Discussion On The Legitimacy Of The Third-Party Evaluation Institution Of Higher Education In China

With the deepening of national reform of decentralization and devolution,and the transformation of government functions,deep changes have also taken place in the field of higher education.The quality assurance of higher education has become a hot issue,and third-party evaluation of higher education have also developed.Through reviewing the existing studies,it is found that whether the third-party evaluation institutions of higher education in China have legitimacy is the current research hotspot.Most studies believe that the third-party evaluation institutions of higher education in China lack independence,professionalism and authority,which is not enough to be called a third-party evaluation agency in the true sense.The issue of legality is indeed a key issue concerning the survival and development of third-party assessment agencies in higher education,which affects the resource acquisition and sustainable development of assessment agencies.So what is the legality of the third-party assessment agencies in China's higher education?This paper takes strategic legitimacy and self-consistent legitimacy as the theoretical analysis framework,and selects the third-party evaluation institutions of higher education,including public institutions,private non-enterprise units,social organizations and enterprises,as a sample to conduct multi-case research.By sorting out the self-consistent legality information presented by the four assessment agencies,and the strategic legitimacy of the evaluation institutions through the knowledge shaping strategy,brand cultivation strategy,collaborative operation strategy and dynamic competition strategy,the legal characteristics and problems of the third-party evaluation institutions of higher education are summarized.The research shows that the third-party evaluation institutions of higher education of different organizational nature have different performances in legality.The evaluation institutions of the types of institutions are weak in independence and fairness,but have more professional and authoritative.The independence of private non-enterprise unit evaluation institutions is stronger than that of public institutions,with strong professionalism and authority,and weaker fairness;social groups are in an optimal state of independence,professionalism,authority,and impartiality;The independence of the enterprise is the strongest,but the professionalism and authority are weak,and the fairness is questioned.In the strategic legality acquisition strategy,the public institution strategy is weak;private nonenterprise units and social groups pay attention to knowledge shaping and collaborative operation strategies to enhance the professionalism of evaluation;enterprises pay more attention to brand cultivation and dynamic competition strategies,through expanding publicity and developing superiority projects to gain legitimacy and recognition.The study concludes that China's third-party evaluation institutions of higher education are in the initial stage of development,showing the characteristics of relying on administrative power to develop and professionalism and authority are inconsistent,and fairness is difficult to guarantee.It has a legal basis,but there are still some shortcomings in the legitimacy.Organizational legitimacy is a dynamic process of gradual accumulation and constant change.The joint efforts of stakeholders in higher education evaluation are required to realize the maturity of the third-party evaluation institutions of higher education.