STUDENT AFFAIRS GOVERNANCE IN MULTI-ETHNIC BORDERLAND COMPREHENSIVE UNIVERSITIES: CONTEXTUAL FEATURES AND OPTIMIZED PATHS IN YUNNAN, CHINA

Abstract

Student affairs management constitutes a core institutional support for talent cultivation, campus governance, and sustainable development of comprehensive universities, especially for those located in multi-ethnic borderland regions with distinctive regional and ethnic attributes. Grounded in student development theory, borderland governance theory, and contextual adaptation theory, this study adopts a systematic literature review methodology to synthesize existing empirical and conceptual studies, identify core influencing factors, theoretical contradictions, and research gaps of student affairs management in Yunnan’s comprehensive universities, and proposes evidence-based optimization strategies. Four pivotal factors are verified to shape the effectiveness of student affairs governance: multi-ethnic cultural adaptation, borderland governance orientation, resource allocation and digital governance, and multi-stakeholder collaborative governance. Through critical synthesis, this study finds that existing scholarship overemphasizes descriptive factor analysis but lacks critical examination of methodological limitations and contextual mismatches; meanwhile, empirical evidence on borderland student affairs governance remains fragmented. A sound cultural adaptation mechanism, clear borderland governance positioning, balanced resource support, and efficient collaborative governance collectively drive the high-quality development of student affairs management. Educational administrators and university practitioners are suggested to implement integrated governance strategies to enhance the contextual adaptability and professional level of student affairs management, and construct a student-centered and context-adapted governance system for borderland higher education.