Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-01T02:54:04.782Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Inequalities in the Pathway to College in China: When Do Students from Poor Areas Fall Behind?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2017

Prashant Loyalka ,
James Chu ,
Jianguo Wei ,
Natalie Johnson  and
Joel Reniker
Prashant Loyalka
Affiliation:
Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University, and School of Education, Henan University. Email: loyalka@stanford.edu.
James Chu
Affiliation:
Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University. Email: jchu1225@stanford.edu.
Jianguo Wei*
Affiliation:
China Institute for Educational Finance Research, Peking University.
Natalie Johnson
Affiliation:
Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University. Email: nsydneyj@stanford.edu.
Joel Reniker
Affiliation:
Beijing Foreign Studies University. Email: joeldr@gmail.com.
*
Email: jgwei@ciefr.pku.edu.cn (corresponding author).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Inequalities in college access are a major concern for policymakers in both developed and developing countries. Policymakers in China have largely tried to address these inequalities by helping disadvantaged students successfully transition from high school to college. However, they have paid less attention to the possibility that inequalities in college access may also arise earlier in the pathway to college. The purpose of this paper is to understand where inequalities emerge along the pathway to college in China, focusing on three major milestones after junior high. By analysing administrative data on over 300,000 students from one region of China, we find that the largest inequalities in college access emerge at the first post-compulsory milestone along the pathway to college: when students transition from junior high to high school. In particular, only 60 per cent of students from poor counties take the high school entrance exam (compared to nearly 100 per cent of students from non-poor counties). Furthermore, students from poor counties are about one and a half times less likely to attend academic high school and elite academic high school than students from non-poor counties.

摘要

对于发达国家和发展中国家的政策制定者而言, 大学入学机会不平等是他们都关注的一个重要问题。中国的政策制定者已经尝试, 通过帮助农村学生成功地从高中升入大学, 来改善这种不平等。但是, 中国的政策制定者并没有意识到,大学入学机会的不平等可能在更早的阶段就已经发生了。本文的目标是通过关注从初中到大学升学过程中的三个关键转折点,来探究大学入学机会的不平等到底是从哪个阶段开始的。通过对中国某地区超过 300,000 学生的数据进行分析, 我们发现升入大学的路径中最大的不平等发生在从初中升入高中这一转折点。具体来说, 贫困县里只有 60% 的学生参加了中考 (和非贫困县里几乎 100% 的学生都参加中考相比较)。更进一步地说,来自贫困县的学生没有上普通高中或者重点高中的比例比来自非贫困县的学生高 1.5 倍。

Keywords

inequalitycollege accesspathwaypoorChina不平等大学入学机会升学路径贫困中国
Type
Articles
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 229 , March 2017 , pp. 172 - 194
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alspaugh, John. 1998. “Achievement loss associated with the transition to middle school and high school.” The Journal of Educational Research 92(1), 20–25.Google Scholar
Bailey, Martha, and Dynarski, Susan. 2011. “Gains and gaps: changing inequality in US college entry and completion.” National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper No. w17633.Google Scholar
Cai, Fang, and Du, Yang. 2011. “Wage increases, wage convergence, and the Lewis turning point in China.” China Economic Review 22, 601–610.Google Scholar
Carnoy, Martin, Loyalka, Prashant, Dobryakova, Maria, Dossani, Rafiq, Froumin, Isak, Kuhns, Katherine, Tilak, Jandhyala and Wang, Rong. 2013. University Expansion in a Changing Global Economy: Triumph of the BRICs? Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Chapman, Chris, Laird, Jennifer and Ramani, Angelina Kewal. 2011. “Trends in high school dropout and completion rates in the United States: 1972–2009.” Washington, DC: US Department of Education.Google Scholar
Chung, Carol, and Mason, Mark. 2012. “Why do primary school students drop out in poor, rural China? A portrait sketched in a remote mountain village.” International Journal of Educational Development 32(4), 537–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corak, Miles. 2013. “Income inequality, equality of opportunity, and intergenerational mobility.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 27(3), 79–102.Google Scholar
Deming, David, and Dynarski, Susan. 2009. “Into college, out of poverty? Policies to increase the postsecondary attainment of the poor.” NBER Working Paper No. w15387.Google Scholar
Domina, Thurston. 2009. “What works in college outreach: assessing targeted and schoolwide interventions for disadvantaged students.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 31(2), 127–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duncan, Greg, Ziol-Guest, Kathleen and Kalil, Ariel. 2010. “Early childhood poverty and adult attainment, behavior, and health.” Child Development 81(1), 306–325.Google Scholar
Fan, Cindy, and Sun, Mingjie. 2008. “Regional inequality in China, 1978–2006.” Eurasian Geography and Economics 49(1), 1–18.Google Scholar
Fields, Cheryl. 1988. “The Hispanic pipeline: narrow, leaking, and needing repair.” Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 20(3), 20–28.Google Scholar
Fiscella, Kevin, and Kitzman, Harriet. 2009. “Disparities in academic achievement and health: the intersection of child education and health policy.” Pediatrics 123(3), 1073–80.Google Scholar
Hannum, Emily, An, Xuehui and Cherng, Hua-Yu Sebastian. 2011. “Examinations and educational opportunity in China: mobility and bottlenecks for the rural poor.” Oxford Review of Education 37(2), 267–305.Google Scholar
Hannum, Emily, and Wang, Meiyan. 2006. “Geography and educational inequality in China.” China Economic Review 17(3), 253–265.Google Scholar
Haveman, Robert, and Smeeding, Timothy. 2006. “The role of higher education in social mobility.” The Future of Children 16(2), 125–150.Google Scholar
Heckman, James. 2006. “Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantaged children.” Science 312(5782), 1900–02.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirschfield, Paul. 2009. “Another way out: the impact of juvenile arrests on high school dropout.” Sociology of Education 82(4), 368–393.Google Scholar
Horn, Laura, and Carroll, C. Dennis. 1997. Confronting the Odds: Students at Risk and the Pipeline to Higher Education. Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics.Google Scholar
Huang, Jikun, Zhi, Huayong, Huang, Zhurong, Rozelle, Scott and Giles, John. 2011. “The impact of the global financial crisis on off-farm employment and earnings in rural China.” World Development 39(5), 797–807.Google Scholar
Jacob, Brian, and Lefgren, Lars. 2009. “The effect of grade retention on high school completion.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 1(3), 33–58.Google Scholar
Kaboski, Joseph, Lipscomb, Molly and Midrigan, Virgiliu. 2014. “The aggregate impact of household saving and borrowing constraints: designing a field experiment in Uganda.” The American Economic Review 104(5), 171–76.Google Scholar
Lai, Fang, Liu, Chengfang, Luo, Renfu, Zhang, Linxiu, Ma, Xiaochen, Bai, Yujie, Sharbono, Brian and Rozelle, Scott. 2014. “Private migrant schools or rural/urban public schools: where should China educate its migrant children.” International Journal of Educational Development 37, 68–77.Google Scholar
Liu, Chengfang, Zhang, Linxiu, Luo, Renfu, Rozelle, Scott, Sharbono, Brian and Shi, Yaojiang. 2009. “Development challenges, tuition barriers, and high school education in China.” Asia Pacific Journal of Education 29(4), 503–520.Google Scholar
Loyalka, Prashant, Liu, Chengfang, Song, Yingquan, Yi, Hongmei, Huang, Xiaoting, Wei, Jianguo, Zhang, Linxiu et al. 2013. “Can information and counseling help students from poor, rural areas go to high school? Evidence from China.” Journal of Comparative Economics 41(4), 1012–25.Google Scholar
Loyalka, Prashant, Shi, Zhaolei, Chu, James, Johnson, Natalie and Wei, Jianguo. 2014b. “Is the high school admissions process fair? Explaining inequalities in elite high school enrolments in developing countries.” REAP Working Paper No. 276, https://reap.fsi.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/276-is_the_high_school_admissions_process_fair.pdf.Google Scholar
Loyalka, Prashant, Wei, Jianguo and Song, Yingquan. 2012. “Is aid reaching poor students? The distribution of student financial aid across China's higher education system.” China Economic Review 23(4), 898–917.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loyalka, Prashant, Wei, Jianguo, Song, Yingquan, Zhong, Weiping and Chu, James. 2014a. “The impacts of building elite high schools for students from disadvantaged areas.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 63(2), 393–422.Google Scholar
Luo, Renfu, Shi, Yaojiang, Zhou, Huan, Yue, Ai, Zhang, Linxiu, Sylvia, Sean, Medina, Alexis and Rozelle, Scott. 2015. “Micronutrient deficiencies and developmental delays among infants: evidence from a cross-sectional survey in rural China.” BMJ Open 5(10). DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luo, Renfu, Wang, Xiaobing, Zhang, Linxiu, Liu, Chengfang, Shi, Yaojiang, Miller, Grant, Rozelle, Scott et al. 2011. “Alarmingly high anemia prevalence in western China.” Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 42(5), 1204–13.Google Scholar
Luo, Renfu, Zhang, Linxiu, Liu, Chengfang, Zhao, Qiran, Shi, Yaojiang, Rozelle, Scott and Sharbono, Brian. 2012. “Behind before they begin: the challenge of early childhood education in rural China.” Australasian Journal of Early Childhood 37(1), 55–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ma, Xiaochen, Zhou, Zhongqiang, Yi, Hongmei, Pang, Xiaopeng, Shi, Yaojiang, Chen, Qianyun, Meltzer, Mirjam E. et al. 2014. “Effect of providing free glasses on children's educational outcomes in China: cluster randomized controlled trial.” BMJ 349, g5740.Google Scholar
Mare, R.D. 1980. “Social background and school continuation decisions.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 75(370), 295–305.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education of China. 2013. “Gross enrolment rate of education by level,” http://www.moe.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/s8493/201412/181724.html. Date accessed: June 1, 2014Google Scholar
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 2000. China Education Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: National Bureau of Statistics.Google Scholar
NBS. 2010. China Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: National Bureau of Statistics.Google Scholar
NBS. 2012. China Education Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: National Bureau of Statistics.Google Scholar
Palloni, Alberto. 2006. “Reproducing inequalities: luck, wallets, and the enduring effects of childhood health.” Demography 43(4), 587–615.Google Scholar
Ravallion, Martin. 2012. “Why don't we see poverty convergence?” The American Economic Review 102(1), 504–523.Google Scholar
Reardon, Sean. 2011. “The widening academic achievement gap between the rich and the poor: new evidence and possible explanations.” In Duncan, Greg J. and Murnane, Richard J. (eds.), Whither Opportunity: Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children's Life Chances. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 91–116.Google Scholar
Sorensen, Aage. 2005. “Foundations of a rent-based class analysis.” Approaches to Class Analysis 105(6), 119.Google Scholar
Sun, G. 2008. “The pre-school enrolment rate increase to 93 in 2008,” Xinhua News, 1 January.Google Scholar
Thorbecke, Erik, and Charumilind, Chutatong. 2002. “Economic inequality and its socioeconomic impact.” World Development 30(9), 1477–95.Google Scholar
Torche, Florencia. 2011. “Is a college degree still the great equalizer? Intergenerational mobility across levels of schooling in the United States.” American Journal of Sociology 117(3), 763–807.Google Scholar
Wang, Xiaobing, Liu, Chengfang, Zhang, Linxiu, Luo, Renfu, Glauben, Thomas, Shi, Yaojiang, Rozelle, Scott and Sharbono, Brian. 2011. “College education and the poor in China: documenting the hurdles to educational attainment and college matriculation.” Asia Pacific Education Review 12(4), 533–546.Google Scholar
Wang, Xiaobing, Liu, Chengfang, Zhang, Linxiu, Shi, Yaojiang and Rozelle, Scott. 2013. “College is a rich, Han, urban, male club: research notes from a census survey of four tier one colleges in China.” The China Quarterly 214, 456–470.Google Scholar
Wang, Xiaobing, Zhang, Linxiu, Luo, Renfu, Wang, Guofei, Chen, Yingdan, Medina, Alexis, Eggleston, Karen et al. 2012. “Soil-transmitted helminth infections and correlated risk factors in preschool and school-aged children in rural southwest China.” PloS One 7(9), e45939.Google Scholar
White, Karl. 1982. “The relation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement.” Psychological Bulletin 91, 461–481.Google Scholar
Wodtke, Geoffrey, Harding, David and Elwert, Felix. 2011. “Neighborhood effects in temporal perspective: the impact of long-term exposure to concentrated disadvantage on high school graduation.” American Sociological Review 76(5), 713–736.Google Scholar
Wu, Xiaogang, and Zhang, Zhuoni. 2010. “Changes in educational inequality in China, 1990–2005: evidence from the population census data.” Research in the Sociology of Education 17, 123–152.Google Scholar
Yi, Hongmei, Zhang, Linxiu, Luo, Renfu, Shi, Yaojiang, Mo, Di, Chen, Xinxin, Brinton, Carl and Rozelle, Scott. 2012. “Dropping out: why are students leaving junior high in China's poor rural areas?” International Journal of Educational Development 32(4), 555–563.Google Scholar