Work

Students’ social origins, educational process and post-college outcomes: The case of an elite Chinese university

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Scholars debate whether and how higher education and elite education experiences break or reinforce the link between social origins and status attainment in meritocratic societies. We contribute to these debates focusing on post-college outcomes of elite university students in contemporary China. Using a longitudinal survey of the 2014 freshmen cohort from an elite Chinese university and a sequential logit modeling technique, we find that meritocracy is seemingly at play between the trajectories of graduate study and employment. However, within each trajectory, students’ hukou (urban/rural registration status) and regional backgrounds significantly constrain their post-college options, partly through differential participation in high-impact educational practices. Furthermore, social origins leave marks on students’ motives for graduate study.

Source: Chinese Journal of Sociology

DOI: 10.1177/2057150x19876875

Authors: Sunny Xinchun Niu, Yajun Zheng, Fei Yang

Institutions: Fudan University, University of Hong Kong

Language: English

Topic: Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Ryerson University