Departing from the Beaten Path: International Schools and Class Reproduction in China

• In Event: 565 - Regular Session. The Limits of Intergenerational Mobility and the Power of Social Reproduction

Abstract

This paper examines the rise of international schools that cater to Chinese nationals in Mainland China and the implications this has for educational inequality. It is based on field research at an international school in Beijing. Given the recent emergence of this type of international education, few studies have been conducted on these schools and their students. Although a number of studies have previously explored the role of international education in social stratification processes, less attention has been paid to the features of local educational systems that might push families into the international education track and how this affects inequality. Features of local educational and stratification systems affect how and by whom international education is deployed as a strategy, which in turn determines how it affects class (in)equality within a particular context. The authors argue that international schools have emerged in China in response to features of the local educational system that introduce barriers and high levels of stress and risk into social reproduction processes. The authors contend that international schools aggravate class inequality within China by giving under-performing students from wealthy Chinese families access to academic credentials and providing an alternative route to elite education for average students from privileged backgrounds. Finally, international schools introduce a new dimension of horizontal stratification -- stratification by curriculum intensity -- to the educational market in China.

Author

• Natalie Alice Eckhardt Young, University of Pennsylvania