Staff profile

Bowen Zhang [she/her/hers] joined the School of Education at Durham University as a Lecturer in 2024. Bowen teaches on a range of modules across the BA and MA Education Studies programmes. Prior to this, Bowen completed her PhD at Manchester Institute of Education at Institute of Education (MIE) of University of Manchester between 2019 and 2024, with thesis title being "Making the best out of internationalisation: A case study of transnational higher education in China". Bowen also completed MSc Educational Studies at University of Glasgow between 2017 and 2018, as well as BSc Honours Marketing at Newcastle University between 2014 and 2017.

Bowen's research research expertise focus broadly on the internationalisation of Chinese higher education. She is particularly interested in the epistemological exchange between Chinese and the Western universities through forming educational partnerships throughout the history. Her work takes a critical perspective on issues of symbolic construction of knowledge, power and priorities in international higher education.

• International higher education
• Transnational higher education
• Student perspectives and experiences
• Chinese higher education
• English-medium instruction

• 2024: Associate Fellowship (AFHEA):

Chapter in book

• Oyinloye, B., & Zhang, B. (2023). A decolonial praxis for research with international students. In J. Mittelmeier, S. Lomer, & K. Unkule (Eds.), Research with International Students (216-225). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003290803-27
• Mittelmeier, J., & Zhang, B. (2022). The ideologies and practices of internationalisation in universities. In I. Bruce, & B. Bond (Eds.), Contextualizing English for Academic Purposes in Higher Education: Politics, Policies and Practices (27-44). Bloomsbury

Journal Article

• Zhang, B., Mittelmeier, J., Lomer, S., & Lim, M. (2022). Mismatched expectations of internationalisation: Lived experiences of Chinese returnee academics in an international joint university. International Journal of Chinese Education, 11(3), https://doi.org/10.1177/2212585x221139298
• Zhang, B. (2021). A Comparison between Pedagogical Approaches in UK and China. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 13(5), 232-242. https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v13i5.2629