Over the past 50 years, China's initial teacher education (ITE) system has undergone significant changes and improvements. To review and reflect on these experiences, we construct a multi-level, context-specific conceptualisation of ITE professionalisation. Guided by this framework, we segment the history of ITE professionalisation into three…

Despite the potential of tertiary education to generate higher incomes and close the poverty gap within and between countries, it is still a challenge for many countries to ensure equity and quality in their higher education admissions. Compared to the more privileged, students from marginalized backgrounds face inequitable inputs that restrict…

There is increasing acknowledgement of the need to lighten the academic burden on Chinese primary and secondary students because it affects the quality of their education and well-being. This study investigates recent education policies to analyse how the problem of academic burden is framed in these policies and how they attempt to solve it. In…

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 examines the key historical stages of the sustainable rural education policy development, including the stage of Rural Education Restoration and Adjustment Period (1979-1985); the stage of Comprehensive Reform Period of Rural Education (1985-2003); the stage of Rural Education Coordinated Development Period (2003-2018); and the stage of…

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,…

This paper examines the "Double Reduction" policy issued by the Chinese government in 2021 by using a Critical Discourse Problematization Framework (CDPF) that combines Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and what's the problem represented to be (WPR) approach. The study points out that the changing discourse of equality and equity in…

The admission policy for public compulsory schools in China is neighbourhood enrolment which entitles children to attend their assigned local school free of charge, and this policy has been rigorously implemented in recent years to prevent school choice. However, driven by disparities in education provision, parents still find ways to make choices…

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…

School choice policy in China aims to achieve educational equity by limiting school choice. Synchronous Admission Reform (SAR hereafter) is a recent school choice reform in China, which continues to limit parents' autonomy and strengthen the equal distribution of school resources. This study explores Chinese middle-class parents' (n = 21) justice…

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 study looks at educational inequality in China, a country that has greatly expanded access to education in recent decades. It uses a sequential logit model to study the changing impact of family background on educational transitions, comparing birth cohorts that completed their schooling during different stages of the market transition…

In recent decades, China has experienced rapid economic development, and the education system has significantly improved, especially in special education. However, there are still some issues directly influencing access to and quality of special education in remote and rural areas of China, although the Chinese government has enacted some policies…

As the largest international student group in U.S. higher education, Chinese international students have been made particularly vulnerable due to the resurgence of anti-Asian racism and U.S.-China geopolitical tensions. There is therefore a pressing need to make sense of Chinese international students' perspectives and experiences around U.S.…

This study examines the challenges of female doctoral students in China at the intersection of neoliberal education and Confucian gender roles. Employing qualitative interviews with 12 students, it explores how they navigate academic pressures and societal expectations. Leveraging Margaret Archer's reflexivity theory, key findings show that these…