Abstract
This study extends the theoretical perspectives in policy studies on the issue of educational equality by analyzing the influence of cultural values on policies and policy processes. The present paper first teases out the key cultural values regarding education and equality, and then explores how these values shape the institution and policy making in the Chinese context. The policies of expansion, reform in governance and finance, differentiation of provision, and their consequences on equality in Chinese higher education are examined through the lens of culture. The context of close family bonds and strong commitment to education in the Chinese society has bolstered the policies of cost-sharing, privatization and concentrating resources in selected universities. Confucian bureaucracy and hierarchy shaped the strong state and top-down policy process; collectivism and elitism coupled with utilitarianism legitimized the paramount goal of development and strengthened the hierarchy of the higher education system; meritocratic tradition mediated the public demands and state’s policies on provision, and buffered the debates about inequality. The idea of minben (people are essence of a nation) in Chinese tradition served as a counter force to balance the pursuit of development and equality.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ball, S. J. (1990). Politics and policy making in education. London: RSA.
Becher, T. (1989). Academic tribes and territories. Intellectual enquiry and the culture of disciplines. Milton Keynes: SRHE & Open University Press.
Bell, D. (2008). China’s new Confucianism: Politics and everyday life in a changing society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Bi, C. C. (2009). An analysis of tuition in regular higher education institutions (in Chinese). Higher Education Exploration, 3, 47–52.
Bourdieu, P. (2005). The social structures of the economy. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Castells, M. (1992). Four Asian tigers with a dragon head: A comparative analysis of the state, economy, and society in the Asian Pacific Rim. In R. P. Applebaum & J. Henderson (Eds.), State and Development in the Asian Pacific rim. London: Sage.
Chen, X. F. (2006). Ideal orientation policy-making: Analysis on 985 Project policy process (in Chinese). Peking University Education Review, 4(1), 145–157.
Chilton, P., & Schaffner, C. (2002a). Politics as text and talk: analytic approaches to political discourse. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Chilton, P., & Schaffner, C. (2002b). Politics as text and talk: analytic approaches to political discourse. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
China Education Daily (2008). Reform 30 years: Review of educational equality (in Chinese). November 2.
China Education Yearbook (1990-2010). Beijing: People Education Press.
Chou, D. (1996). Administrative concepts in Confucianism and their influence on development in Confucian countries. Asian Journal of Public Administration, 18, 45–69.
Clark, B. R. (1963). Faculty cultures. In T. F. Lunsford (Ed.), The study of campus cultures (pp. 39–54). Boulder, CO: Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
Ding, X. (2006). Expansion and equality in Chinese higher education (in Chinese). In Economics of Education Research 4(2). Retrieved from http://www.gse.pku.edu.cn/beidaeer/pdf/060201.pdf.
Green, D. P., & Shapiro, I. (1994). Pathologies of rational choice theory: A critique of applications in political science. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Hall, D. L., & Ames, R. T. (1998). Thinking from the Han: Self, truth, and transcendence in Chinese and Western culture. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Hayhoe, R. (1995). An Asian multiversity? Comparative reflections on the move to mass higher education in East Asia. Comparative Education Review, 39(3), 299–321.
Ho, P. T. (1962). The ladder of success in imperial China: Aspects of social mobility, 1368–1911. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviours, institutions and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hu, C. T. (1984). The historical background: Examinations and controls in pre-modern China. Comparative Education, 20, 7–26.
Kogan, M. (1975). Educational policy-making: A study of interest groups and parliament. London: Allen and Unwin.
Lee, S. (1996). Liberal rights or/and Confucian virtues? Philosophy East and West, 46(3), 367–379.
Li, W. (2005). Individual loan restriction and opportunity in higher education (in Chinese). Peking University Economic of Education Research. Electronic version, 3(1). Retrieved from http://www.gse.pku.edu.cn/beidaeer/pdf/050103.pdf.
Li, Z. (2011). Discuss about the development and breakthrough of local universities (in Chinese). Chinese Higher Education, 2, 30–31.
Liefner, I. (2004). Funding, resource allocation, and performance in higher education systems. Higher Education, 46(4), 469–489.
Liu, J. M. (2007). A study on regional disparity of opportunity during higher education expansion (in Chinese). Peking University Education Review, 5(4), 142–155.
Liu, J., & Wang, X. (2010). Expansion and differentiation in Chinese higher education: Some interesting trends. International Higher Education, 60, 7–8.
Marginson, S. (2011). Higher education in East Asia and Singapore: Rise of the confucian model. Higher Education, 61, 587–611.
Min, W., & Wang, R. (2006). 2005–2006 China education and human resources development report (in Chinese). Beijing: Beijing University Press.
Mohrman, K. (2008). The emerging global model with Chinese characteristics. Higher Education Policy, 21, 29–48.
Mok, H. (2009). The growth importance of the privateness in education: Challenges for higher education governance in China. Compare, 39(1), 35–49.
Ozga, J. (1987). Studying educational policy through the lives of policy makers: An attempt to close the macro-micro gap. In S. Walker & L. Barton (Eds.), Changing policies, changing teachers. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Phillips, N., & Hardy, C. (2002). Discourse analysis: Investigating processes of social construction. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Shen, H., & Ji, J. (2009). The solution to the gap between require and supply of students loans in new economic condition (in Chinese). Journal of Higher Education, 30(2), 36–41.
Shen, Z., & Yan, F. (2006). The influence of social stratification on educational stratification: Empirical analysis of social and economic statuses of students at private higher education institutions in Xi’an city (in Chinese). Peking University Education Review, 4(2), 72–84.
Tang, M. (2006). Some issues regarding higher education expansion (in Chinese). Peking University Educational Review, 4(2), 62–71.
Taylor, R. (1981). China’s intellectual dilemma: Politics and university enrolment, 1949–1978. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
Taylor, S. (1997). Critical policy analysis: Exploring contexts, texts, and consequences. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 18(1), 23–35.
Tierney, W. G. (1988). Organizational culture in higher education: Defining the essentials. The Journal of Higher Education, 59(1), 2–21.
Tu, W. (1993). Way, learning, and politics: Essays on the Confucian intellectual. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Tu, W. (2002). Confucian Humanism and the Western Enlightenment. In B. Baudot (Ed.), Candles in the dark: New spirit for a plural world (pp. 123–135). Seattle, London: University of Washington Press.
Tu, W., & Tucker, M. E. (Eds.). (2003). Confucian spirituality. New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company.
Välimaa, J. (2008). Cultural studies in higher education research. In J. Välimaa and O. H. Ylijoki (Eds.), Cultural perspectives on higher education (pp. 9–26). Springer.
Wang, C. (2010). Utilitarianism in the trend of thought in modern China (in Chinese). Theoretic Observation, 5, 51–53.
Wang, X., & Liu, J. (2011). China’s higher education expansion and the task of economic revitalization. Higher Education, 62(2), 213–229.
Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism [New ed.]. London: G. Allen and Unwin.
Weiler, H. N. (2004). Ambivalence and the politics of knowledge: The struggle for change in German higher education. Higher Education, 49(1–2), 177–195.
Williams, J. (1997). Negotiating access to higher education: The discourse of selectivity and equity. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Xia, Y. (2004). Minben and civil rights: Historical foundation of discourse on rights in China (in Chinese). Social Sciences in China, 5, 4–23.
Xie, Z., & Chen, X. (2007). National survey and analysis: The effect of college tuition on college students from different strata in mainland China (in Chinese). Education and Economy, 2, 12–15.
Xie, Z. & Wang, W. (2006). The difference in higher education access opportunity of the children in different strata in China in the context of mass higher education (in Chinese). Journal of educational studies, 2(2), 65–74.
Yang, D. (2006). The ideal and reality of educational equality in China (in Chinese). Beijing: Peking University Press.
Yang, P. (2009). Who gets more financial aid in China? A multilevel analysis. Economics of Education Research (Beida), 7(2). Retrieved from http://www.gse.pku.edu.cn/beidaeer/pdf/090203.pdf.
Zhang, X. (2009). Independent college: An innovation in higher education development (in Chinese). Journal of Research on Higher Education, 9, 70–72.
Zhang, Y. & Liu, B. (2005). Occupation stratum and opportunity in higher education in China (in Chinese). Journal of Beijing Normal University Social Science Edition, 3, 25–31.
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my great appreciation to Dr. Ruth Hayhoe, whose scholarship has inspired my research; to Dr. Emily Hannum, Dr. David Post and two anonymous reviewers of Higher Education for their valuable comments on this manuscript as it developed.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, J. Examining massification policies and their consequences for equality in Chinese higher education: A cultural perspective. High Educ 64, 647–660 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9517-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9517-4