Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Higher Education, Meritocracy and Inequality in China

  • Book
  • © 2016

Overview

Authors:
  1. Ye Liu

    1. Department of International Development, King's College London Department of International Development, London, United Kingdom

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Provides a unique theoretical and empirical analysis of education-based meritocracy in the context of contemporary China
  • Presents an in-depth historical and comparative analysis of the development of the idea of meritocracy in China, and in more recent Western thought, emphasising the diverse ways in which meritocracy has been conceptualised
  • Illustrates different dimensions of social inequality in contemporary China, including socioeconomic stratification, gender and geographical inequality
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 1-9

  3. Origins of Meritocracy in China

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 11-34

  4. A Comparative Analysis of Western Meritocracies

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 35-59

  5. Education and Social Harmony During China’s Great Transformation

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 61-84

  6. The Gaokao as a Meritocratic Selection?

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 85-103

  7. Meritocracy, Education Opportunities and Social Stratification

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 105-124

  8. Meritocracy and Cultural Capital

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 125-147

  9. Meritocracy, Gender and the ‘One-Child’ Policy

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 149-170

  10. Meritocracy and Geographical Stratification

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 171-188

  11. Conclusions

    • Ye Liu
    Pages 189-195

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 197-221
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book investigates the changing opportunities in higher education for different social groups during China’s transition from the socialist regime to a market economy. The first part of the book provides a historical and comparative analysis of the development of the idea of meritocracy, since its early origins in China, and in more recent western thought. The second part then explores higher education reforms in China, the part played by supposedly meritocratic forms of selection, and the implications of these for social mobility. 


Based on original empirical data, Ye Liu sheds light on the socio-economic, gender and geographical inequalities behind the meritocratic façade of the Gaokao (高考). Liu argues that the Chinese philosophicalbelief in education-based meritocracy had a modern makeover in the Gaokao, and that this ideology induces working-class and rural students to believe in upward social mobility through higher education. When the Gaokao broke the promise of status improvement for rural students, they turned to the Chinese Communist Party and sought political connections by actively applying for its membership. This book reveals a bleak picture of visible and invisible inequality in terms of access to and participation in higher education in contemporary China. Written in an accessible style, it offers a valuable resource for researchers and non-specialist readers alike.





Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of International Development, King's College London Department of International Development, London, United Kingdom

    Ye Liu

About the author

Dr Ye Liu is a Lecturer in International Development at the International Development Institute, the King’s College London. She was a Senior Lecturer in International Education at Bath Spa University between 2013 and 2016. She was awarded a PhD in Comparative Sociology in 2011 at the Institute of Education, University of London. She won the 2014 Junior Sociologist Prize by the Research Committee on Women in Society of the International Sociology Association and the 2014 Newer Researcher Award by the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE). Over ten years of research she has conducted survey studies, in-depth interviews and observations in China. Covering the topics including access to higher education, cultural capital and education attainment, elite opportunities, the ‘One-Child’ policy, rural youth, geographical and gender inequality, her analysis has paid particular attention to institutional/contextual causes and consequences of shifting socio-political circumstances overthe course of the People’s Republic of China that underpin the life chances of various social groups. She has published in highly ranked international journals such as British Journal of Sociology of Education and International Journal of Educational Development. Her media articles on the end of China’s One Child Policy as well as China’s educational success and failures were published in the Conversation.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Higher Education, Meritocracy and Inequality in China

  • Authors: Ye Liu

  • Series Title: Higher Education in Asia: Quality, Excellence and Governance

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1588-5

  • Publisher: Springer Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Education, Education (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-10-1586-1Published: 17 October 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-10-9393-7Published: 23 June 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-10-1588-5Published: 08 October 2016

  • Series ISSN: 2365-6352

  • Series E-ISSN: 2365-6360

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 221

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations, 9 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Higher Education

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation