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Social discrimination and college enrollment: findings from the China family panel studies

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Abstract

Utilizing survey data from the 2010, 2014, and 2016 China family panel studies, this study examined the relationship between the social discrimination experienced at high school and college enrollment. It was found that administrative discrimination, such as unfair treatment from government cadres or arbitrary fee collection, negatively affected college enrollment, while gender discrimination encouraged high school students to pursue higher education, and college enrollment reduced the likelihood of social discrimination. Therefore, social-psychological factors should not be ignored in higher education demand studies. In particular, as high school student responses to social discrimination can affect their motivation to pursue higher education, stress and coping theory could have important theoretical value when studying the decision-making behaviors and patterns of high school student higher education aspirations.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Peking University Education Big Data Project (2020YBC16). The authors thank for the support of Peking University and would like to express thanks to the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions.

Funding

This study was funded by the Peking University Education Big Data Project (2020YBC16).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social Science Survey, Peking University, Room 445, Science Building 5, No. 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing, 100871, China

    Jiafeng Gu

  2. School of Sociology and Political Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China

    Xing Ming

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  1. Jiafeng Gu
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Correspondence to Jiafeng Gu.

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Author Jiafeng Gu has received research grants from the Peking University Education Big Data Project (2020YBC16). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Balance test before and after propensity matching analysis

 

Unmatched

Matched

% Bias

% Reduct

Bias

p value

Region

U

 − 13.9

 

0.002

 

M

 − 0.8

94.4

0.945

Hukou

U

 − 14.7

 

0.031

 

M

8.6

41.6

0.473

Family income per capita

U

 − 3.6

 

0.719

 

M

 − 4.3

 − 18.8

0.708

Father received higher education

U

29.9

 

0.003

 

M

 − 3.9

87.1

0.736

Mother received higher education:

U

31.8

 

0.001

 

M

9.7

69.4

0.409

Gender

U

 − 10

 

0.021

 

M

 − 6.9

 − 38.3

0.074

Age

U

14.1

 

0.000

 

M

5.7

59.8

0.483

Health level

U

14.1

 

0.030

 

M

5.7

59.8

0.596

Appendix 2: Balance tests of matching result

Sample

Ps R2

LR Chi2

p > chi2

Mean bias

Med bias

Unmatched

0.216

127.5

0

27.3

14.4

Matched

0.02

8.7

0.368

8.5

6.9

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Gu, J., Ming, X. Social discrimination and college enrollment: findings from the China family panel studies. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 24, 57–69 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09725-6

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