我国的大学评估在较长时期内伴有浓厚的自上而下的行政主导色彩，政府资源在大学间的分配与评估结果存在紧密联系，大学更倾向于凸显自身优势而非探究自身问题。在推动世界一流大学建设和教育评价改革持续深化过程中，中国大学的评估体系逐渐发生变化，国际评估由此兴起并发展成为一流大学开展自我评估的重要机制。本研究通过对早期3个大学的评估案例分析，指出早期开展国际评估的大学进行评估时带有鲜明的问题导向，在其自身蕴含的强烈变革意愿的牵引下，评估促成了大学的人事管理体制机制、校院两级管理体制、跨院系学科建设等多层次的自我变革。此后，国际评估机制在中国一流大学群体中不断扩散。高等教育评估制度环境的变迁是国际评估机制扩散的重要基础，对先行者的学习效仿则是扩散的直接动因，在合法性机制作用下国际评估机制不断扩散且持续制度化并内嵌于大学治理体系中。

China’s university evaluation has always been accompanied by a strong top-down administrative dominance for a long time. The allocation of government resources among universities is also closely related to the evaluation results. In such a system, universities are more likely to highlight advantages rather than problems. In the process of promoting the construction of world-class universities, the evaluation system of Chinese universities has gradually changed and international evaluation has become an important way for leading universities to carry out self-evaluation. This study found that the early international evaluations mainly originated from universities’ initiation for specific issues. Under the strong willingness to reform in the universities, international evaluations were introduced into the self-evaluation systems of these universities and promoted organizational changes, such as personnel system reform, university and school management system reform, inter-discipline construction. Since then, the international evaluation mechanism has continued to spread among the first-class universities in China. This article believes that changes in the environment of higher education evaluation system is an important foundation for the spread of international evaluation mechanisms, and the learning and imitating of pioneers is the direct cause of proliferation. Under the effect of the legitimacy mechanism, international evaluation has accelerated its spread among the first-class university groups in China. It has become an important part of the continuous self-reformation of universities.