The influence of cultural capital and mianzi (face) on mature students’ orientation towards higher education in China

Shanshan Guan,Josef Ploner

doi:10.1080/03057925.2018.1490999

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the wider context of national growth and investment in higher education in China, more mature students seek to gain access to university education. Considering the far-reaching socioeconomic and political shifts in contemporary China and its higher education sector in particular, this study explores the experience of mature university students in this country and poses the seemingly simple question as to why these students did not pursue higher education when they were school-leavers, but chose to study at a mature age. Drawing on biographical interviews with 20 Chinese mature university students, the paper explores their aspirations, motivations and tribulations behind embarking on higher education. Revisiting Bourdieu’s ideas on ‘inherited’ and ‘acquired’ cultural capital and examining the related Chinese cultural notion of mianzi (‘face’), it is argued that family and social networks are decisive factors in mature students’ orientation towards higher education.

Highlights

It has widely been argued that cultural capital is tightly intertwined with access to, and success in, higher education (Reay et al, 2009; Reay, 2004; Xu and Wang, 2010)
Defined as ‘non-mainstream’ or ‘disadvantaged’, mature students have received a fair amount of attention in the Anglophone literature, where authors have examined the manifold ways in which cultural capital impacts on their motivation and transition to higher education (Swain and Hammond, 2011; Fragoso et al, 2013)
Some of the narratives emerging from the biographical interviews with mature students will be presented, with a particular focus on their views on inherited cultural capital and acquired cultural capital

Summary

Introduction

It has widely been argued that cultural capital (or the perceived lack of it) is tightly intertwined with access to, and success in, higher education (Reay et al, 2009; Reay, 2004; Xu and Wang, 2010). Many studies claim that insufficient inherited cultural capital is a key reason for students’ absence and attrition from higher education (Reay et al, 2002; Reay, 2011; Winkle-Wagner, 2010). Defined as ‘non-mainstream’ or ‘disadvantaged’, mature students have received a fair amount of attention in the Anglophone literature, where authors have examined the manifold ways in which cultural capital impacts on their motivation and transition to higher education (Swain and Hammond, 2011; Fragoso et al, 2013). A majority of studies claim that cultural capital is derived from students’ family and social backgrounds and determines their participation and success in higher education. It is well documented that (mature) students who represent the first generation in higher education in their families tend to encounter more difficulties in being recruited than students whose parent(s) hold a university degree (Crozier et al, 2011; Dumais and Ward, 2010; Gofen, 2009)

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Discussion

Conclusion