Jian Li is an assistant professor at the China Institute of Education and Social Development, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University. She received her PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) at the School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington. Her research interests focus on education policy studies, globalization and internationalization of higher education.

1. Introduction: Innovation, Innovation Competence and Academic Innovation Competence Part I: The Innovation Competency Model for Faculty Academic Development in China's Higher Education: Contexts 2. The International Quest for Constructing Innovation Competence in China's Higher Education: Background and Context Part II: The Innovation Competency Model for Faculty Academic Development in China's Higher Education: Concepts 3. The Literature of Educational Innovation for China's Teachers' Academic Development: Ideas and History 4. The Literature of Innovation Competence: Perspectives from Chinese Scholars 5. Conceptualizing Academic Innovation Competence: Background, Ideas, Implications 6. Academic Internal Drive Vitality: The Dimension of the Academic Innovation Competency Model 7. Academic Exploring Associative Ability: The Dimension of the Academic Innovation Competency Model 8. Academic Synthesizing Refined Ability: The Dimension of the Academic Innovation Competency Model 9. Academic Suspected and Introspective Ability: The Dimension of the Academic Innovation Competency Model Part III: The Innovation Competency Model in China's Higher Education/Academia: Practices 10. Incentive and Guarantee Mechanisms for Cultivating Teachers' Academic Innovation Competence in China 11. Management Reform for Advocating Academic Innovation Competence of University Teachers in China 12. Practical Suggestions on Cultivating Innovation Competence in China's Higher Education System 13. Conclusions and Strategies on Advocating Innovation Competence in China

Contributing to the discussion over China's higher education development, this book takes a theoretical approach to address the topic of university academics' innovation by introducing an academic innovation competency model, exploring the contexts, concepts and practices.
The innovation competency model comprises three interdependent dimensions, including the academic internal drive vitality, the academic synthesizing refined ability and the academic suspected and introspective ability. By enriching the theory of professional development of university teachers, these three dimensions will help advance the reform of college personnel systems and ultimately improve the quality of China's higher education.
The book will be valuable to researchers, students and stakeholders hoping to learn about education reform in China, or to those who study higher education management and comparative education.