Class Identity of University Students Who Received Financial Funding From Lower Social-Economic Backgrounds in China

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Self and Others Within Institutional Contexts

Abstract

The expansion policy for higher education in China has increased opportunities for students to access university regardless of their social backgrounds. Although students from lower social-economic backgrounds benefit from national financial funding to attend universities, they still face challenges to integrating into university life. This study explores the class identity of university students who received financial funding from lower social-economic backgrounds in China. Through semi-structured interviews with 14 participants from a university in Shanghai, this study found that economically deprived students felt inferior to other students, felt disappointed by lecturers’ low expectations and ignorance for their academic efforts, and excluded themselves from students from advantaged backgrounds.

Author

• Qi An, The University of Hong Kong