Diversity and Coherence: Structural Characteristics of University-Initiated Interdisciplinary Studies in China

Abstract

To examine the structural characteristics of university-initiated interdisciplinary studies in Chinese higher education institutions (HEIs), this study measured the diversity and coherence of the interdisciplinary studies using official data released by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. The findings revealed that interdisciplinary interactions occur across most disciplines of HEIs, with particularly wide interdisciplinary spans emerging in social sciences. Computer Science and Management Science are prominent supporting disciplines in interdisciplinarity. Additionally, current interdisciplinary studies predominantly cluster in five domains, namely, intelligent engineering, life medicine, materials informatics, politics and economy, and history and culture. Accordingly, emerging interdisciplinary studies are anticipated in technology-humanities and social governance. It is suggested that HEIs strategically incorporate diversity and coherence considerations when formulating interdisciplinary development plans and implementing systematic top-level designs to advance categorized interdisciplinary construction.

Keywords

interdisciplinary studies / interdisciplinary structure / diversity / coherence / social network analysis

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Higher Education Press