Neither High Nor Low: Chinese Middle-Class Families’ Strategic Choice of Sino-Foreign Cooperative Universities

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 9:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Mobility and Stratification in Postsecondary Education and Beyond

Abstract

This study investigates the motivations of middle-class Chinese families for choosing Sino-Foreign Cooperative Universities over traditional domestic or overseas options. Through a qualitative case study of three SFCUs, involving participant observation and 44 in-depth parent interviews, we find that families in a precarious “bu shang bu xia” (neither high nor low) social and academic position adopt SFCUs as a strategic “middle path.” This choice represents a risk management strategy, balancing aspirations for global mobility against financial, geopolitical, and developmental risks. Findings reveal that this decision is driven by desires for career-oriented majors, social reproduction through homogenous peer networks, and evolving educational values emphasizing holistic development, thus contributing a nuanced understanding of middle-class strategy, institutional hybridity, and social inequality in transnational education.

Authors

• Kai Zhao, Lingnan University

• Yuyun Yang, Lingnan University

• Jiaxin GUO, Lingnan University