Higher education and science popularization: Can they achieve coordinated growth?

Abstract

This study aims to explore whether higher education and science popularization can achieve coordinated growth with temporal and spatial characteristics. Selecting the provincial regions of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China as cases with data from the national statistics administrations (such as China Statistical Yearbook), this study uses entropy weight analysis, TOPSIS, GM(1,1) gray prediction methods and coupling coordination degree model to evaluate the coordinated growth status. The key findings are: (1) the annual budget per student, and the number of science and technology museums affect both systems more obviously; (2) the overall performances of science popularization fluctuate more obviously than those of higher education; (3) the coordinated growth performances of the two systems in most regions remain mild fluctuations and keep relatively stable coordinated status, however, temporal and spatial variation tendencies do exist among regions. Therefore, corresponding countermeasures should be implemented: generally, national authority needs to involve in coordination activities among regions; the regions with satisfactory coordinated growth performances need more creative approaches to maintain the coordinated growth interactions; the regions at the transitioning status need to prevent the grade decline and upgrade the performances; the regions with lagging performances need to stop the decline and reduce the gaps with others. The novelties include analyzing the coordinated growth interaction mechanism between the two, selecting indices to assess the abstract interaction mechanism precisely, proposing suggestions based on temporal and spatial comparisons of the coordinated growth performances, etc.

Coupling coordination between higher education and environmental governance: Evidence of western China

“…In this mechanism, the higher education subsystem and the environmental governance subsystem follow the “input-output” framework and “pressure-state-response” frameworks, respectively [ 9 , 50 , 52 ].…”

“…In the evaluation index system, the subsystem of higher education is sub-divided into two dimensions with eight aggregated indices, which are based on the input-output framework [ 9 , 53 ]. The dimension of higher education input is represented by the human and financial input from the perspectives of teachers and students during higher education sector development.…”

“…This study defines higher education as the condition and the level where the local post-secondary education sector is qualified and competitive [ 9 , 10 ]. Higher education evolves by interacting with other systems or factors and can reflect the benefits or problems of other systems (such as the environmental governance system).…”

“…Besides, laws and regulations aiming to enhance environmental governance encourage professionals in the higher education sector to devote more resources to study and propose corresponding countermeasures. On the contrary, as the total amount is limited, investments in environmental governance practices occupy the input to higher education, which hinders the high-quality growth of higher education [9,[54][55][56][57][58].…”

Is There Complementarity between Teaching and Research? Evidence from Pakistani Higher Education Institutions

“…Certain countries have reaped the benefits of higher education in terms of the economy, social welfare, and human resources after implementing strategies and initiatives aimed at improving higher education's competitiveness [17]. Furthermore, higher education has a vital role in encouraging social development and economic growth [18].…”