An Exploration of Higher Education Governance and Educational Management Practice Paths from the Perspective of Comparative Education

Abstract

Domestic higher education has fully entered the stage of massification, and the traditional development model relying solely on expanding institutional scale can no longer meet the practical demands for high-quality, connotative development. To continuously improve educational standards, universities must promptly update their management philosophies and refine their internal governance systems. Currently, the focus of higher education development has shifted significantly—institutional scale is no longer the sole criterion for measuring institutional strength, while governance system construction and internal management capabilities are gradually becoming key factors in enhancing overall competitiveness and core strengths. The quality of university governance directly affects the effectiveness of three core functions: talent cultivation, scientific research innovation, and social service, and serves as a crucial basis for evaluating institutional performance. Existing research reveals notable gaps in comparative studies between Chinese and foreign university governance. Most studies remain superficial, focusing merely on surface-level model comparisons without deeply analyzing essential differences in educational systems or exploring core aspects such as power and responsibility mechanisms, university-government collaboration, and refined management. As a result, there is a relative scarcity of localized research grounded in China's actual university context that can directly guide reform efforts. Based on comparative education theory and drawing from firsthand experience in university administration, this paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of mainstream Western university governance models and identifies practical governance challenges faced by Chinese institutions in areas such as authority allocation, multi-party collaboration, and daily operations. By integrating the unique characteristics of China’s higher education development, the paper proposes optimization strategies at three levels—institutional building, empowerment of stakeholders, and smart governance—to offer feasible reference points for advancing modernization of governance and achieving sustainable, high-quality development in Chinese universities.