Zhang, Tracey and Day, Michael James ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9612-2595 (2026) Faculty perceptions of power distance, value cohesion, and lived experience in a Sino-British Joint Venture University. Education Sciences, 16 (8):1283. ISSN 2227-7102 (Online) (doi:10.3390/educsci16081283)

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Abstract

Transnational Education (TNE) at the university level is commonly evaluated through visible pedagogical and institutional mechanisms, including quality assurance, curricu lum alignment, and degree legitimacy. Less attention has been given to the socio-cultural conditions through which faculty experience power in Joint Venture Universities (JVUs). This article examines power distance as a lived institutional practice at an anonymised Sino-British JVU in mainland China, drawing on 32 semi-structured faculty interviews, as part of a wider paired-site qualitative study. The interview schedule was informed by Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Compass. Interviews were analysed inductively, with Hofstede used experimentally as a sensitising analytical framework rather than as a measure of national culture. This article presents findings on the power distance dimension and identifies four organisational themes—authority, hierarchy, inequality, and networks—which are presented as finding-led groupings rather than formal sub-dimensions of Hofstede’s power distance. Faculty described and perceived power as an everyday professional experience shaped by control over teaching, regulation, and institutional direction; chains of com mand and indirect disagreement; inequalities in voice, promotion, favouritism, funding, language, and gender; and informal networks affecting access, visibility, and professional boundaries. These accounts indicate that power is produced through the intersection of Chinese regulatory conditions, institutional centralisation, professional status, and informal relational norms. The article argues that greater attention to these relations is essential for understanding faculty voice, autonomy, and value cohesion in Sino-British TNE partner ships, and thus offers leadership recommendations towards strengthening cross-cultural value cohesion.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	transnational higher education, Sino-British joint venture universities, power distance, faculty experiences, institutional hierarchy, China
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Information & Library Services
Last Modified:	10 Sep 2026 09:38
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/54383

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