Do Chinese Students in Public and Private Higher Education Institutes Perform at Different Level in One of the Leadership Skills: Critical Thinking?

Abstract

There is an increasing demand on higher education institutes (HEIs) to cultivate more professionals with strategic leadership. Among those skills possessed by a strategic leader, critical thinking (CT) is a crucial one, which must be equipped by the graduates, not only for making appropriate decision in their future work, but also for learning efficacy within their higher education process and their later continuous career progression. Correspondingly, HEIs worldwide are endeavouring to cultivate their students of CT skills. Currently, more and more Chinese students are coming to western HEIs for overseas study. To enhance Chinese students' CT competence before and after their boarding on the overseas study, and also to facilitate their host and home institutes in developing effective strategies of further assistance to improve their CT competence, it is important to thoroughly understand the Chinese students' current CT capability and development approaches. This chapter presents an exploration on the competence level and the cultivation methods of CT capability of the current students in business/management programmes in two Chinese case universities: a top public and a top private institute. Based on the findings from the dimensions of undergraduate students and their instructors, the research reveals that in general students from private and public institutes have differences in CT competence, however with a mixed picture on the patterns of differences as perceived by themselves and instructors. These findings inform the home and host institutes on strategies to facilitate and help the Chinese students and those with similar situations on CT competence development and improvement, and consequentially contribute to the cultivation of a strong leadership.