Transition to higher education in contemporary China: A study of high school graduates in urban Nanjing

Abstract

China has undergone an expansion of higher education in the 1990s. The university enrollment rate among high school graduates increased from 27.3% in 1990 to 87.6% in 2013. At the same time, Chinese universities are stratified into key universities and non-key universities, which differ significantly in resource input and prestige. Chinese parents are found to play an increasingly active role in preparing their children for the competition to get into elite universities. Researchers argue that in the era of mass education, social inequality is effectively maintained through school stratification and raising entrance bars for prestigious institutions. Thus, the focus of educational inequality should move from quantitative to qualitative differences. While educational inequality in China has attracted much research attention in the past decade, little is understood about educational inequality in China in qualitative terms. The present study aims to fill this research gap. Data come from a panel survey of 759 high school graduates in urban Nanjing initiated in 2010. A vast majority of these students (98.4%) were enrolled in post-secondary education in 2012, among whom 96.6% attended colleges or universities in China. Our findings do not show inequality in mere access by family background or high school prestige. However, family backgrounds make a difference in educational destinations (local vs. overseas as well as prestige of the institutions) but the family impact tends to be mediated by high school ranking. The findings suggest meritocratic elitism in mass education in China, which legitimizes the intergenerational transfer of social advantages and mediated role of school in producing educational inequality.

Keywords

China educational inequality educational transition school tracking social stratification youth

Despite educational expansion in China after 1949, educational inequality persists. After the Communist Party came to power in 1949, the socialist state increased educational opportunities at various levels and introduced a merit-based college admission system as strategies to promote class equality and produce skilled workers for economic growth (Li, 2003; Parish, 1984; Yeung, 2013). As a result, access to basic education (primary school and middle school) has become near universal and opportunities for higher education greatly enhanced (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2014a). However, access to post-compulsory education remains unequal with the rural–urban gap the most pronounced source (Hannum et al., 2007; Li, 2010; Wang, 2011). Further, although educational expansion has made higher education more inclusive and equalized a youth’s chance of attending college (Yeung, 2013), competition for elite institutions is intense (Veeck et al., 2003).

Stratification researchers (Alon, 2009; Lucas, 2001) attribute persistent educational inequality in western societies in the era of mass education to the combined effect of exclusion policies of elite institutions and family adaptation strategies. As educational opportunities are expanding, elite institutions also raise the admission bars to exclude underperforming students. Families of privileged class can better adapt to this exclusion practice with their resources. As a result, educational inequality is increasingly expressed in the form of qualitative differentiation (stratified ranks of educational institutions) rather than quantitative differentiation (levels of education attained).

In the case of China, family may also play an important role in generating qualitative inequality of education. Education is greatly valued in Chinese culture as it is viewed as the path to becoming a morally noble person. It is also considered an important avenue for upward social mobility, not only for individuals but also for the entire family. Thus parents are strongly motivated to invest in children’s education (Liu, 2012). This is particularly evident among urban parents after the economic reforms. Due to increasing economic returns to education in the market economy (Nee, 1989, 1991, 1996; Zhou and Moen, 2001) and the expansion of higher education in the late 1990s, getting a college degree has become the normative expectation of urban parents for their children and entering an elite university takes the highest priority in the education plan. As competition for entry to elite universities is keen, parents are found to make painstaking efforts to prepare their children for the competition (Davis and Sensenbrenner, 2000; Veeck et al., 2003).

Yet, current research on educational inequality in China has largely focused on levels of education attained. Little is understood about educational inequality in qualitative terms. The present study thus aims to fill this gap and examines the relationship between family origin and transition to higher education with emphasis on both quantitative and qualitative differentiations. The article starts with a literature review on educational inequality in China and the role of family in educational stratification. The research problem will then be identified, followed by a description of the data and methods used for analysis. Findings will be presented and discussed. Some concluding remarks will be made at the end.

Mass education and educational inequality in China

After 1949, the Chinese government implemented mass education policies as a strategy to achieve social equality and produce skilled workers for economic development (Li, 2003; Yeung, 2013). Primary and middle school education was designated as compulsory in the 1986 Compulsory Education Law and provided for free of charge. Educational expansion extended to the post-compulsory level in the 1990s. New strategies were adopted by the government to increase university places in the late 1990s, including developing university towns, encouraging colleges to set up multiple campuses, and instituting a private university system (Ma, 2009; Veeck et al., 2003). To meet the needs of rapid economic development, vocational education at the high school level was re-emphasized (Hannum et al., 2011) whereas previously it represented only a minority part of the unified curriculum. Non-conventional college programs were established to train high-skilled workers at technical schools, vocational colleges and evening colleges.

Access channels to higher education were also diversified after the economic reforms. While places in public universities are still primarily allocated based on the results of the national university entrance examination, direct admission on the recommendation of school principals is made available to students with outstanding performances in sports, arts, language skills, or other relevant areas (Luo, 2008; Shao, 2008; Wang, 2011). The recommendation system aims to encourage all-round development of students. Only certain high schools are allowed to make recommendations and recommended students have to take assessment tests administered by admitting colleges to ensure the admission of truly outstanding students. For students with sub-standard academic results, university entry may be available through payment of a fee (Veeck et al., 2003), attendance at privately funded independent college (Yuan, 2005) or enrollment in sub-degree programs and later application for transfer to undergraduate programs in universities. In addition, students with financial means could go overseas for higher education.

As a result of educational expansion, the number of years of schooling increased from 4.5 years for the 1931–40 birth cohort to 8.8 years for the 1971–80 birth cohort (Hannum et al., 2011). Access to primary education and middle school education was near universal. In 2013, the enrollment ratio for primary education was 99.7% and the middle school transition ratio was 98.3% (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2014a). The transition rate to high school education increased from 50.7% in 1998 to 91.2% in 2013. With the rapid growth of the number of higher education institutions from 1022 in 1998 to 2491 in 2013, the transition rate to higher education among high school graduates also increased from 46.1% in 1998 to 87.6% in 2013 (see Figure 1) (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2014a). The percentage of population with a college education tripled between 2000 (3.1%) and 2010 (9.2%) (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2014b, 2014c). All in all, available evidence suggests that opportunities for education are more available to and equalized among young people, particularly those in the cities (Li, 2010; Hannum et al., 2007; Veeck et al., 2003; Wang, 2011).

Figure 1.

School transition rates in China, 1989–2013.

While quantitative inequality in education is declining, qualitative differentiation may have gained importance as post-compulsory education became stratified in the late 1990s. High schools and colleges are stratified into key and non-key ones. The key institutions receive better resources from the government and enjoy greater prestige than the non-key ones (Hannum et al., 2011; Li, 2003). At the college level, the Chinese government launched the ‘211 project’ and ‘985 project’ in 1994 and 1998 respectively. About 100 universities are designated as key universities in the ‘211 project’, a few of which are further selected to be developed into world-class universities with Peking University and Tsinghua University being considered the cream of the crop (Ma, 2009). Admission to high schools and universities follows the meritocratic system, in which students are selected based on their performance in two entrance examinations, one administered to middle school students and one to high school students.

Family influence on educational attainment in China

Stratification researchers argue that parents can influence children’s educational attainment through shaping children’s educational aspiration (Sewell and Hauser, 1975; Sewell et al., 1969), transmitting to children cultural capital for school success (Bernstein, 1977; Bourdieu, 1977; DiMaggio, 1982; Scherger and Savage, 2010), imposing close supervision and discipline (Coleman, 1988), and providing material, information and emotional support (Kim and Schneider, 2005; Ono, 2004). Chinese parents are no exception. Family has traditionally played a dominant role in young people’s education in the Chinese society. The moral and economic value of education is greatly emphasized in Chinese culture. Education is seen as the path to moral pursuits and an important channel for upward social mobility, both for the individual and family. Thus Chinese parents often give high priority to children’s education and have a strong commitment to investing in it (Liu, 2012).

However, driven by egalitarian ideology, the Chinese government adopted discriminatory policies to weaken the intergenerational transfer of social advantages via education after 1949 (Li, 2003; Parish, 1984). Children of workers, poor peasants, cadres and members of the state military were given priority for entrance to school. As a result, the proportion of university students whose fathers were peasants or industrial workers rose from 28% in 1953 to 71% in 1965 (Li, 2003). Political performance even became the first and most important criterion for college admission during the Cultural Revolution (Wu, 2008). Children with educated fathers (senior high school and college) were found to have lower odds of entering college than those with non-educated fathers (Wu, 2008; Zhou et al., 1998).

The positive influence of family origin on educational attainment regained significance after the economic reforms. Based on retrospective data collected from 9656 urban residents in 20 cities in 1993–4, Zhou et al. (1998) observe that better socioeconomic background as measured by father’s education and father’s occupation would enhance the opportunity of entering university. In another study of 3087 urban adults conducted in 1996, Wu (2008) finds the impact of family cultural capital (family cultural resources and parental cultural practices) on children’s advancement to university is particularly evident in the reform era.

Further, with the rising economic return of education in the market economy (Nee, 1989, 1991, 1996; Zhou and Moen, 2001) and stratification of educational institutions, Chinese parents not only expect their children to get a college degree but a degree from an elite university. In order to achieve this goal, parents strive to send their children to key high schools first, because students in key high schools are generally perceived to have a better chance of admission to elite universities than students in non-key ones. Yet entering key high school is also highly competitive. Parents (especially those in the cities) are found to start to groom their children for the competition as early as when their children are still in primary school. They closely monitor their children’s school performance and provide their children with the best available educational resources so as to ensure good results in the two entrance examinations (Davis and Sensenbrenner, 2000; Veeck et al., 2003). There have also been reports of fraud and nepotism in the college recommendation system for students from families with good social and political connections (Shao, 2008). Nonetheless, families with financial resources can avoid this keen competition by sending their children abroad for university education. It is reported that in 2009, 840,000 or 10% of eligible high school students withdrew from the national university entrance examination. More than 20% (21.1%) of them would attend university overseas (Huang and Zheng, 2010).

The above suggests that inequality in higher education is possibly a cumulative result of educational selectivity after middle school (Fang, 2005; Yang, 2005). Research in western societies shows that school tracking creates achievement gaps among students through affecting educational aspirations and motivation, enforcing achievement norms (MacLeod, 1995; Portes and Fernandez-Kelly, 2008; Zhou and Bankston, 1998), providing information and advice for successful college admission (Kim and Schneider, 2005), shaping peer group formation, and intensifying the effect of family origin on educational outcomes (Pallas, 2003; Van de Werfhorst and Mijs, 2010). The effect is found to be particularly strong when the tracking system is immobile (Adam, 1992). Tracking of students into key and non-key high schools may thus subsequently jeopardize the chances for students in the disadvantaged tracks to enter college and affect placement in different educational institutions.

Research problem

Educational inequality in China has attracted much research attention in the past decade. Research attention has been largely placed on the levels of education attained. Expansion of higher education since the 1990s has resulted in proliferation and hierarchical differentiation of educational institutions. Overseas university education is also available to Chinese young people who can afford it. Educational inequality may thus be increasingly expressed in the qualitative rather than quantitative differences. Moreover, there is evidence suggesting that family plays an important role in young people’s educational process through cultivation of educational aspiration and provision of financial and cultural capital. The family influence is likely to be mediated by tracking of high schools. However, at present, little is understood about the impacts of family origin and school tracking on qualitative inequality of education. The present study aims to fill this gap and examines the roles of family and school in the youth transition to higher education in China with a focus on educational institutions as an outcome.

The present study seeks to answer two specific questions:

What are the patterns of inequality in higher education among urban youth in contemporary China?

How do family background and school contribute to the unequal access to higher education?

Data and method

Research site

The research site of the present study is urban Nanjing. Nanjing is a provincial-level city located in the coastal province of Jiangsu, China, comprising six urban districts, five suburban districts, and two rural counties. The city has a population size of 6.36 million¹ and GDP per capita of CNY96,872² (Nanjing Municipal Statistics Bureau, 2012). It is different from the municipal cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, in which the central government often invests substantial resources and applies special policy measures because of their political and economic significance for the entire country. The distinctive features of municipal cities may produce life chances and experiences different from those in other Chinese cities. To gauge the ‘average’ experience of Chinese young people, a typical Chinese city is preferred.

Nanjing follows the national practice of nine-year compulsory free education,³ including six years of primary school and three years of middle school. Students are assigned to primary and middle schools within their neighborhoods, except in cases where students wish to attend private schools. Students graduating from middle schools may choose to further their formal education in either academic senior high schools or secondary vocational schools, both of which lead to tertiary education on either the academic or vocational track. The transition from middle school to high school is determined by the performance in the high school entrance examination (Zhong Kao) administered by the local authority (Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, 2011). High school education takes three years. It is fee-bearing and the school tuition fee is regulated by Nanjing Bureau of Education. There are a total of 60 academic senior high schools in Nanjing and 29 of them are located in the six urban districts (Nanjing Municipal Statistics Bureau, 2011). In 2003, Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education implemented a school quality assessment system, which allows senior high schools to voluntarily undergo a rigorous assessment exercise, in which the quality of resource inputs, teaching, and management, as well as reputation of the school in the community are evaluated. The results of the assessment exercise determine the standings of the schools at five levels (from five star to one star in descending order of excellence) (Jiangsu Agency for Educational Evaluation, 2013). Of the 29 senior high schools in urban Nanjing, 15 and 7 schools receive the ratings of four star and three star respectively, and the remaining 7 schools are not rated because they have not been assessed (Jiangsu Agency for Educational Evaluation, 2013; Nanjing Bureau of Education, 2011). Most of the non-rated schools are private schools and some enjoy good reputation in the community, for example, Nanjing Foreign Language School. In general, the senior high schools in the six urban districts are generally of better quality than those in the suburban and rural areas.

Sample

The present study draws upon data collected from a panel study of 989 high school students born in the early 1990s. At present, the panel study has completed three waves of data collection. Data analyses will employ data from the Wave-1 and Wave-2 surveys. Only those respondents who participated in both surveys are included in the analysis. The sample was drawn using the multi-stage probability sampling method. The respondents were randomly selected from 11 senior high schools, which span across a hierarchy of schools ranked by resource input, teaching quality and reputation. Two to three Year-2 classes (China practices a three-year high school system) were then randomly selected from each target school. All students in the selected classes were invited to participate in the survey, yielding a total of about 80–100 students from each school. The distribution of respondents by high school ranking can be found in Appendix A.

The Wave-1 survey was conducted in 2010 to collect baseline information about parental characteristics, family environment, school and class characteristics, social networks, family cultural capital, and personal and perceived parental expectations for education and occupation. With the consent and assistance of school principals and teachers, questionnaires were distributed to students in the selected classes. The return rate of the 2010 survey was 99.35%. At the end of the questionnaire, students were invited to give us their contact information for future follow-up studies, including telephone number, email address and postal address. About 97% of the participants accepted the invitation.

The Wave-2 survey was conducted in 2012, one year after the respondents had completed high school. The survey tracks the respondents’ residential locations and activity statuses (in school or employment). A total of 759 Wave-1 respondents participated in the Wave-2 survey at a response rate of 77%. The retention rates of a prestigious school and an average-performing school (71.13% and 64.08% respectively) are significantly lower than those of the others (Appendix B). Students with university-educated parents are also more likely to withdraw from the 2012 survey. We later found out that many of the ‘non-response’ students from the prestigious school have gone abroad for education and the telephone numbers and/or email addresses they gave us in 2010 were no longer valid. As to the non-response cases from the average-performing school, we speculate that these students might have been admitted to low-quality schools or even left school because of poor university entrance examination results. They might feel too embarrassed to tell us so. The 2012 sample may thus consist of students with average scholastic ability and/or an average socioeconomic background. A vast majority of the retained cases (98.4%) were admitted to the university or college after high school graduation. At the end of the survey, all the respondents provided us with at least one form of contact information (e.g. home address, telephone number and email address) for future surveys.

The Wave-3 survey was conducted in 2013 to gather more detailed information about the transition patterns after high school (university destinations / employment outcomes), social participation (extra-curricular activities, use of social media, dating and friendship ties), personal aspirations, and stocks of social capital and cultural capital. A total of 724 respondents who had participated in the previous two waves completed the survey, constituting a response rate of 95.39%.

Data analyses will be based on the respondents who have participated in both the 2010 and 2012 surveys. In other words, the effective sample size is 759 high school graduates.

Measurements

The outcome variable of the study is educational transition. Four transition outcomes are measured, including (1) continuing higher education or not, (2) entering a local or an overseas college/university, (3) type of education institution (university, private college or junior college), and (4) prestige of educational institution (985 university, 211 university, or other public university).

The impacts of three types of explanatory factors on transition outcomes are examined. Family background is indicated by father’s education and father’s occupation. Education is divided into five levels: (1) primary school or below, (2) middle school, (3) high school, (4) junior college (three years), and (5) university or above. Three types of occupation are included: (1) professional and managerial worker, (2) business owner and (3) other occupations (such as clerical worker, sales worker and manufacturing worker). Mother’s characteristics are not included in the analysis because of high correlation with those of fathers (r = .72 for education; 69.8% of parents working in the same occupation). This is due to the tendency of marriage homogamy in Chinese societies.

The school prestige variable is constructed by taking into account the official rating and popularity ranking⁴ of the school. Official rating is a relatively objective indicator of prestige whereas popularity ranking is a subjective one. An extremely high correspondence is found between the two. The 11 selected schools are divided into three prestige levels. Schools at the high prestige level include one unrated school and two four-star schools. These three schools are commonly considered the best schools in Nanjing (information given by the fourth author). Schools at the middle prestige level include five four-star schools. Schools at the low prestige level include three three-star schools.

Personal characteristics include gender, birthplace and the presence of sibling(s). All three variables are dummy-coded. The male gender is coded as (1) and female as (0). Born in Nanjing is coded as (1) and born outside Nanjing as (0). Being a single child is coded as (1) and having a sibling(s) as (0).

Results

Table 1 presents the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents. The students are mostly female (59.55%), born in Nanjing (74.86%), and the single child in the family (84.19%). More than a quarter of the respondents have university-educated fathers (27.51%). A similar proportion of the students have fathers working as professional and managerial workers (27.99%), whereas about 20% of the students have fathers running a business (19.64%). About half of the respondents (47.04%) come from schools at the mid-prestige level. About one-quarter of the respondents come from high-prestige schools (24.37%) and the remaining quarter from low-prestige schools (28.59%).

Table 1.

Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents (n = 759).

Socioeconomic characteristics	%
Male	40.45
Born in Nanjing	74.86
Single child	84.19
Father’s education
Primary school or below	4.95
Middle school	21.87
High school	33.56
Junior college	12.10
University or above	27.51
Father’s occupation
Professional and managerial worker	27.99
Business owner	19.64
Others	52.37
High school ranking
High	24.37
Middle	47.04
Low	28.59

With respect to the patterns of educational transition (Table 2), a vast majority of the respondents transition to higher education (98.41%). Close to 60% of the in-school respondents stay in Nanjing for higher education (57.84%). Only 3.11% of the respondents go to overseas universities. More than 50% (53.99%) of the in-school respondents enter publicly funded four-year universities in China, of whom 37.34% go to the prestigious ones (985 and 211 institutions). About one-third of the respondents (28.28%) attend three-year junior colleges (28.28%) and 14.61% go to independent colleges which are privately funded.

Table 2.

Patterns of educational transitions in 2011.

	%
Continue education	98.41
Locations of institutions
Nanjing	57.84
Other cities in Jiangsu	22.84
Municipal cities	8.11
Other Chinese cities	8.11
Overseas	3.11
Types of institutions
985 institutions	8.39
211 institutions	11.77
Other public universities	33.83
Independent colleges	14.61
Junior colleges	28.28
Overseas universities	3.11

Multivariate analyses are performed to examine the impacts of family background, high school ranking, and personal characteristics on three transition outcomes with statistical control of personal characteristics. Slightly different samples are used for the three sets of analyses. The transition to higher education is examined using the full sample. The subset of in-school respondents is used in the analysis of the transition to overseas education (vs. study in China). The analysis of types of educational institutions (i.e. 985 institutions, 211 institutions, independent colleges, and junior colleges) is restricted to those respondents who study in China. To delineate the mediating role of high school in channeling the family effect on educational transition, two models are run for each outcome measure. The first model excludes high school ranking from the estimation whereas the second one includes it. Changes in the coefficients of family variables after adding high school ranking to the model would help illuminate the roles of family and high school in the process of educational transition. Results are presented in Tables 3 –5.

Table 3.

Logistic regression^a of transition to higher education.

Predictors	Model 1	Model 2
Male	−1.88*	−1.99*
Born in Nanjing	.79	.69
Single child	.91	.92
Father’s education (university)	−.78	−1.45
Father’s occupation (reference = others)
Professional and managerial worker	17.26	16.70
Business owner	−.18	−.24
High school ranking – high prestige level	—	17.08
Constant	12.16	11.42
−2 Log Likelihood	86.69	81.32
Model Chi-square (df)	17.53 (6)	22.89 (7)
Cox & Snell R Square	.03	.03
Nagelkerke R Square	.18	.23

p<.05.

Logit coefficients are presented.

Table 3 presents the results of logistic regression of mere access to higher education. Model 1 indicates that only gender is significantly associated with transition to higher education. Female students are more likely than their male counterparts to enter college or university (b = -1.88). The gender coefficient (b = -1.99) remains statistically significant after adding high school ranking to the model (Model 2). Both father’s characteristics and high school ranking are not significantly related to the outcome variable. The findings lend support to the argument that, in the era of mass education, educational inequality may take a different form other than mere access. Differential access to educational destinations is thus examined below.

The likelihood of going overseas for higher education is regressed on the same set of predictors as those in the above analysis. Results are presented in Table 4. Model 1 shows that having a university-educated father increases the likelihood of attending an overseas university (b = 1.09). All other variables are not significantly associated with the dependent variable. Overseas education normally requires tuition fees much higher than those of universities in China and high living expenses. It also requires proficiency in a foreign language (mostly English), which needs to be acquired over an extended period of time. Moreover, the application process involves information gathering and screening. As China has been moving towards a market economy since 1978, university education allows people to enhance their economic positions by capitalizing on the job opportunities in emerging labor markets (Nee, 1989, 1991, 1996). University-educated fathers would thus be better able to support overseas education of their children by providing language training, tuition fees and living expenses. Compared with their less educated counterparts, university-educated fathers may also be better equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary for looking for overseas educational opportunities for their children. However, in Model 2 the effect of father’s education disappears after taking in account of high school ranking. Instead, students from prestigious high schools are more likely to attend overseas universities than their counterparts (b = 1.91). This suggests that the family effect may be mediated by school.

Table 4.

Logistic regression^a of transition to overseas education.

Predictors	Model 1	Model 2
Male	−.24	−.47
Born in Nanjing	.77	.72
Single child	.59	.41
Father’s education (university)	1.09*	.26
Father’s occupation (reference = others)
Professional and managerial worker	.77	.66
Business owner	.59	.45
High school ranking – high prestige level	—	1.91***
Constant	−3.50	−4.49
−2 Log Likelihood	183.81	170.27
Model Chi-square (df)	16.01 (6)	29.54 (7)
Cox & Snell R Square	.02	.04
Nagelkerke R Square	.09	.17

p<.05; *** p<.001.

Logit coefficients are presented.

Educational destinations in China are differentiated into four types, namely elite universities (985 institutions), key universities (211 institutions), independent colleges and junior colleges. These four types can be considered a hierarchy of institutional prestige and quality. Tables 5a and 5b display the results of multinomial logistic regression without and with the school variable, respectively. Results in Table 5a show that, similar to the above findings on overseas education, having a university-educated father increases the likelihood of entering a prestigious institution (elite university or key university) and reduces the likelihood of entering a less prestigious one (private college or junior college).

Table 5a.

Multinomial logistic regression^a of educational destinations in China – without the school variable.

Predictors	985 institutions	211 institutions	Independent colleges	Junior colleges
Male	.19	−.22	−.11	.05
Born in Nanjing	.00	.14	−.35	.15
Single child	.85	−.04	−.36	.05
Father’s education (university)	1.31***	.93**	−.83*	−1.17***
Father’s occupation (reference = others)
Professional and managerial worker	.39	.42	.32	−.38
Business owner	−.10	−.01	−.47	.25
High school ranking – high prestige level	—	—	—
Constant	−.31	−.30	−1.90	−1.23
−2 Log Likelihood	352.41
Model Chi-square (df)	128.73 (24)
Cox & Snell R Square	.18
Nagelkerke R Square	.19

p<.05; ** p<.01; *** p<.001.

Logit coefficients are presented. The reference category is other public university.

Table 5b.

Multinominal logistic regression^a of educational destinations in China – with the school variable.

Predictors	985 institutions	211 institutions	Independent colleges	Junior colleges
Male	−.41	−.61	.03	.19
Born in Nanjing	−.09	.73	−.34	.15
Single child	.70	−.11	−.33	.10
Father’s education (university)	.49	.40	−.58	−.81*
Father’s occupation (reference=others)
Professional and managerial worker	.28	.37	.34	−.35
Business owner	−.43	−.19	−.41	.32
High school ranking – high prestige level	3.13***	1.78***	−1.44**	−3.71***
Constant	−.14	−.03	−2.82	−4.25
−2 Log Likelihood	408.95
Model Chi-square (df)	323.86 (28)
Cox & Snell R Square	.40
Nagelkerke R Square	.42

p<.05; ** p<.01; *** p<.001.

Logit coefficients are presented. The reference category is other public universities.

However, after adding the school variable to the model, the effect of father’s education disappears (Table 5b). High school ranking becomes significantly associated with types of educational institutions. The likelihood of entering elite (b = 3.14) or key universities (b = 1.78) is higher for the students from prestigious high schools than for those from non-prestigious schools. On the contrary, students from non-prestigious high schools are more likely to enter independent colleges (b = -1.45) or junior colleges (b = -3.71) than those from prestigious schools. Again, the family effect on educational destinations seems to be mediated by school.

To further understand the mediating role of high school in generating educational inequality, variations in father’s education and occupation by high school prestige are examined. It is found that prestigious high schools tend to be concentrated with university-educated fathers (62.64%) and fathers in professional and managerial jobs (49.44%) (Table 6). The association between father’s characteristics and high school prestige may account for the disappearance of the effects of father’s education on differential access to educational destinations after controlling for high school prestige.

Table 6.

Father’s characteristics by high school prestige level (%).

Father’s characteristics	Low	Middle	High
Education
Primary school	6.37	5.57	2.20
Middle school***	27.94	26.39	6.59
High school***	44.61	37.83	13.19
Junior college	12.25	10.26	15.38
University***	8.82	19.94	62.64
Occupation
Professional and managerial worker***	14.15	25.07	49.44
Business owner***	28.29	17.61	13.48
Others***	57.56	57.31	37.08

***

Group differences are statistically significant at p<.001.

These findings suggest school-mediated educational inequality in urban China and provide evidence for Fang’s suspicion (2005) that inequality in higher education is possibly a cumulative result of educational selectivity after middle school. University-educated parents are equipped with financial resources and cultural capital which allow them to better prepare their children to compete for places in prestigious high schools. Children raised by university-educated parents may also acquire proper educational values and ambitions. These students can further benefit from the superior teaching and learning resources provided by prestigious high schools to excel in the national university entrance examination. As a matter of fact, the average examination score of students from high-prestige schools (360.48) is significantly higher than the average scores of middle- (312.42) and low-prestige (282.56) schools.

Concluding remarks

Existing research suggests that educational expansion in China may shift the form of educational inequality from quantitative to qualitative differentiation. As a result of educational expansion since 1949, access to compulsory education is near universal and opportunities for post-compulsory education are greatly enhanced, particularly for urban youth. At the same time, higher education becomes highly stratified and selective. Nowadays, Chinese young people compete not only for college admission but, more importantly, for admission to elite universities. In this competition process, parents are found to exert dominant influence. Education is been greatly valued in Chinese culture. Chinese parents often consider children’s education an important investment for future family well-being and would mobilize family resources to ensure that children receive a quality education. Expansion and stratification of higher education in the 1990s further raises parental expectations for their children. Chinese parents have been found to make great efforts to help their children to get into elite high schools and universities. However, current research has offered little knowledge about educational inequality in qualitative terms and the impact of family on qualitative differentiation of education.

The present study has made the first systematic attempt to examine the transition to higher education in China with a focus on educational destinations. Our findings do not show inequality in mere access to higher education by family background or high school prestige. However, family background makes a difference in educational destinations (local vs. overseas and institutional prestige) and the family impact tends to be mediated by high school. Students from privileged family backgrounds are more likely to enter prestigious high schools and students from prestigious high schools are more likely to enter prestigious universities or go overseas for higher education. These findings lend support to the argument for educational selectivity at the post-compulsory level (Fang, 2005) and confirm the importance of family in the stratification process. They also underscore the role of high school as the sorting machine generating qualitative inequality of higher education.

Chinese parents provide important financial capital, cultural capital and social capital to their children in the competition for admission to elite colleges as a result of the rising academic bars imposed by elite schools (Davis and Sensenbrenner, 2000; Veeck et al., 2003). Further analyses (results not shown) show that, by and large, parents have an active involvement in children’s education. More than 80% of respondents participated in cram courses when they were studying in high school. Without independent means, young people very likely obtained financial support from parents to pay for the tuition fees of cram courses. Parents are also found to provide their children with advice for school matters and influence children’s choice of college. Students with better educated fathers are more likely to get educational support from parents than students with less educated fathers. However, no significant association is found between father’s occupation and parental educational support. This suggests that parental cultural capital may be more important than financial support in producing educational inequality. Nonetheless our urban-based sample precludes a definite conclusion. Further research should include respondents from both urban and rural areas.

Moreover, parental social capital may also be at work in the school recommendation system for college admission. Although admission decisions of colleges and universities are made predominantly based on examination scores, recommendations by high school principals are found to become an emerging mechanism to admit students with outstanding performances in academic and/or non-academic areas. However, only certain schools are allowed to make recommendations and recommendation quotas are limited (China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center, 2009). The system may enable parents of privileged background to mobilize social capital to facilitate their children’s access to elite colleges. A recent study based on recommendation records in a Chinese city shows that students receiving recommendations to key universities tend to have fathers working as cadres (Luo, 2008). Cadre fathers may have better connections with school authorities and/or exert their political influence on the school’s decision to make recommendations. In fact, scandals of fraud and nepotism for students from families with good social and political connections have prompted the government to take strict measures against system loopholes (Ministry of Education of the PRC, 2014). The present study, however, does not have data on schools’ recommendations. Future research may explore the relative roles of examination and recommendation in producing inequality in higher education.

To conclude, our findings suggest meritocratic elitism in mass education in China. School differentiation by prestige, school tracking by academic ability, and use of standardized examinations, coupled with the cultural emphasis on the moral and economic values of education, have promoted meritocracy as the general rule of selection on the one hand, and, on the other, have encouraged the transmission of family advantages to children via education. School serves an important transmission belt, leading to school-mediated educational inequality.

Footnotes

Appendix

Appendix B.

Sample retention rate by schools.

Schools*	Retention rate (%)
High prestige level	77.73
1. NFLS	71.13
2. NJLHS	80.56
3. NNUAHS	84.06
Middle prestige level	77.95
4. NFMS	75.56
5. NJYHS	79.17
6. NNMS	79.38
7. NTSMS	76.19
8. NZHMS	79.12
Low prestige level	74.06
9. NUAMS	64.08
10. NRMS	75.76
11. NWMS	83.52
Total	76.74

Pseudonyms are used.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks are given to Professor Jack Barbalet for his helpful comments on the earlier draft, and Wei Nie and Kayi Fung for their research assistance.

Authors’ note

An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of American Sociological Association, 16–19 August 2014, San Francisco, USA.

Funding

The study was supported with research funds from Hong Kong Baptist University (SOSC/07-08/CERGIAS-6 and FRG2/11-12/033) and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKBU245612 32-12-456).

Notes

Author biographies

Gina Lai is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research interests include social networks, social stratification and health. She is currently working on a project on the school-to-work transition process and subsequent impacts on social and psychological well-being of high school students in urban Nanjing.

Jing Song received her PhD from Brown University. She was Research Assistant Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University (2012–15) and is currently Assistant Professor at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. Her research interests include gender and family, the political economy of land and housing, and market reforms in China.

Odalia M.H. Wong is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research interests include marriage and family, eldercare, population, gender studies and transnational mothering practices. Her current research is on youth transition and trans-local parenthood in China.

Xiaotian Feng is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Nanjing University. He is the author of several articles and books on the only child in China, family, youth, social research methods, and population. His current research examines how family planning policy affects Chinese families and social life.

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