Different Educational Trajectories in China

A Bourdieusian Perspective
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-041-13228-8
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 138 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 382 g

This book explores how family background, geographic location, and institutional settings profoundly shape educational journeys in China, with a particular focus on English language learning. It reveals the deeply entrenched inequalities within the education system.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 36 English majors from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds at an elite Chinese university, the study traces their educational trajectories in a longitudinal framework. It offers a novel application of Bourdieu’s theoretical constructs—capital, field, and habitus—by extending the concept of institutional habitus to the Chinese context. Through this lens, the analysis uncovers how the interplay of social and institutional forces influences access, opportunity, and academic outcomes.

This title is essential reading for sociologists of education, comparative education researchers, policymakers, educators, university administrators, and students in China and beyond. It provides critical perspectives for anyone interested in educational equity, social mobility, and language policy.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Professional Reference

Autoren/Hrsg.

Yang, Zi

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Lehrerausbildung, Unterricht & Didaktik Methoden des Lehrens und Lernens
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Schulen, Schulleitung Universitäten, Hochschulen
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of figures

List of tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

1 Introduction

2 Mapping China’s social fabric and educational landscape

3 The Role of family background

4 Geographic divide and stratified school system

5 The mediating role of institutional factors

6 Conclusions

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Zi Yang, a Cambridge Ph.D. graduate, is affiliated with the Institute of Education, Xiamen University. Her research focuses on the sociology of education, and teaching and learning in the digital age, with recent work on educational inequality and digital pedagogy.