Social Sciences in China, 2018

Vol. 39, No. 3, 2018

The Governance of Higher Education According to the Marxist View of Fairness

(Abstract)

Hu Xuyang and Song Shanming

According to Marxism, fairness or equity is concrete, evolving, and practice-based, and has as its ultimate aim the realization of the full and free development of man. Xi Jinping Thought on Fairness and Justice underscores governing the country according to law, improving work styles, innovating the social governance model, and making social welfare and people’s full and free development the point of departure and ultimate goal, in a fresh development of the Marxist approach to equity in the contemporary era. Guided by this approach, Chinese higher education institutions should break free of the traditional regimen, shifting the governance structure from bureaucratic management to shared governance and from the traditional rule of man to the rule of law. Through institutional measures and observance of the basic laws of higher education development, we can build a new type of collaborative relationship among governments, institutions of higher learning, academics and students, and society as a whole. In this way, all participants will find their proper place and realize their full potential, thus activating and enhancing the innovative capacity of higher education. Only thus will higher education institutions be able to modernize their governance systems and capacity.

Keywords: Marxist approach to fairness, governance of higher education institutions, laws of higher education development, modernization of governance capacity