Frequency-Quality Paradox in China: The Supervisor-Student Relationship and Graduate Students’ Academic Pressure from the Perspective of Horizontal Stratification in Higher Education

• In Event: Graduate Student Success: Mentoring, Identity, & Institutional Change

Abstract

This study investigates how supervisor-student interactions influence academic stress in China's hierarchical higher education system using 2022 PSCUS data. Key findings reveal: frequent contact increases stress while high-quality interaction reduces it, with quality buffering frequency's negative impacts. Quality's stress-alleviating effect is strongest in elite (985) universities and STEM fields, whereas the frequency-quality interaction emerges only in elite schools and non-STEM disciplines. These patterns demonstrate a "frequency-quality paradox" where frequent meetings, often perceived as surveillance in China's high-power-distance academic culture, exacerbate stress without quality communication. The results emphasize prioritizing mentoring quality over mere contact frequency, especially in competitive environments. These insights inform policies to enhance graduate education quality and student well-being in China's expanding higher education sector.

Author

• Jingjing Wang, Nanjing University