The Emotional Imprint of Social Mobility: Cultural Capital and Rural Students in Chinese Universities

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Objectives of the session:

Since 2008, the Chinese government has implemented significant efforts to enhance access to high-quality higher education in the central and western regions. Policies like the "Recruitment Cooperation Program to Support Higher Education in the Central and Western Region" and the "Central and Western Higher Education Revitalization Plan" have been instrumental in achieving this goal. Additionally, in 2012, new policies were introduced, establishing special recruitment plans with admission quotas exclusively designated for rural students. As a result, educational opportunities for students from rural areas have significantly expanded, empowering them to pursue higher education.

The existing literature highlights the challenges faced by students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds when they enter elite universities (Li, 2017; Yan & Wu, 2020). These challenges include economic and cultural obstacles that rural students may encounter when assimilating into an elite academic environment (Xie & Reay, 2020; Chen, 2022). In comparison to their urban counterparts, rural students are less likely to achieve the same level of social success, particularly in leadership roles such as student unions (Xie, 2017). Moreover, their integration into elite environments may involve complex emotional and moral struggles, leading to feelings of inferiority, guilt, disillusionment, "self-alienation," and relative deprivation (Yu, 2010; Li, 2013; Cheng, 2018; Wen, 2018; Xie & Bai, 2023). Research has also indicated that these students might exhibit weaker social skills and higher levels of social anxiety (Wang, 2014).

While current research predominantly focuses on the subjective experiences of individual rural students, it may overlook the significant influence of underlying structural factors and specific mechanisms behind their emotional and moral struggles. This panel aims to address this limitation by shifting its focus to the cultural attributes of universities and their impact on the social mobility experience of rural students within the academic setting. By examining these specific mechanisms, the panel seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the broader dynamics that shape the subjective experiences of rural students in universities. Through this comprehensive approach, we hope to contribute valuable insights to the understanding of the challenges faced by rural students in elite higher education institutions in China.

Overview of the Presentation:

Paper 1: Understanding Social Changes and Urbanization: This paper will delve into how these factors have influenced the social mobility experiences of rural students and how they make sense of their encounters with the dominant urban culture.
Paper 2: Cultural Mismatch and Emotional Well-being: Using life course interviewing data, this paper will investigate the impact of cultural mismatch between high schools and elite universities on rural students' psychological and emotional well-being. It will argue that the concept of "habitus clivé" plays a crucial role in understanding their social mobility experiences.
Paper 3: Empowering Low-SES Students: This paper will examine the role of a society's cultural repertoire in empowering low-SES students to overcome cultural struggles at elite universities and regain a coherent and authentic sense of self-worth.
Paper 4: Transformed Lives of Underprivileged Students: This paper takes an objective approach to examine the transformed lives of underprivileged students in an elite Chinese university, looking beyond their subjective experiences.

Scholarly or Scientific Significance:

The four papers contribute to a deeper understanding of the emotional and moral struggles faced by rural students as they integrate into Chinese elite universities. By applying Bourdieu's conceptual work on cultural capital and habitus in a non-Western context, the session offers valuable insights into the unique challenges these students encounter in elite academic settings.

Structure of the Session:

The session will commence with a brief introduction (5 minutes) of the Chinese social and educational context. Subsequently, each paper will have a 15-minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes of discussant comments. Finally, a 15-minute interactive discussion with the audience will encourage engagement and knowledge exchange.

Sub Unit

• East Asia SIG

Organizer

• Ailei Xie, Guangzhou University

Chair

• Ailei Xie, Guangzhou University

Individual Presentations

• Being and becoming a university student: Chinese rural students’ identity work in urban universities - Jiexiu Chen, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

• Cultural mismatch and emotional imprint: Exploring rural students' integration into elite Universities - Ailei Xie, Guangzhou University; Jingran Yu, Institute of Education, Xiamen University

• Making it without faking it: How low-SES students transcend cultural barriers at elite universities in China - Yajun Zheng, The University of Hong Kong

Discussants

• Xiaoliang Li, Northwest Normal University

• Ying Ma, Fudan University