اکتشاف از داخل به بیرون؛ آموزش روابط عمومی چین معاصر

This study provides an inside-out examination of contemporary Chinese public relations education. Particularly, it seeks to explore (1) how Chinese public relations educators make meaning of the imported U.S. body of knowledge of public relations; (2) how Chinese educators conceptualize Chinese public relations; and (3) the connection and disconnection between academia and industry. We conducted 49 face-to-face in-depth interviews and performed content analysis of 22 Web sites of Chinese universities with public relations programs. Research findings reflected the movement of Chinese PR from a merely technical function to a more strategic function centering on relationship building, reputation, social responsibility, and organizational identity. The findings also suggested significant influence of the U.S. PR education on the development of Chinese public relations education manifested through textbook adoption and core curricular design. However, the study has also shown that educators have undertaken substantial effort to localize the imported knowledge in accordance with China's unique cultural, economic, and political systems.

Formal public relations (PR) education in China emerged in the 1980s (Chen, 2003). Chen (1994) examined the early development of PR professional education and training in China. Ritchey (2000) discussed the impact of the Chinese government's regulations on PR and investigated the crucial role that the U.S.-based curricula and pedagogy played in Chinese PR education. Unfortunately, few published studies have specifically focused on Chinese PR education or updated the education system's current status. Such research efforts are crucial to equip students with a global mindset. As Sriramesh (2002) stressed, it is essential to explore the non-U.S. experiences and perspectives and investigate the make-up of their public relations education systems (p. 54). Similarly, the Commission on PR Education (2006) identified a pressing need for multiculturalism in PR education. Responding to the aforementioned calls, the present study fills the void in scholarship on Chinese PR education by examining the status quo of the contemporary educational environment and identifying its associated challenges, unique features, and perspectives. Findings were based on 49 in-depth face-to-face interviews with PR educators, students, and practitioners in Mainland China and a content analysis of the Web sites of 22 Chinese universities with PR programs.