Elite Universities Research Articles

The neoliberal coloniality of EMI in Hong Kong higher education: insights from online stancetaking

Abstract While the implementation of English-medium instruction (EMI) in many elite universities is established as common sense, it is fraught with challenges and contradictions. In post-colonial multilingual contexts such as Hong Kong, we argue that EMI is sustained by neoliberal coloniality, whereby its status as an enduring legacy of the hegemonic colonial order is maintained by contemporary neoliberal imperatives. From a stancetaking perspective we examine how members of the public take up stances on EMI on an online forum, in response to an initial thread openly criticising its use on a social work programme at a Hong Kong university. Our analysis of 480 posts shows a range of stances with regard to three recurrent themes, namely practicality, flexibility and fairness. The findings indicate that EMI attracted strong affective rejection from some due to perceived impracticality and inflexibility in its implementation, as well as issues of inclusion in relation to students’ different linguistic repertoires. Conversely, they also reveal deeply entrenched ideologies supporting the use of EMI, most notably for its purported practicality and promised benefits. We conclude by reflecting on the value of stancetaking in understanding ideology and the specific ideological and practical implications of EMI in Hong Kong.

Examining COVID-19’s disruptive effect on education in Mexican universities

This paper estimates the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on new entry, enrollment, and graduation outcomes at universities in Mexico, which, prior to the pandemic, had an average enrollment of 1583 students. Using administrative data on all universities in Mexico and a difference-in-differences methodology, the results show that the pandemic had a negative effect on new entry (16 %), enrollment (2.5 %), and graduation (22 %). We explore heterogenous effects by funding source (public vs private), elite university status (top 20 vs non-top 20), delivery format (synchronous or in-person vs asynchronous), gender, and ten areas of study. The results show that: (1) the decline in graduation was mainly driven by public universities, (2) top 20 universities increased their new entry relative to their non-top 20 counterparts, (3) in-person programs did not display lower impacts than asynchronous ones, except for graduation rates, (4) men and women were equally impacted in terms of graduation, and (5) when considering academic areas of study, education-related majors suffered the highest decrease in new entry (25 %), and science-related majors observed the highest decrease in graduation (38 %).

Who is more popular in the faculty recruitment of Chinese elite universities: overseas returnees or domestic graduates?

Chinese universities typically demonstrate a preference for individuals with overseas educational experience in their faculty recruitment policies. However, there is a notable lack of research examining whether and to what extent overseas returnees possess an advantage over domestic graduates in securing employment at higher-ranking universities. To address this research gap, this study employs propensity score matching to compare the probability of being employed as academic faculty by prestigious universities between these two cohorts. This study entails the compilation of curriculum vitae data from faculty members at prestigious universities in China, totaling ~90,000 resumes. The results substantiate a positively skewed influence of overseas education on academics’ career advancement. Overseas returnees are more likely to obtain academic positions at higher-ranking universities compared to domestic graduates, with this effect demonstrating a consistent upward trend over time. Further subgroup analyses revealed that the advantage of overseas education varies among faculties graduating from different undergraduate institutions and undergoes changes over time. The latest trend indicates that those who attended Project 985 universities during their undergraduate stage derive the most significant advantages from studying abroad during their doctoral phase.

Untangling the dominant culture in China’s elite universities

AbstractWestern literature has shown that elite universities are not culturally inclusive, presuming that these institutions predominantly reflect the culture of the affluent middle class. While cultural inclusion of socioeconomically disadvantaged students is a globally relevant issue, the overarching presumption does not necessarily apply to non-Western societies. This article reconsiders this assumption in the Chinese context, addressing the lack of systematic research untangling the dominant culture in elite Chinese universities. A two-phase, mixed-methods case study was conducted at two top-ranked universities in eastern and western China. In the first phase, a content analysis of the stories of the universities’ award-winning seniors was combined with a thematic analysis of the in-depth interviews with 49 graduating seniors to untangle the formal and informal dominant culture in China’s elite universities. The findings led to a three-fold model of dominant culture characterized by an emphasis on individual academic performance, loyalty to Communist Party ideology, and the significant influence of students from advantaged family backgrounds. In the second phase, three hypotheses about the impacts of this dominant culture on students’ socio-cultural integration were tested, largely supporting the three-fold model and highlighting the roles of academic and political performance in facilitating cultural inclusion. This study sheds new light on cultural capital studies in non-Western contexts and emphasizes that cultural (dis)advantages should be cautiously examined considering the historical and ideological context shaping higher education.

Elite university bachelor’s degree salary premium for master’s graduates: empirical evidence from China

ABSTRACT The labor market’s response to the signaling value of multiple qualifications (bachelor’s and master’s degrees) held by master’s graduates influences labor market efficiency and individual decisions to invest in education. Using data from the ‘Sample Survey of Chinese Higher Education Institutions’ conducted in 2017 and 2019, this study analyzes whether master’s graduates with bachelor’s degrees from elite universities earn salary premiums. The findings indicate that bachelor’s degrees from elite universities provide approximately a 12% salary premium for master’s graduates, attributable to both human capital and labor market signaling mechanisms. When accounting for individual human capital differences, the salary premium is approximately 9.1%. Furthermore, the empirical results show that these premiums are statistically significant only for master’s graduates from elite universities. The distribution of salary premiums exhibits a U-shaped trend, increasing from low to high salary quantiles. The signaling/screening mechanism’s salary premiums rise with starting salaries, while negative signaling effects are observed at lower quantiles.

Where Did the Global Elite Go to School? Hierarchy, Harvard, Home and Hegemony

ABSTRACTWe examine the educational backgrounds of the global elite, using new data on a diversity of organizational leadership roles as well as the population of the super‐rich across the world. Four trends emerge when examining the university education of the global elite. First, we find a small number of globally prestigious universities to take on super prominent roles, suggesting a strongly hierarchical distribution of credentials among the global elite. Second, we find a consistent and unique place for Harvard University within this system. Third, we find evidence for a significant yet variable ‘home‐bias’ in the education of the global elite. This is moderated by the fourth regularity, the hegemony of Anglo‐American credentials. These four global regularities can enhance ongoing research on global elite populations. Our findings are robust to both the removal of all American elites in the sample, to dynamic stratified sampling of the network boundary and to disaggregating the sample into different elite roles. The analysis of this article is the first of its kind to offer a large‐scale descriptive mapping of central tendencies in global elite university education.

Black excellence: the affective experiences of Black working-class young people in an English secondary school

ABSTRACT Affect and habitus are used in the paper to harness the intermingling of race and class in the young people’s everyday identity practices at school, as they aspire to embody ‘Black excellence’. This paper draws on ethnographic data collected with working-class Black-British young people aged between 16 and 18. Through the careful management of identity and reputation, the young people in this paper negotiate affective struggles to attain and secure a high academic status within a deeply neoliberalised school context. The paper argues that the identity discourse of ‘Black excellence’ connects dimensions of class and race in the young people’s identity work. Black excellence is described as classed and racialised reflexivity which helped the young people pivot their identity as they sought to maximise their educational opportunities to transition into elite universities.

A Moral Dilemma of “Selling Out”: Race, Class, and Career Considerations among Elite College Students

Abstract Research on occupational choice focuses on individualistic work values and emphasizes economic returns. Drawing from 62 in-depth interviews with Asian, Black, and White first-generation, low-income (FGLI), and middle-class students at an elite university, I argue that students’ career decisions comprise a moral dimension. How students contended with this dimension varied based on the intersection of their racial and class backgrounds. Specifically, patterns broadly align with two categories: contingent objections to certain high-prestige, high-paying careers arising from individual priorities or concern for social good, and linked obligations to broader collectivities, such as ethnoracial groups or families. While students across all racial and class backgrounds raised objections based on different individual priorities, FGLI students primarily mentioned objections based on the value of social good. Across class backgrounds, Asian and Black students more often cited obligations based on ethnoracial uplift compared to their White peers. Asian and Black FGLI students prioritized family contributions more strongly than their White FGLI counterparts. Paradoxically, some students used these evaluative logics to justify “selling out” in pursuit of high-prestige, high-paying jobs, whereas others used these justifications to reject them. This study furthers understanding of the cultural processes behind social inequalities and highlights how the intersection of race and class shapes moral understandings.

College Adjustment and Information Experience of First‐Generation College Students' Coursework and Extracurricular Learning

ABSTRACTThe current study aims to explore college adjustment and information experiences of first‐generation college students in coursework and extracurricular learning contexts. Information World Mapping visual‐elicitation interviews were conducted with 25 first‐generation college students from two elite universities in one university system. We found that while first‐generation college students tend to feel fallen behind, and be somewhat remote from professors and peers, they make use of all resorts to thrive in both coursework and extracurricular learning experiences. Most of their personal‐meaningful coursework experiences are academic group work; their extracurricular learning experiences are career‐oriented. Implications were discussed based on the findings.

PECULIARITIES OF THE FUNCTIONING OF DOMESTIC ELITE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The article provides a theoretical and practical analysis of the problem of the formation and development of elite higher education in Ukraine. In the context of the specified problem, the authors singled out: trends in the activity of educational institutions in the conditions of a full-scale invasion of Russia; factors of increased interest of researchers in studying the problem of elites, elite thinking, elite educational institutions; growth trends of private educational institutions in Europe and Ukraine.An analysis of different approaches to the interpretation of the concepts of "elite", "private school", "alternative educational institutions", "elite education", "elite university", etc. is offered. The authors proposed a description of different types of private schools, in particular, elitist, denominational, compensatory, conjunctural, national and alternative models. The article presents the classification of private schools (preschool, primary, day, non-formal, with moderate and high tuition fees, with historically developed traditions and modernity, etc.), and highlights their characteristic features.A comparative analysis of research and elite universities was partially carried out, and the characteristic features of a research university were singled out and characterized (the multi-functionality of the institution, the presence of a system of training specialists with a scientific degree, a wide selection of specialities and specializations, the formation of an intellectual environment around the university, a competitive and selective approach to the selection of students; the presence of corporate ethics, etc.). The article focuses on the specific characteristics of elite universities (autonomy, compactness, own traditions, small numbers, etc.), highlights the most significant factors of the emergence and development of elite higher education institutions in Ukraine (growing demand of the population for appropriate education, creation of an appropriate educational environment, expanded network of social provision of the most gifted students, etc.).

Adaptation, change and reaffirmation: investigating the limits of young working-class men adapting to elite higher education institutions

ABSTRACT Historically, and in contemporary society, the pursuit of higher education remains an integral part of social mobility. The research presented in this article aligns with previous research capturing the complexities many students from non-traditional backgrounds face in transitioning to tertiary education. We focus on a small cohort of young men from working-class backgrounds who were able to access elite higher education institutions. Statistically, this population is the least likely to attend university or engage in post-secondary education and training. We explore how they adjust aspects of their identities to align with their perception of an elite university context. We see their journeys as a process of negotiation, of identifying with certain aspects associated with elite settings while rebuffing others often through reference of historically embedded aspects of working-class culture. To decipher these negotiations, we focus specifically on four key themes present in the data: a sense of exceptionalism; confronting the competitive culture; fitting in; and reaffirmations of working-class culture.

After Admission: The Emotional Suffering of Students Enrolled Through the Rural Students Quota Plan in China's Elite Universities

ABSTRACTThe Chinese government has implemented a series of special admission policies in recent years to promote higher education equity. One of the key approaches is the ‘Rural Students Quota Plan’, which requires elite universities to enrol a certain number of rural students from disadvantaged social and economic backgrounds each year. This study adopted qualitative methods to explore the experiences of these students, focusing on their emotional journeys after admission to elite universities. In this project, 32 rural students from R University were invited to participate in semi‐structured interviews. After thematic analysis, this paper further focuses on the systematic presentation and in‐depth analysis of ten of these Quota Plan students' university experiences to carefully delve into their emotional journeys while integrating the narratives of other participants as background data into the analysis. Drawing on Bourdieu's conceptual tools, this study highlights how emotional struggles such as the sense of feeling lost and inferior are shaped by external social structures and the elite university field. The study argues that as elite universities strive to enrol more rural students, mechanisms must be put in place to better support rural students in their adaptation and integration throughout the higher education process.

Credential inflation and employment of university faculty in China

Universities have become increasingly strict with the academic requirements of newly enrolled faculties. It manifests as the credential inflation of new applicants for university academic positions. There is little research that has provided empirical evidence for this phenomenon. This research takes China as a case, aiming to test whether there is credential inflation in universities and the inflation rate. To conduct research, we collect faculty resume information from 802 Chinese universities, including 159,752 resumes. Results confirm credential inflation in Chinese universities’ newly enrolled faculties with domestic education. The credential inflation in elite universities, especially for 211 project universities, is the most obvious. On the contrary, those faculties with overseas education can be employed by higher-ranking institutions than local graduates, and the benefits of studying abroad in terms of the employment of university faculty have continuously improved overall. In the professional field of Chinese university faculties, the devaluation of domestic academic qualifications and the appreciation of overseas academic qualifications are relatively apparent.

African students consuming the Chinese higher education market: the role of pre-mobility capital(s) in transnational social reproduction strategies

ABSTRACT Despite the sharp growth in numbers and geopolitical significance of African students in China, studies focusing on Sino-African student mobility remain relatively limited. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 15 self-financed students from five different African countries, we employ Bourdieu’s central concept of capital(s) to explore the decision-making process of student migrants studying at a vocational college in southeast China. Though traditionally elite and upper-ranked universities are endowed with a high level of symbolic value, our study shows that the motivation to study abroad is significantly mediated by access to pre-mobility capitals(s). In considering students as consumers of the Chinese higher education market, the research broadens the mobilities optic within the Global South by documenting the transnational reproduction strategies of the African middle – and working-classes in contemporary times.

Inequality and education in Australia

Abstract Australia’s education system is one of the most developed globally and also one of the most privatised. Despite the substantial expenditure by state governments and the federal government, it is profoundly unequal with respect to access, funding, resources, and results from early childhood education to university. The inequality has class and spatial features, and Indigenous Australians are at the bottom of the rung. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural, social, and economic capital, I show that the education system, whilst certainly allowing for some mobility, facilitates the reproduction of the existing class structure. Children from low-income households are more likely to not attend childcare, to attend a school that lacks resources and where going on to university is viewed as exceptional rather than the rule. In contrast, the economic capital of wealthier households allows them to access childcare and elite private schools. The cultural and social capital of these schools reproduces a born to rule ethos, and progression to an elite university is an assumed path.

Factors Associated with Anxiety and Depression among Elite Collegiate Badminton Players in Japan: Exploratory Analysis

This study focused on mental health and fatigue in elite university student-athletes competing in badminton at the national level, comparing them with control university students and examining related factors. Among university athletes, anxiety and depression showed a moderately negative correlation with life satisfaction outside of sports, as determined by partial correlation tests adjusted for fatigue. Athletes demonstrated a 47% rate of anxiety and a 30% rate of depression. These values showed no significant difference from those of the anxiety (29%) and depression (21%) rates in a non-athlete university student sample. In addition, this study suggested that the evaluation of fatigue using a checklist of individual strength might produce low reliability and validity for elite university student-athletes in badminton. These exploratory findings highlight the importance of focusing on athletes’ overall life satisfaction and suggest the potential need for effective mental health interventions beyond sports. However, because of the exploratory nature of this study and the small sample size, further research is necessary to confirm these results.

The long‐run educational benefits of high‐achieving classrooms

AbstractThis paper examines how placement in high‐achieving classrooms within high school impacts students’ short‐ and longer‐term academic outcomes. Our setting is a large and selective Chinese high school, where first‐year students are separated into high‐achieving and regular classrooms based on their performance on a standardized exam. Classrooms differ in terms of peer ability, teacher quality, and class size, as well as level and pace of instruction. Using newly collected administrative data and a regression discontinuity design, we show that high‐achieving classrooms improve math test scores by 23% of a standard deviation, with effects persisting throughout the 3 years of high school. Impacts on performance in Chinese and English language subjects are more muted. Importantly, we find that high‐achieving classrooms raise enrollment in elite universities by 17 percentage points, as they substantially increase scores on the national college entrance exam—the sole determinant of university admission in China. We provide suggestive evidence that the most likely mechanism driving our results is exposure to higher‐quality teachers.

Predictive Value of the KOJI AWARENESS Self-Evaluation System for Running Injuries in Elite Male Long-Distance Runners: A Prospective Cohort Study.

The KOJI AWARENESS (KA) test is a practical self-evaluation tool that assesses body movements and may help develop individual conditioning plans to improve movement function. However, the association between preseason KA scores and in-season injury occurrence remains unexplored. To investigate whether the KA self-screening test score can predict running-related injuries in elite long-distance runners. Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. A total of 47 elite college male long-distance runners (age, 18-22 years) were enrolled in this study in June 2022. The participants underwent the KA self-screening test to assess preseason upper limb, core, and lower limb function. Running-related injuries with a training time loss of >3 weeks were tracked for 6 months during the season. The participants were divided into injury and noninjury groups, and between-group comparisons and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used to determine the association between the KA scores and the injury incidence. Chi-square tests and risk ratios were calculated based on the cutoff value- and injury-based grouping. Among the runners, 10 (21.3%) sustained an injury. There were no significant differences in the demographic characteristics between the injury and noninjury groups. The injury group had significantly lower KA scores than the noninjury group (median, 44.5 [interquartile range, 43-46.8] vs median, 48 [interquartile range, 46-50], respectively; P = .009). The ROC curve analysis determined a cutoff value of 46.5 points (sensitivity, 73%; specificity, 63.6%), indicating that the KA scores exhibited a relatively high predictive value for running-related injuries (area under the ROC curve, 0.764 [95% CI, 0.600-0.930]). The risk ratio for group division based on the cutoff value was 2.590 (95% CI, 1.329-5.047). These findings demonstrated that the KA test is an effective self-screening tool for predicting the risk of running-related injuries in elite male long-distance runners.

Prevalence of de Quervain’s tenosynovitis among smartphone users due to text messages in undergraduate students of Gujranwala.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of De Quervain's tensosynovitis among smart phone users caused by excessive text messaging in undergraduate students of Gujranwala. Study Design: Cross Sectional study. Setting: Data was collected from different Institutes of Gujranwala City in the Institutes i.e. Elite College Gujranwala, Gujranwala Institute of Medical Sciences, Gujranwala Medical College, and Degree College Gujranwala. Period: 01-01-2022 to 30-06-2022. Methods: Institutes were selected by convenience sampling technique. 8 male and 12 female institutes were selected. The sample size at the time of study were 300. In this investigation, non-probability convenience sampling technique was used. Results: Results show that youngsters using smartphone frequently showed more positive result for Dequervain tenosynovitis (Finkelstein test p-value < 0.05). Conclusion: De Quervain's tenosynovitis is most prevalent among females. People with the age group of 20-21 are most effected as compared to the other age groups. Because of their repetitive usage of smartphone experiencing ache and weakness over the base of pollex or wrist. There seems to be a direct link among heavy text communications on a smartphone and prevalence of Dequervain tenosynovitis.

Gender differences, academic patenting, and tenure-track reform in China: Evidence from life sciences at elite universities.

This study is the first to examine the gender gap in academic patenting among faculty members in Chinese universities, a critical issue for the sustainable development of scientific research and innovation. Using a unique dataset that includes the patenting activities and professional status of 1,836 faculty members in life science-related departments at 36 top Chinese universities, this research reveals an evolving landscape of patenting dynamics. The trend of male faculty members leading in the annual number of patent applications and patents granted has shifted among newly graduated faculty members. Female faculty submit and receive their first patent applications significantly earlier than male faculty. However, male faculty are more likely to be lead inventors, and this gender gap remains difficult to close, with female faculty more likely to be supporting inventors. This research is contextualized within the broader framework of China's university tenure reform and the growing presence of women in the life sciences. While progress is evident, the study uncovers persistent systemic barriers that prevent women from fully translating their research into patentable innovations. By identifying these social and institutional barriers, our study not only sheds light on the gender gap, but also suggests policy measures to promote gender equity in scientific innovation, making it a critical read for policymakers and academic leaders.