Choosing Elite Schools Under China's Synchronous Admission Reform

• In Event: Privilege, Access, Privatization, and Equity in School Choice Environments

Abstract

In 2019, the Chinese government launched an anti-neoliberal admission reform to restrict elite school choice. Inspired by Bourdieu’s social practice theory, this paper examined how a group of middle-class parents navigated school choice under the new admission system. 10 in-depth narrative interviews with the parents were reported. The findings revealed that parents have forged new choice strategies that involve choice by house and/or luck, choice of streamed classes, or more academic tutoring after choice. This paper argues that elite school choice has mutated in the face of a new, more subtly capital-demanding, and academically segregated market. This paper contributes to identifying the risks and side effects of the state-led anti-neoliberal reform.

Authors

• Cheng Zhong, Nanjing Normal University

• Kwan Choi Thomas Tse, The Chinese University of Hong Kong