Pdf, Doc

November–December 2010

59

chinese education and Society, vol. 43, No. 6, November–December 2010, pp. 59–85. © 2011 M.E. Sharpe, All rights reserved. ISSN 1061–1932/2011 $9.50 + 0.00. DOI 10.2753/CED1061-1932430603

3 Dongping Yang

An Empirical Study of Higher Education
Admissions Opportunities in China
Abstract: This article cites chinese scholars’ surveys to demonstrate that the disparity between the cities and the countryside, as well as the disparity among different social classes, with regard to higher education admissions opportunities in china is transforming from an explicit imbalance in total quantity to a deeper and more subtle educational disparity. This is manifested in the distribution of students from the cities and the countryside at colleges and universities of different levels and different types. The hierarchy that exists in the system of higher education is roughly as follows: young adults from the privileged classes, with relatively strong cultural, economic, and societal resources, constitute the largest percentage of those in elite universities, whereas the percentage of rural students and young
English translation © 2011 M.E. Sharpe, from the Chinese text, “Zhongguo gaodeng jiaoyu ruxue jihui de zhizheng yanjiu.” Translated by Laura and David Truncellito. Dongping Yang is a professor at Beijing Institute of Technology and a dean of the Twenty-First–Century Education Research Institute. His primary research areas include public policy in education, fairness in education, and higher education.
59

60

cHINeSe eDUcATIoN AND SocIeTY

adults from disadvantaged backgrounds is gradually declining. rural students are concentrated at localized tertiary institutions with comparatively weak educational resources and educational quality. The drawbacks of the urban–rural dual structure as well as the primary and secondary education system that is divided between elite schools and regular schools, combined with the deficiencies of the

References: Cheng Hei and Luo Man. 2009. “Jiafen gongshi: Yanghuang gaokao de fangfuji” [Bonus Points: Preservative of the College Entrance Examination]. Zhongguo Jiaoyubao [China Education Daily], July 8. Ding Xiaohao. 2006. “Guimokuoda yu gaodengjiaoyu jihui jundenghua” [Expansion and Equality in Chinese Higher Education]. economics of education research 11, June 2006. Available at www.gse.pku.edu.cn/beidaeer/ pdf/060201.pdf, accessed April 15, 2010. Li, Wensheng. 2003. Zhongguo jing ji fa zan zhan lue yu zhong guo jiao yu ru xue ji hui de gong ping [China’s Economic Development Strategy and Equal Opportunities for Higher Education in China], cited in Liu, Haifeng. 2003. Gong ping yu xiao lu: 21 shi ji gao deng jiao yu gai ge yu fa zan [Equality and Efficiency: Higher Education Reform and Development in the Twenty-First Century]. Fujian: Fujian Education Press, 425. Lu, Jie. 1990. Jiao yu she hui xue [Sociology of Education]. Beijing: People’s Education Press, 495. Ma, Hemin, and Xun Ping Gao. 1998. Jiao yu she hui xue yan jiu [Study of Educational Sociology]. Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press, 111. Shi, Yunhua, and Ziping Zhu. 1993. “Wo guo jiao yu ji hui jun deng jian she chu yi” [Humble Arguments on the Creation of Equal Opportunities for Education in China]. Academic Journal of Jiangsu Institute of education (Social Science version), no. 1: 21–24. Tian, Guolei. 2009. “‘Kefen zhuangyuan’ zhi chao beida toudangxian 1 fen jiafen dui luqu yingxiang da” [“Zero Credit Top Scorer” Only Scores One Credit More Than the Admission Limit for Beijing University, Preferable Credits Greatly Influence Admissions]. china Youth Daily, June 3. Wang, Yibing et al. 1992. “Ba shi nian dai fa da guo jia jiao yu gai ge de qu shi he qi shi” [Educational Reform Trends in Developed Countries in the 1980s and Our Enlightenment]. Studies on education, no. 6: 9–13. Wei, Hong. 2003. “Wo guo cheng xiang gao deng jiao yu ji hui jun deng shi zheng yan jiu” [An Empirical Study on Equal Urban-Rural Opportunities for Higher Education in China]. Master’s thesis, Educational Institute of Beijing Normal University. November–December 2010 85 Wei Yu. 1995. Zhongguo fu nv jiao yu [Women’s Education in China]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education Press, 83. Yang Dongping. 2005. “Gaozhong jieduan de shehui fenceng he jiaoyu jihui huode” [A Study of Senior High School Students’ Social-Class Elimination and Education Acquisition] Qinghua Journal of education, no. 3: 52–59. ———. 2006a. “Gao deng jiao yu ru xue ji hui: kuo da zhi zhong de jie ceng cha ju” [Enrollment Opportunities for Higher Education: The Widening Social Class Gap]. educational Studies of Tsinghua University, no. 1: 19–25. ———. 2006b. Zhongguo jiao yu gong ping de li xiang he xian shi [The Ideal and the Reality of Educational Equality in China]. Beijing: Beijing University Press. Zhao Enuo and Tian Doudou. 2009. “Da jia tan: Zhong dian gao xiao nong cun xue sheng yue lai yue shao” [Let’s Talk: Fewer and Fewer Rural Students in Elite Colleges]. People’s Daily, January 15. To order reprints, call 1-800-352-2210; outside the United States, call 717-632-3535. Copyright of Chinese Education & Society is the property of M.E. Sharpe Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder 's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.