School Choice and Social Stratification: Educational Migration in Rural China

• In Event: Rural Education in a Stratified Chinese Society: An Intersectional Perspective

Proposal

A new form of school choice

The phenomenon of educational migration (peidu) has gained prevalence in rural China in recent decade, with many rural adults either renting or buying apartments close to urban schools to take care of the children (Rao and Ye, 2016). This is because many rural families –up to sixty percent of families in the service areas of some rural schools – choose to enroll their children in better performing urban schools in townships and county capitals, abandoning the rural schools in their original villages (Lei, 2018; Pang et al., 2017). Therefore, educational migration is largely a new form of school choice by rural parents.

Literature has concluded that school choice is a highly stratified practice along the class line. Empirical studies from both international and urban China contexts have found that family economic, social, and cultural capitals matter immensely for school choice (Ball, 2003; Wu, 2012). Middle-class families can choose a school by purchasing an apartment (Lareau and Goyette, 2014), and by utilizing their higher cultural and social connections to facilitate the selection processes (Carrasco, Gutierrez and Flores, 2017; Ball, 2003). In contrast, constrained by transportation, social network, and access to information, families in poverty have slim chance to enroll in high-performing schools (Bell, 2009) and are concentrated in struggling schools (Reardon and Bischoff, 2011). Apparently, school choice is likely to deepen the social divide among schools and reinforce class inequality (Ball et al., 1996).

The phenomenon of rural educational migration is rarely studied as a form of school choice. Therefore, its relationship with social stratification remains undocumented. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating how family socioeconomic status, specified as family economic, cultural and social capitals, influences rural parental school choice.


Data

The study compares three groups of rural families: educational migrant families in the county capital, in townships, and non-migrant families in villages. The research site was in County G in central China. Rural family samples were drawn from 12 primary schools, 3 in the county capital, 3 in townships, and 6 village schools. Mixed data were garnered from both questionnaires and interviews. 814 valid questionnaires were collected from 494 educational migrant guardians (353 in the county capital and 141 in the townships) and 320 non-migrant guardians in villages. Individual interviews were conducted with 128 rural guardians, 83 from educational migrant families and 45 non-migrant families.


Findings

Both questionnaire and interview data have confirmed that school choice, i.e. educational migration, in rural China is significantly conditioned by family economic, cultural, and social capital.

Financially, the cost of annual living is high for educational migrants, averagely amounted to RMB 21,322 per family in the county capital and RMB 12,629 in townships. Such costs deterred poor rural families from choosing schools in townships and the county capital, given the mean annual income per capita of RMB 10,340 in 2018 for rural residents in County G (Prefecture City Statistic Bureau, 2019).

Culturally, educational migrant parents in the county capital exhibit important differences from the other two groups. More of them received high school education and above (27%) than parents in townships and villages (about 12%). Especially worth noting was their eagerness for whole-person development – 60% of educational migrant guardians in the county capital admitted it as a reason for school choice. They actively invested in extracurricular activities for their children. Such educational conception and practices constituted a distinct habitus that demarcates school choosers in the county capital from other two groups of rural families.

Social capital plays a critical role in the success of school choice. Direct or indirect connections with target school staff were reported by participants as a must for school choice. However, according to the selectiveness of the school, the demand on the strength of ties differed remarkedly. Weaker ties could win a place in township schools or non-key schools in the county capital. Only the families with strong and powerful connections with public sector employees or authorities could secure a place in the elite school in the county capital.

Finally, three binary logistic regression models are constructed to verify the effect of family capitals on school choice (Table 1). Model 1 compares school choosers and non-school choosers. It shows that school choosers more likely come from rural families with annual income over RMB 80K, with parents receiving post-compulsory education and primarily working in non-farming sectors, and possessing social connections with public sector employees.

Model 2 contrasted school choosers in townships and in the county capital. The effects of income and occupational status are muted. Instead, the cultural (education) and social capital have the strongest effects on choosing schools in county capital.

Model 3 predicted on the probability of getting into the elite primary school in the county capital. Again, family income, parents’ post-compulsory education, and social connections all assert significant influences on elite school enrollment, with income showing the strongest effect.


Conclusions

Firstly, this study confirms that educational migration as a form of school choice in rural China is also a stratified practice along the class line. The rich rural households with strong cultural and social capital tend to choose schools in townships and the county capital, with the wealthiest and best educated and connected choosing the elite school. Apparently, village schools suffer from the painful loss of families with valuable economic, cultural and social resources. The phenomenon of educational migration reinforces the inequality between rural and urban schools.

Secondly, the phenomenon of educational migration offers a window for observing the current social stratification within the rural population. The rural population has exhibited considerable heterogeneity in terms of socioeconomic conditions. A top stratum that enjoys conspicuous advantages in economic, cultural and social capitals have emerged. They start to form an urban habitus distinct from the rest of the rural population and have stronger inclination to migrate out of the countryside via school choice. This new social stratification in rural communities calls for future research on its impact on rural communities in China.

Authors

• Dan Wang, The University of Hong Kong

• Yuan Teng, Central China Normal University