Parental expectations relating to children’s higher education in urban China: Cultural capital and social class

Abstract

This article employs Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital to examine the social class differences in the expectations relating to higher education among parents and students in urban China. This study fills a gap in understanding the complex factors that underpin parental expectations regarding children’s higher education. This study has been conducted using mixed methods, comprising a large-scale questionnaire with semi-structured interviews. The data have revealed that parental expectations of their children’s higher education are classed. There is a significant difference between middle-class and working-class parental expectations regarding children’s higher education due to difference in the volumes of cultural capital. It is clear that some of the middle-class parents have a particular concern as to whether the campus culture matches their children’s personality.