Bane or bonus? Class hukou composition and the paradox of rural children’s growth

Abstract

The proportion of urban students has an impact on Chinese students’ academic performance. The higher this proportion, the better the academic progress of the whole class. Nevertheless, there exists what I call a “squeeze structure.” In classes with a high proportion of urban students, rural students make less progress in their academic performance, while urban students make more. This paper argues that rural students’ disadvantaged position in receiving teachers’ praise and maintaining a positive psychological state is accountable for the squeeze structure. This structure prevails in under-served schools, boarding schools, schools that have risen in the ranking in the past five years, and schools with low admission autonomy.