Xin Xu

Xin Xu (许心) is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE), Department of Education, and a Junior Research Fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford. Xin teaches on the MSc in Education (Higher Education) programme, and supervises DPhil and MSc dissertations. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Xin’s research concentrates on higher education and research. She has strong interests in the following research areas:

Higher education studies, including sociology of higher education, higher education policy, internationalisation and globalisation of higher education, Chinese higher education and culture, higher education in East Asia.
Research on research, including research policy, research evaluation, research incentivisation, research culture, research ethics, humanities and social sciences research, academic profession, global knowledge system, international academic mobility, and international research collaboration.

Projects she currently works on include the ESRC-funded CGHE project ‘the role of research in higher education and research assessment’, SRHE-funded project ‘International academics in mainland China’, and BAICE-funded project ‘Ethical research in international and comparative education during Covid-19’.

Xin is co-editor of Changing Higher Education in East Asia (with Simon Marginson; Bloomsbury, 2022) and author of journal articles and book chapters on the themes noted above. She serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Educational Research and Publications, and on the Research Management Committee of the Centre for Global Higher Education. She also convenes the agenda committee of CGHE Oxford.

Xin was previously an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature from Tsinghua University (First-Class Honours, one-year exchange at Heidelberg University), MA in Higher Education from Peking University (Distinction), and DPhil in Education from the University of Oxford (Clarendon Scholar, Emerald/HETL Outstanding Doctoral Research Award winner, CIES Globalization & Education SIG Dissertation Award winner).

Funded Research Projects:

Centre for Global Higher Education: The role of research in higher education and research assessment

2020-2023

ESRC

Transnational academic mobility to global south: an exploratory study of international faculty in China

2020-2022

Society for Research into Higher Education - Co-Principal Investigator

Ethical research in international and comparative education during Covid-19

2020-2021

British Association for International and Comparative Education

The landscape of educational research in the UK (2010-20)

2020-2021

British Academy / Royal Society

A comparative study of higher education curriculum on AI ethics

2020

Department of Education, University of Oxford - Principal Investigator

Internationalising humanities and social sciences in China: tensions, implications and collaboration with UK

2019-2020

ESRC - Principal Investigator

Investigating policy and implementation of English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education institutions in China

2019

British Council China

Brexit, Trade, Migration and Higher Education

2015-2020

ESRC

Subjects Taught

DPhil in Education

MSc Education (HE)
Current Doctoral Students

Wanlin Cai

Doctoral Student
wanlin.cai@education.ox.ac.uk

Julie Chia-Yi Lin

Doctoral Student
julie.lin@education.ox.ac.uk

Publications:

Book chapters
- Xu, X. (2022). Internationalization of Chinese humanities and social sciences. In S. Marginson & X. Xu (Eds.), Changing Higher Education in East Asia (pp. 129-146). Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350216273.ch-007
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b083e627-601b-4b26-bd6d-c77f78051804
- Marginson, S., & Xu, X. (2022). ‘The ensemble of diverse music’: internationalization strategies and endogenous agendas. In S. Marginson & X. Xu (Eds.), Changing Higher Education in East Asia (pp. 1-30). Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350216273.ch-001
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ef207f92-2c57-4392-8eaf-46164a773dff
- Marginson, S., Papatsiba, V., & Xu, X. (2020). Feeling the Brexit shock: European connectedness and the existential crisis in UK higher education. In C. Callender, W. Locke, & S. Marginson (Eds.), Changing Higher Education for a Changing World (pp. 67-83). Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350108448.0012
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:866f69c0-cbd7-46a9-8367-8bae6c192f45
Journal articles
- Xu, X. (2023). Towards a Chinese definition of higher education internationalisation? A systematic review of the Chinese and English literature. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2023.2200075
  
  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2023.2200075
- Marini, G., & Xu, X. (2023). Big Fishes in a Big Pond: A Comparison Between Foreign and Chinese Academics’ Research Influence in Mainland China. International Journal of Chinese Education, 12(1), 2212585X2211452 - 2212585X2211452. https://doi.org/10.1177/2212585X221145244
  
  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2212585X221145244
- Marginson, S., & Xu, X. (2022). Hegemony and inequality in global science: problems of the center-periphery model. Comparative Education Review, 67(1), 31-52. https://doi.org/10.1086/722760
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d9e938c3-6385-4434-8dfb-3f3c590c8396
- Shen, W., Xu, X., & Wang, X. (2022). Reconceptualising international academic mobility in the global knowledge system: towards a new research agenda. Higher Education, 84(6), 1317-1342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00931-8
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7a8e3a95-3317-44c1-a8d5-8df633328dab
- Yang, L., Marginson, S., & Xu, X. (2022). ‘Thinking through the world’: a tianxia heuristic for higher education. Globalisation, Societies and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2098696
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5c371b76-5240-4b32-bddf-470d2ce781b8
- Xu, X., Braun Střelcová, A., Marini, G., Huang, F., & Cai, Y. (2022). International academics in mainland China: what do we know and what do we need to know?. European Journal of Higher Education, 12(Sup1), 416-433. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2022.2074865
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:98fa5054-7842-4095-851f-b7f472f312ba
- Zhou, S., McKinley, J., Rose, H., & Xu, X. (2021). English medium higher education in China: challenges and ELT support. ELT Journal, 76(2), 261-271. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab082
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1c10530b-0d35-42ea-ba15-4fb2c321ff63
- Xu, X., Rose, H., McKinley, J., & Zhou, S. (2021). The incentivisation of English medium instruction in Chinese universities: policy misfires and misalignments. Applied Linguistics Review. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2021-0181
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:bcb73945-66c0-4f0a-bc7e-45790e5669a3
- Xu, X. (2021). A policy trajectory analysis of the internationalisation of Chinese humanities and social sciences research (1978-2020) (vol 84, 102425, 2021). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102463
  
  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102463
- Xu, X. (2021). Epistemic diversity and cross-cultural comparative research: ontology, challenges, and outcomes. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 20(1), 36-48. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2021.1932438
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b12dcaf2-f7bb-422c-af18-fd18a17f2019
- Xu, X. (2021). A policy trajectory analysis of the internationalisation of Chinese humanities and social sciences research (1978–2020). International Journal of Educational Development, 84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102425
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7fde9ece-47ee-4085-a611-fedff5f94493
- Xu, X., Oancea, A., & Rose, H. (2021). The impacts of incentives for international publications on research cultures in Chinese humanities and social sciences. Minerva, 59(4), 469-492. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-021-09441-w
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ba620c45-08b4-41d4-950e-bbe297f4ba87
- Xu, X. (2019). China ‘goes out’ in a centre/periphery world: Incentivising international publications in the humanities and social sciences. Higher Education, 80, 157-172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00470-9
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:506aa715-d65d-402d-931b-bdcbd25271bf
- Xu, X. (2019). Performing under ‘the baton of administrative power’? Chinese academics’ responses to incentives for international publications. Research Evaluation, 29(1), 87-99. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvz028
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:377c7bb1-cca3-47e1-9e19-c5dd4af4c6d8
- Xu, X., Rose, H., & Oancea, A. (2019). Incentivising international publications: institutional policymaking in Chinese higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 46(6), 1132-1145. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1672646
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:4f535add-74f3-41f5-819a-596af81e7040
- Han, S., & Xu, X. (2019). How far has the state ‘stepped back’: an exploratory study of the changing governance of higher education in China (1978–2018). Higher Education, 78(5), 931-946. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00378-4
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:18dfbc92-ef8d-4892-899a-5ecd20d190f5
Internet publication
- XU, X., & Marginson, S. (2022). HE in East Asia – different lenses for different times. LSE Higher Education Blog. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/highereducation/2022/08/24/he-in-east-asia-different-lenses-for-different-times/
- XU, X., ROSE, H., & OANCEA, A. (2020). Publish Internationally or Perish? Incentive Schemes for International Publications in the Chinese Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS). The Network for Research into Chinese Education Mobilities. https://chineseedmobilities.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/publish-internationally-or-perish-incentive-schemes-for-international-publications-in-the-chinese-humanities-and-social-sciences-hss/
Reports
- Marini, G., & XU, X. (2021). “The Golden Guests”? International Faculty in Mainland Chinese Universities. Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE). https://srhe.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SRHE-Research-Report_Marini_Xu_Oct-2021_Final.pdf
- ROSE, H., McKinley, J., XU, X., & Zhou, S. (2020). Investigating policy and implementation of English-medium instruction in higher education institutions in China. British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/K155_Investigating_policy_implementation_EMI_China_web.pdf
Other
- Cai, Y., Braun Střelcová, A., Marini, G., Huang, F., & Xu, X. (2022). Foreign academics in China. In International Higher Education (pp. 29-30). https://doi.org/10.36197/IHE.2022.111.14
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:42e8aa53-d075-4134-992e-4c34b65d1fbf
- OANCEA, A., XU, X., ROBSON, J., McDermott, T., & SCUTT, C. (2021). Educational research in the United Kingdom, 2010–2020. In Research Intelligence (Vols. 149, pp. 26-27). https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/winter-2021-22
- Marginson, S., & Xu, X. (2021). Moving beyond centre-periphery science: Towards an ecology of knowledge. In Centre for Global Higher Education Working Paper Series. Centre for Global Higher Education. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f139bfcc-1e7b-4fbd-879a-f44732058c21
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f139bfcc-1e7b-4fbd-879a-f44732058c21
- Xu, X. (2020). Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on global research. In International Higher Education (Vols. 104, pp. 18-19). DUZ Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.36197/IHE.2020.104.09
  
  https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:efc16fec-61d4-456a-9ab3-b4c49b1b0b62
- Oancea, A., & Xu, X. (2017). Performance-based Research Funding. Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0182
  
  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0182

Xin Xu

Funded Research Projects:

Subjects Taught

Current Doctoral Students

Book chapters

Journal articles

Internet publication

Reports

Other

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