame, are chief among difficulties during higher education export projects”, Grosse-Ruyken explained. Sending academic staff with insufficient China experience on a mission would often result in conflicts and eventually fatigue on both sides. He subsequently promoted assigning China-experienced academic staff on higher education export projects.

Integrating academia and industry will help advance Chinese and German education systems

A China-veteran and higher education visionary, Cremer summarised that “by integrating the strengths of both academia and industry, CEIBS will contribute to carrying higher education excellence over to less privileged groups of the Chinese society and less developed areas in China”.

Being asked about her hopes regarding future cooperation with China, Wahlers replied that with China’s higher education system reform further progressing, currently neglected partnerships on subjects such as the humanities and social sciences would become in demand.

“Catering to the increasing demand of German students who wish to study in China,” Grosse-Rukyen said “the CDHK plans to increase its capacity to serve German students at the Shanghai campus.” Considering the experience and lobbying power of the CDHK in China, he further envisages his institution enhancing its catalytic role as a hub and advisor for future higher education export projects.

“With the Chinese government continuing their effort to close the gap between China’s East and West, opportunities to cooperate with Chinese universities are ample”, concluded Werner. It would, however, require creative solutions to attract German academic staff to more remote locations.

The majority of interviewees for this post stressed the importance of teaching in German as an integral component of higher education export programs. Upon being asked why this is the case - in a globalising world where English is accepted as the intermediate language between cultures – Grosse-Ruyken explained that “the leading position Germany holds in science, as well as economically, is based on values deeply rooted in the German educational, business and societal culture”, and that these values could be successfully transferred only by employing an authentic approach: Chinese higher education Made in Germany.

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