MAPPING EVOLUTIONARY STAGES AND EXPLORING INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS IN SINO-UK COOPERATIVE HIGHER EDUCATION: INTEGRATING SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Taotao  Zhou; Angvarrah Lieungnapar; Wenwen Tian

doi:10.53848/vvjournal.v9i2.3219

Authors

Taotao Zhou School of Foreign Studies, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2946-5987
Angvarrah Lieungnapar Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7747-3402
Wenwen Tian School of Foreign Studies, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7601-5757

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53848/vvjournal.v9i2.3219

Keywords:

Sino-UK Cooperative Education, Talent Cultivation Scheme, Institutional Logics Perspective (ILP), Social Network Analysis (SNA), Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

Abstract

Despite the significant expansion of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools (CFCRS) over the last forty years, there remains a scarcity of research that connects its macro-level structural changes with the micro-level negotiation of institutional logics. To fill this gap, this study adopts an explanatory sequential mixed‑methods design integrating Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) within the Institutional Logics Perspective (ILP). Quantitative and qualitative strands were conducted concurrently and independently before being integrated during interpretation. First, SNA was employed to map the collaborative network of Sino-UK institutions and programmes from 1995 to 2025. Four evolutionary phases were identified: exploratory (1995–2003), expansion (2004–2015), quality enhancement (2016–2020), and transformation (2021–2025). Second, Queen Mary University of London Engineering School, Northwestern Polytechnical University (QMES), was selected as a representative case for in-depth analysis. Drawing on CDA and ILP, five English-language talent cultivation schemes were scrutinized to explore how institutional logics are discursively constructed and negotiated. The findings reveal that talent cultivation discourse selectively integrates state, academic, market, and international logics rather than privileging a single dominant logic, producing a hybrid graduate model that is simultaneously ideologically grounded, academically competent, and globally oriented. By linking macro-level network dynamics with micro-level discursive processes, this study provides an in-depth multi-tiered account of the evolution and formation of Sino-UK transnational higher education, while also proposing a flexible framework for investigating institutional changes across diverse transnational educational contexts.

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