Network diversity and educational inequality: A case study of China

Abstract

This qualitative study looked at network diversity and educational attainment. In the summer of 2008, in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 undergraduate students from two of the most prestigious universities in China—Peking University and Tsinghua University. Twenty respondents came from a rural background and the other 10 were from urban areas. It was found that the educational support networks of the rural students were generally larger than those of their urban peers. This is because they faced more barriers than the urban students and their network members were less able to provide them with resources, so they needed more supporters in their journey to elite colleges. The findings indicate that rural students do not get enough help from the state and therefore have to rely on their own resources to achieve academic mobility.