ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE AND PROGRAM ADJUSTMENT IN CHINESE HIGHER EDUCATION: RESPONDING TO NATIONAL AND LABOR-MARKET NEEDS

Abstract

China’s pursuit of a leading education system and innovation-driven development has intensified pressure on universities to adjust academic disciplines and programs in response to national priorities and labor-market needs. Yet adjustment cannot be reduced to adding fashionable programs or closing those with weak short-term employment indicators. This conceptual article uses a structured integrative review of 15 scholarly works and five policy or institutional sources. Sources were screened and coded for external signals, curriculum and capability, governance level, decision implications, and safeguards. The synthesis connects organizational adaptation, resource dependence, dynamic capabilities, institutional logics, and employability research to derive the ADAPT Program Governance Framework: Anticipate, Differentiate, Assess, Plan, and Track. ADAPT uses sequential judgment rather than an aggregate score: withdrawal is considered only when weakness is sustained, recovery is infeasible, essential portfolio or public functions can be preserved, and students are protected. A worked illustration of a foundational mathematics program in an intelligent-manufacturing transition shows how conflicting evidence can support renewal and staged review rather than premature closure. Applied to China, the framework assigns distinct responsibilities to national authorities, provinces, and institutions. It offers a transparent, testable governance process that still requires empirical validation.