Proceeding of 2025 8th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2025)

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The Evolutionary Path and Logic of the Diversification of Graduate Degree Types in China

Authors
Chengfei Shi1, *, Ting Han2
1School of Aero Engine, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
2School of Education, Henan Finance University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
*Corresponding author. Email: shicf_2025@126.com
Corresponding Author
Chengfei Shi
Available Online 26 March 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_32How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Academic degree; Professional degree; Graduate education
Abstract

China's graduate education has evolved from a single academic degree model to the initiation and expansion of professional degree education, and further to the parallel emphasis on both full-time and part-time professional degree education, as well as on academic and professional degree education. The diversification of graduate degree types not only meets the practical needs of China's industrial structure optimization and upgrading, fulfills the core demand for the democratization of higher education, and adapts to the inevitable trend of mass higher education, but also represents a strategic choice to promote the integration and articulation of the vocational education system. This paper systematically reviews the evolutionary stages of this diversification, conducts a comparative analysis of the core characteristics of academic and professional degrees, examines the underlying logic driving this development. The aim is to provide theoretical reference and practical guidance for the high-quality development of graduate education in China.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceeding of 2025 8th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2025)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
26 March 2026
ISBN
978-2-38476-551-5
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_32How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Chengfei Shi
AU  - Ting Han
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/26
TI  - The Evolutionary Path and Logic of the Diversification of Graduate Degree Types in China
BT  - Proceeding of 2025 8th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 283
EP  - 289
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_32
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_32
ID  - Shi2026
ER  -