Educational Opportunities for Rural and Urban Residents in China, 1978-2008: Inequality and Evolution

Abstract

改革开放以来,随着中国教育规模的扩张,城乡居民的受教育水平逐年提高,但 教育不平等问题并未得到有效改善。本文使用CGSS2008数据,检验户籍、家庭社会 经济地位、父母受教育年限以及兄弟姐妹数量等因素对初中、高中和大学三个教育阶 段升学机会的影响及其作用在1978至2008年期间的变化趋势。研究发现,初中升学机 会的城乡差异没有变化,高中和大学升学机会的城乡不平等有扩大趋势;父亲职业地 位对子女升学机会的影响保持不变,表明教育获得的阶层差异自1978年以来没有发生 明显变化;父母受教育年限对子女教育获得的作用显著,而且其作用持续上升;因兄 弟姐妹数量差异导致的教育不平等也有上升趋势。要理解改革后中国教育不平等的结 构及其演变,除讨论阶层不平等外,尚需关注影响居民教育决策的微观机制。 关键词理性行动理论 文化资本 教育分层 教育政策 Despite the expansion of Chinese education and the steady rise in the educational level of urban and rural residents since reform and opening up, the problem of educational inequality has persisted. This study employs CGSS2008 data to test the effects of household registration, family socio-economic status, years of parental education, and sibship size on educational opportunity at the three stages of junior middle school, senior middle school and higher education, as well as the changes in these effects over the period 1978-2008. The results show that there is no observable rural-urban disparity in opportunities for continuation to the junior middle school stage, but there is rising inequality in opportunities for continuation to senior middle school and higher education; the influence of father’s occupational status on children’s educational opportunities remains largely the same, indicating that the stratification of educational attainment has not changed markedly since 1978; years of parental education play a marked and increasing role in children’s educational attainment; and educational inequality due to sibship size also displays a rising tendency. To understand the structure and evolution of inequality in Chinese education since reform and opening up, it is necessary to study the micro-level mechanisms affecting residents’ educational decision-making.