Cultural capital, family background and education: choosing university subjects in China

• Published in: British journal of sociology of education Vol. 38; no. 5; pp. 721 - 737
• Main Author: Sheng, Xiaoming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Routledge 04.07.2017; Taylor & Francis, Ltd; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Bourdieu, Pierre (1930-2002); Choices; Class differences; College Choice; College Students; Colleges & universities; Cultural Capital; Educational sociology; Families & family life; Family Income; Family Influence; Foreign Countries; Low income groups; Majors (Students); Middle Class; Mixed Methods Research; Parent Attitudes; Probability; Qualitative research; Questionnaires; Regression (Statistics); Research Methodology; School choice; Secondary school students; Selective Admission; Semi Structured Interviews; Social background; Social Class; Social classes; Social Differences; Social Environment; Student Attitudes; Students; subject choice; university choice; Working Class; China
• ISSN: 0142-5692; 1465-3346
• DOI: 10.1080/01425692.2016.1158638

This article employs Bourdieu's conceptual tools to unpack family influences on students' subject and university choices in China. This empirical study employed mixed research approaches, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, to examine students' choices of subjects and universities in a sample of secondary school students from the age of 16 to 18 in China. This study reveals that while there are few class differences in subject choice, students' choices of a selected university is significantly associated with higher family income level. The data show that the probability of entering a top university for students from high-income families is greater than that of students from low-income families.