{"title":"Does reputation matter? The impact of China’s double world-class policy on the attraction of high-quality students","authors":"Tian-Tian Zhu , Hui Zeng","doi":"10.1016/j.ijedudev.2025.103259","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Based on the undergraduate entrance examination data from 2014 to 2021 in China, this study develops a difference-in-differences model and finds that developing world-class universities and disciplines (i.e., the double world-class, the DWC policy) leads to an increase of 4.48 and 5.51 points in the average entrance examination scores of undergraduates for the universities and disciplines included in the DWC policy. The DWC policy has improved the student quality of the world-class universities and disciplines mainly by raising their reputation. Moreover, the impact of the DWC policy on the world-class disciplines varies. Specifically, the DWC policy significantly improves student quality in science, agriculture, and medicine, but it has no significant effect on student quality in engineering; and the improvement in the scores for science is much higher than that for agriculture and medicine. Third, compared to the popular disciplines traditionally favored by students, the DWC policy has a more significant impact on improving the entrance examination scores for unpopular disciplines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48004,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Educational Development","volume":"114 ","pages":"Article 103259"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Educational Development","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059325000574","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Based on the undergraduate entrance examination data from 2014 to 2021 in China, this study develops a difference-in-differences model and finds that developing world-class universities and disciplines (i.e., the double world-class, the DWC policy) leads to an increase of 4.48 and 5.51 points in the average entrance examination scores of undergraduates for the universities and disciplines included in the DWC policy. The DWC policy has improved the student quality of the world-class universities and disciplines mainly by raising their reputation. Moreover, the impact of the DWC policy on the world-class disciplines varies. Specifically, the DWC policy significantly improves student quality in science, agriculture, and medicine, but it has no significant effect on student quality in engineering; and the improvement in the scores for science is much higher than that for agriculture and medicine. Third, compared to the popular disciplines traditionally favored by students, the DWC policy has a more significant impact on improving the entrance examination scores for unpopular disciplines.
期刊介绍:
The purpose of the International Journal of Educational Development is to foster critical debate about the role that education plays in development. IJED seeks both to develop new theoretical insights into the education-development relationship and new understandings of the extent and nature of educational change in diverse settings. It stresses the importance of understanding the interplay of local, national, regional and global contexts and dynamics in shaping education and development. Orthodox notions of development as being about growth, industrialisation or poverty reduction are increasingly questioned. There are competing accounts that stress the human dimensions of development.