Is Higher Education Management a Discipline

Whether higher education management is a research field or a discipline has always been controversial in the academic community.According to the usual standards set by the community,a discipline should have its unique research object and research methodology.Judged by this yardstick,higher education management can not be seen as a discipline because it does not has its unique research methodology though it has its own research object,namely the phenomenon and the rule of education management in higher education.However,in an age when science is becoming increasingly complicated and knowledge more closely linked,this concept will hinder the development of a discipline.In this regard,Kuhn's metaphysical paradigm——a unique research object being the necessary and sufficient condition for a discipline——offers us a new perspective for solving the problem.That is,unique research methodology is not a necessary condition for a discipline.By this standard,higher education management is undoubtedly a discipline.