In recent decades, many higher education systems around the world have been exposed to institutional mergers. While the rationale for mergers has often been related to issues of improved quality, effectiveness and/or efficiency at the institutional level, fewer studies have analysed how mergers may affect institutional diversity within the higher…

Through analysis of the strategic ambitions of China's top universities, this article studies the relationship between governance structures at the system level and strategic institutional adaptations. In China, some top universities are governed directly by the national authorities while others have regional affiliations. By analyzing the…

Balancing excellence and diversity effectively in the higher education sector is one of the most challenging tasks for national governments. While a number of countries around the world have initiated university excellence schemes, it is more difficult to identify policy initiatives that also take into account how institutional diversity is to be…