Digital transformation in top Chinese universities: An analysis of their 14th five-year development plans (2021-2025)

Abstract

Digital transformation (DT) is a global trend in higher education. This study set out to examine the way DT is conceptualized in the 14th five-year development plans (2021-2025) of 56 top Chinese universities. Findings from the study show that Chinese universities have embarked on the DT journey with goals mostly similar to those pursued by their foreign counterparts but with distinctive Chinese characteristics in some dimensions. Compared with the findings of an earlier study on DT in their 13th five-year development plans (2016-2020), significant progress has been made both in terms of quantity and quality. More achievements have been reported and more goals have been set in the 14th plans. Nevertheless, the discourses of instrumentality and modernization continue to feature prominently in the 14th plans. A more balanced vision of DT is needed to give full play to its affordances for transforming individual universities as well as the entire higher education sector.