Different Educational Trajectories in China - A Bourdieusian Perspective

This book explores how family background, geographic location, and institutional settings profoundly shape educational journeys in China, with a particular focus on English language learning. It reveals the deeply entrenched inequalities within the education system.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with 36 English majors from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds at an elite Chinese university, the study traces their educational trajectories in a longitudinal framework. It offers a novel application of Bourdieu's theoretical constructs-capital, field, and habitus-by extending the concept of institutional habitus to the Chinese context. Through this lens, the analysis uncovers how the interplay of social and institutional forces influences access, opportunity, and academic outcomes.
This title is essential reading for sociologists of education, comparative education researchers, policymakers, educators, university administrators, and students in China and beyond. It provides critical perspectives for anyone interested in educational equity, social mobility, and language policy.

List of contents

List of figures
List of tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
2 Mapping China's social fabric and educational landscape
3 The Role of family background
4 Geographic divide and stratified school system
5 The mediating role of institutional factors
6 Conclusions
Index

About the author

Zi Yang, a Cambridge Ph.D. graduate, is affiliated with the Institute of Education, Xiamen University. Her research focuses on the sociology of education, and teaching and learning in the digital age, with recent work on educational inequality and digital pedagogy.

Product details

• Authors: Zi Yang
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 07.11.2025
• EAN: 9781041132288
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4113228-8
• No. of pages: 128
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); China, EDUCATION / General, History, Cultural Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, EDUCATION / Language Experience Approach, Humanities, Regional Studies, Regional / International studies, Moral and social purpose of education, Teaching of a specific subject, Moral & social purpose of education, EDUCATION / Schools / Levels / Higher