'Stupid and lazy' youths? Meritocratic discourse and perceptions of popular stereotyping of VET students in China

Since the start of the Reform Era in 1978, vocational education and training (VET) in China has been seen as inferior to academic routes and positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy. VET students are stereotyped as being 'stupid and lazy' and suffer considerable prejudice in C...

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Published inDiscourse (Abingdon, England) Vol. 43; no. 4; pp. 585 - 600
Main Author Wang, Geng
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 04.07.2022
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Ability
Bias
Chinese Reform Era
Educational Change
Educational psychology
Foreign Countries
Foucault
Foucault, Michel
Governance
Intelligence
Meritocracy
Neoliberalism
Public Opinion
Self Concept
Social Systems
stereotype
Stereotypes
Students
Technical Education
VET in China
Vocational Education
China
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Summary:Since the start of the Reform Era in 1978, vocational education and training (VET) in China has been seen as inferior to academic routes and positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy. VET students are stereotyped as being 'stupid and lazy' and suffer considerable prejudice in Chinese society. Drawing on Foucault's disciplinary power and Ball's idea of performativity, this paper analyses how academically focused, exam-driven societal attitudes, as a form of meritocratic discourse, impact on these students and on how they perceive their stereotyped position within the Reform Era educational system. The findings reveal that these students have internalised the ideology of meritocracy, coming to see themselves as inferior and inadequate compared to their academic counterparts. Turning 'the gaze' upon themselves, they examine whether they 'add up' and assume responsibility for their own 'failures'. VET students are trained to be the new kind of youthful subject required to sustain the Reform Era China's engagement with neoliberal governance.
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ISSN:0159-6306
1469-3739
DOI:10.1080/01596306.2020.1868977