Progress, Hotspots, and Trends in Research on Higher Education Majors in China: A Visual Analysis Based on CiteSpace Knowledge Mapping

Abstract

To promote the development of majors in China’s higher education system, this study takes research literature related to the development of higher education programs from 1992 to 2024 as its object of analysis and uses quantitative analysis to examine research progress, hotspots, and development trends. Based on the CNKI database, literature was retrieved using “higher education” and “major construction” as subject terms. CiteSpace, a quantitative visualization software, was then employed to conduct knowledge mapping analysis. The results show that the number of research outputs on higher education programs in China has changed dynamically over time; a stable research echelon among authors has not yet been formed; higher education institutions constitute the main body of publishing institutions, but inter-institutional collaboration still needs to be strengthened; highly cited literature focuses on core theoretical and practical issues; high-frequency keywords reflect the central concerns of the field; and keyword clustering presents clear research directions. At present, research on higher education programs in China shows three major trends: first, it is oriented toward the integration of theory and practice, thereby achieving multidimensional and in-depth development; second, the construction of new liberal arts plays a leading role, while the exploration of vocational undergraduate programs has become an important branch; third, research methods are becoming increasingly diversified, and interdisciplinary approaches are being applied more widely, providing strong theoretical support for the development of higher education programs.