DOI: 10.3886/e150661
title: Chinese STEM faculty interviews

description: A total of 731 Chinese STEM faculty members participated in a 2015 survey (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0195347). 317 of the 731 individuals (43.4%) indicated they were interested in participating in a follow-up interview and provided their names and contact information. Based on timing and availability, interested individuals from universities based in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Guangzhou were contacted. A total of 40 interviews were conducted with interested Chinese STEM faculty researchers in person using Mandarin Chinese between 2015 and 2016. The anonymized interview notes (numbered 1 through 40 in no particular order) are provided here.
description: Response Rates: 40 interviews were conducted
description: Chinese STEM faculty researchers from the top 25 Chinese institutions of higher education.
description: face-to-face interview; The first round of follow-up interviews (N = 16) was conducted from June 22–July 1, 2015, and a second round (N = 24) from May 13–28, 2016 for a total of 40 interviews. Because of the sensitive nature of the topics discussed in the interviews, we are providing only aggregated descriptions of the interviewees to maintain their confidentiality, anonymity, and to reduce the probability that they might be identified. Several interviewees noted that because they have been outspoken on some of the issues discussed in this study, their identities could be guessed if their department or university were associated with their statements. Consequently, we refer to interviewees only by their academic rank and the city in which their university is located. Human Subjects Approval for the 2015 survey and the follow-up interviews was granted by the University of California, Human Subjects Committee, Office of Research, Santa Barbara. Consent was obtained verbally in the native language of the interviewees (i.e., Mandarin Chinese). Interviewees were informed about the purpose of the study and asked to give their verbal consent. Because of the sensitive nature of the topics discussed, interviewees did not want any written documentation that could tie them back to the study nor were there additional witnesses to the verbal consent. Consent from each individual interviewee (none of whom are minors) was received prior to the start of each interview. In total, 10 interviews were conducted with faculty researchers across different disciplines at Shanghai Jiaotong University; 8 at Huazhong University of Science and Technology; 7 at Sun Yat-Sen University; 4 each at Wuhan University and South China University of Technology; 3 at Peking University; 2 at Tsinghua University; and 1 each at Renmin University of China and Beijing Normal University. Of the 40 interviewees, 20 (50%) held an academic rank of professor at the time of interview; 18 (45%) were associate professors; 1 was an assistant professor (2.5%); and 1 was unknown (2.5%). Numerous STEM disciplines were represented by the interviewees, including agriculture and biology; biomedical engineering; chemistry and chemical engineering; computer science; electronic information; environmental science and engineering; geography; life sciences; manufacturing; materials science; mathematics; mechanical engineering; medical sciences; physics and astronomy; psychology; public health; and systems science. A semi-structured interview approach was used in which all participants were asked about China’s higher education research ecosystem; the evaluation system for faculty researchers; the education system; and the role and impact of the central government on STEM research in China. These areas were identified as topics for more in-depth research and analysis based on the free responses provided by survey respondents from the 2015 study. All interviews were conducted in Mandarin Chinese and translated into English. We anonymized our interview notes by replacing personally identifiable information (PII) with “[redacted for anonymity].” Specifically, we anonymized people’s names; places or locations; religious or cultural background; occupation; family relationships; and other potentially identifying information when the interview is taken as whole such as salary information and educational background.