The relationship between decentralization and inequality remains puzzling. The primary objective of this paper is to study the effects of decentralization on regional education inequality in China where national higher education policies systematically prioritize large cities. We apply the Gini coefficient and the econometric model of regional…

This study contributes to the substantial body of studies on the relationships between family socioeconomic status (SES), gender inequality, and higher education selection. It does so by 1) examining the association between SES and gender inequality in higher education, and 2) comparing changes in socioeconomic and gender inequality before and…

Although national trends in rural-urban gaps in college enrolment have been well studied, little research has examined variation in gaps across provinces. Using representative data of five provinces from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this study adopts a cross-provincial assessment approach to explore the relationship between higher education…

Following Bourdieu's classic work on habitus and field, scholars use habitus fit/misfit to distinguish students' college experience but how students' experiences habitus misfit and transformation in relation to their career preparation process remains understudied. This study conducted longitudinal in-depth interviews with 32 students at an elite…

China's higher education expansion policy implemented in 1999 has substantially increased higher education opportunities. This paper investigates whether rural students do benefit more from the expansion policy and achieve educational equity between urban and rural areas. Based on the four waves of nationwide micro survey data, collected in 2000,…

Psychological studies of the denial of prejudice and discrimination have suggested that although members of target groups are sensitive to episodes of discrimination, they may deny episodes of discrimination to maintain a positive self-image. Here, through two studies, we investigated the role of the perceiver and target gender in shaping…

Drawing upon notions of a global higher education policy field and recently theorised conceptions of 'global-local' imbrications in social space, this article explores the complex tensions that characterise the enactment of internationalisation policies in Chinese higher education (HE) and their contrasting effects upon domestic and international…

The study explored how the quality of Internet access influenced students' online learning experiences during the pandemic-imposed large-scale adoption of online education. Drawing upon digital inequality research, we analyzed data collected from 894 higher education international students in China. We found that both access devices and Internet…

This article examines the impact of rural origin on higher education access among one ethnic group, the Uyghur, a Muslim minority group who reside mostly in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with Uyghur university students, graduates, and the faculty who…

This handbook provides a frame of reference for the global challenges facing higher education leadership today. Focusing on recommendations and directions for the future rather than simply a recap of measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, the contributors also delve into contexts such as the climate crisis, issues of diversity, equity and…

Although the importance of developing students' academic literacies has been well-established, academic oracy has been forgotten. There is a paucity of attention to oracy in higher education, despite the key role played by students' oral communication in academic achievement and graduate employability. This study offers a scoping review of the…

Distance higher education plays a critical role in the promotion of regional equality in China by contributing to the availability of higher education. However, unbalanced regional development of distance higher education can lead to a widening of educational inequity. The study on which this article reports sheds light on the issue of unbalanced…

The massification of higher education has dramatically changed the association between credentials and jobs in advanced countries, while its impacts in transitional economies have received less academic attention. To address this research lacuna, the paper utilizes rich information from China's national surveys of college graduates from 2003 to…

This study was aimed to explore systemic educational equity, educational policies, equity determinants, and equity leadership as they affect performance excellence at Chinese higher education institutions. 4 research questions were developed from this research topic. A qualitative case study analysis methodology was applied. An interpretative case…

By making use of a nationally representative dataset collected by China Family Panel Studies, this article discusses how the higher education expansion policy influences the equality of higher education access opportunity. Moreover, this study applied the multilevel cross-classified model in order to control for inequality in chances of enrollment…