Research on the Core Competitiveness of Higher Education in Hainan from the Perspective of the Diamond Model

Abstract

As the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port enters a critical period of preparation for island-wide customs closure operations, the core status of higher education as an engine for talent and a pillar for intellectual support has become increasingly prominent. However, current higher education in Hainan faces structural challenges, including insufficient accumulation of high-level elements and a misalignment between industrial demand and educational supply. This paper introduces Michael Porter’s “Diamond Model” as a theoretical framework. Combining this with the dual attributes of higher education, it systematically deconstructs the four core elements affecting the core competitiveness of Hainan’s higher education: factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, and firm strategy, structure, and rivalry, as well as their interaction mechanisms. The study finds that Hainan’s higher education suffers from systemic shortcomings, such as a scarcity of high-level leading talents, a disconnection between discipline layout and key industrial needs, high barriers to industry-university-research collaboration, and rigid internal governance mechanisms. Based on these findings, the paper proposes abandoning the traditional path of scale expansion. Instead, it suggests forming a “Tropical Science and Sustainable Development” collaborative innovation alliance to aggregate advanced factors, implementing a “Free Trade Port Distinguished Scholar Program” to optimize faculty configuration, and establishing a dynamic discipline-industry linkage mechanism based on big data. The aim is to build a higher education competitiveness system featuring a “Tropical, Marine, and Free Trade Port” trinity through differentiation strategies and institutional opening-up, thereby providing solid theoretical support and decision-making references for the high-quality development of the Free Trade Port.