Historical development of the undergraduate educational model at BIT from the perspective of Suzhi education

From the perspective of suzhi education, this study analyses the historical development of the undergraduate educational model at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). It could be argued that BIT’s talent-cultivating system’s transformations from 1940 to 2020 echo Chinese higher education’s reform and development. This study concludes that BIT has experienced four phases: (1) from advocacy for general-specialized education’s integration to general education’s disappearance, (2) from the rectification of specialized education to the germination of suzhi and general education, (3) the flourishing of suzhi education and general education, and (4) the establishment of the Shuyuan System. The case of BIT reflects Chinese higher education’s development and the process of transforming from meritocracy to popularization. Chinese universities have changed their paradigm from emphasizing specialized education to highlighting suzhi education, as well as from focusing on training students into specialists to stressing students’ holistic development.