Higher education expansion and inequality in educational opportunities in China

Who are studying at International Branch Campuses in China? A case study

“…The higher education expansion in China has favored female students, and the gender gap has decreased over time and even reversed itself (Guo, 2021). This may be due to that females perform better in junior and upper secondary schools, and gaokao (China's National College Entrance Examination), higher education certificate is more important for females than males in the labor market, and females could receive more resources for the Chinese "one-child" policy (Wu et al, 2020). For example, using the ordinary least square model and quantile regression model to examine the data of gaokao in China, Zhang and Tsang (2015) found that the gender difference is not significant in mathematics on average, but significant at the top of the distribution, where females perform worse, and is significant in Chinese and English that females perform better, and females perform significantly better than males at the bottom of the distribution of mathematics, Chinese, and English.…”

“…It has a cumulative effect on college choice that begins in pre-schooling and continues throughout the formal years of schooling. In China, although higher education expansion provides more educational opportunities, it mainly favors students from socioeconomically advantaged families (Guo, 2021; Wu et al, 2020). However, Liu (2013) argued that SES is not as important as socio-demographic factors in influencing college choice as cultural selectivity is a predictor of students’ gaokao performance and their chances of getting into elite HEIs.…”

From massification towards post-massification: Policy and governance of higher education in China

“…In contrast, students from families with more cultural, economic and social capitals from metropolises are more likely to study at elite national universities (Yeung, 2013). Recent studies indicate expansion is only loosely connected with the improvement in educational opportunities, inequalities caused by family socio-economic statues, regional differentiation and parental backgrounds were not ameliorated (Wu et al, 2020). In short, expansion might have equipped already advantaged groups to take further advantage, it certainly did not narrow the social gap and economic disparities, rather it possibly exaggerated the existing inequalities by rewarding a selected population whilst excluding others systematically through the social structural process and intergenerational transmission (Yue, 2015; Liu & Wan, 2019).…”

Academic capitalism and the conflicting ideologies of higher education as a public good and commodity

“…Despite the seeming shift in influence, English remains the dominant scientific language which positions Brazil, Russia, and China at a disadvantage when striving to establish regional and global educational centers of academic influence. Revealed is the precarious and highly complex nature of achieving academic dominance, which depends on multiple factors including enrollment trends and economic growth (Wu et al, 2020).…”