Meritocratic Narratives as Cultural Orientations: Explaining Child-Rearing Practices in China

Abstract

Concerted cultivation practices are not only explained by parents’ objective resources, but also by parents’ cultural orientations, which are associated with social class. While cultural orientations of parenting styles in Western societies have been studied, the role of beliefs in social reproduction in other parts of the world is still under-researched. The aim of this study was to understand whether social class and meritocratic beliefs of Chinese parents affect their parenting style with regard to children’s education and learning. Our findings suggest that both meritocratic beliefs and social class have a positive effect on concerted cultivation practices. The effect of parents’ meritocratic beliefs on parenting style is stronger than the effect of social class for boys and urban schools. In addition, meritocratic beliefs reduce class differentials in rural schools, but increase them in urban schools. We discuss the effectiveness of meritocratic beliefs promoting child-rearing practices regardless of the social origin.