After Mao's death, engineering education in China was reformed and modernized. Elite universities like Tsinghua restored entrance exams and recruited more qualified professors. The Communist Party embraced technocratic values and increasingly appointed engineers to leadership positions. By the early 2000s, most top political leaders were engineers educated at places like Tsinghua. While many engineers still worked for state companies, private sector opportunities grew. China now graduates over 350,000 engineers annually but faces challenges in balancing quality, specialization, and market needs.

1. ENGINEERING CULTURES CHINA
Engineering and Engineering Education
in the Post-Mao Era (1976-present)
Engineers employed
by the Swiss company
Sulzer at work in
Shanghai, China
Photo: Sulzer

2. Engineering Education, Post-Mao
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sepperer/416674385/
“Expertise does not equal Redness,
but reds must be experts.”
- Deng Xiaoping, January 16, 1980

3. Engineering Education, Post-Mao
University Gate, Tsinghua University, Beijing
Source: http://krivesinchina.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/tsinghua_erxiangmen.jpg

4. Tsinghua Transformed (again)
o College entrance exams restored in 1977
o Education pyramid rebuilt; elite, tiered system revived
o Mid-1970s to mid-1980s, pre-1966 model of university
education is largely restored; Mid 1980s to the present,
American model largely replaces Soviet model
o During the 1980s, Tsinghua once again takes on the
profile of a comprehensive university
o Rank, benefits, and salary of faculty corrected
o Single hierarchy of organizational authority restored
o Under Deng, party credentialing system restored and
rationalized; by 1990s, party membership increases with
rank (by 1993, 77% of full professors are party members)

5. Rise of the Red Engineers
o During the post-Mao era, the Communist Party embraces
technocratic values, pragmatism, organizational
efficiency, scientific management, and political order
o Percent of engineers in the Party’s ruling Political
Bureau increases from none in 1982 to 50% in 1987 to
75% in 1998 and 76% in 2002
o At 16th CCP Congress in 2002, all nine members of the
Political Bureau’s Standing Committee were engineers;
four were Tsinghua alumni
o 1980s: “probably the most massive tranquil elite
transformation in history”; lesser qualified veteran
cadres systematically replaced by younger, better
educated counterparts

6. Rise of the Red Engineers
“Today, Red engineers continue to govern China,
using a technocratic state apparatus to regulate a
dynamic and unruly capitalist economy. Ultimately,
it is the party’s control over the appointment of
officials in the public sector that continues to give
the Chinese state its technocratic character. The
party is fundamentally committed to technocratic
principles and it runs a personnel system that –
through rigorous competitions – selects and trains
officials with technocratic credentials and values.”
– Andreas, Rise of the Red Engineers, p. 255

7. Changing Career Patterns
o 1970s – 1980s
- Engineers placed in state-run companies
- Many top “red engineers” follow trajectories from
state-run enterprises into party leadership
o 1990s
- Many engineers still placed in state-run companies
- More opportunities opening up in private or foreign
companies
o 2000s:
- Students must find their own positions
- Positions in foreign company become preferable, in
part due to higher salaries

8. Decline of the Red Engineers?
Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/214993

9. QUANTITY AND QUALITY

10. QUANTITY AND QUALITY
o In 2005, one prominent source reports that 390 higher
educational institutions provide engineering education.
o By early 2000s, more than 350,000 university students
graduating annually with 4-year engineering degrees.
o From 1995 to 2006, number of masters degrees granted in
engineering and technology increases from 15,391 to 82,386.
During this same period, number of doctoral degrees granted
in engineering and technology rises from 1,784 to 12,130.

11. QUANTITY AND QUALITY
o Challenges for engineering education and profession:
- Shift from teacher- to student-centered instruction
- Shift from theory to balance of theory and practice
- Shift from narrow specializations to greater breadth
- Promote development of global and professional skills
- Build bridges to industry, for both students and faculty
- Develop accreditation system for engineering programs
- Develop system for professional registration of engineers
- Balance supply of graduates with market demand

12. ENGINEERING CULTURES CHINA
Engineering and Engineering Education
in the Post-Mao Era (1976-present)
Engineers employed
by the Swiss company
Sulzer at work in
Shanghai, China
Photo: Sulzer