UIUC On the Nexus of Local and Global Chinese college students in the era of global economic...

UIUC

On the Nexus of Local and GlobalChinese college students in the era of global economic restructuring

Yan Zhao Ciupak, PhD [email protected]

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Yan CiupakYan Ciupak

Today’s Talk

Ciupak’s Research1

The Chinese Students ProjectThe Chinese Students Project2

China’s Institutional Change3

Social Class and Education Choice

4

Classed Spatial Strategies5

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Ciupak’s Research

Education of Immigrant Children Ciupak, Y.(Forthcoming). Education of immigrants' children. in Some &

Pierre(Eds.) Re-defining America: The new wave of minority students and immigrants of color. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.

Weis, L., Ciupak, Y., Meyers, M. (2011). Sociology of Education in the United States. In S.Tozer, B.Gallegos & A.Henry (Eds.) Handbook of Research in the Social Foundations of Education. New York: Routledge.

Globalization, Chinese Edu & Society Ciupak, Y. (In Press). The changing educational opportunity structure in

China: Positioning for access to higher education. In L. Weis & N. Dolby (Eds.) Social Class and Education: Global Perspectives. New York: Routledge.

Ciupak, Y. (Forthcoming). On the nexus of local and global: Chinese higher education and college students in the era of globalization. New York: AMC Press

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Using Immigrant Theories in Studying International Students? John Ogbu's immigrant theories (cultural–

ecological theory ); John Ogbu's neglection of Asian Americans in his studies

Traditional assimilation theories-> "segmented assimilation (Portes and Zhou (1993) “

"selective acculturation (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001)

Transculturation: "developmental process that portrays children of immigrants as actors of merging and converging cultures in multidirectional and synchronous ways (Oh & Cooc, 2011, p.401)

The framework of multiple capitals-- intellectual, financial, social, and cultural (Bourdieu)

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My Research on Chinese Students (in China)The purpose: Study structural changes

through key actors’ lived experiences and policy analysis.

To be more specific, this project explores how college students’ educational- and occupational related choices and experiences connect to the local and global change, and in relation to the students’ family and institutional backgrounds.

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Major Methods:

Policy analysis and interview data from 75 students enrolled in 21 institutions in developed and less developed regions in China—Beijing, Shanghai, Taiyuan, Xinzhou, Shandong

The participants: 66 undergraduate students from 15 colleges of three tiers;

9 graduate students from 6 institutions. 6 administrators/ teachers were

interviewed to supplement information on university policies, expectations, graduate job placements, etc.

6 parents

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On the Nexus of Local and Global

Global: the market, the virtual community (internet), western commercialism…

Glocal

Local:the state power (Hukou system), the rural/urban divide, regional disparity, traditional culture…

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China and the Global Economic Restructuring China and the new global economic

map China’s higher education in the

innovation shift debate

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China’s Economic Reform and Institutional Change

Nature of Nature of Chinese SocietyChinese Society

Industrializing agrarian Society

New New Social StratificationSocial Stratification

• Working class is splitting• Peasant class is shrinking• Middle class is in the making

Dual Reward SystemDual Reward System

State Redistributive vs Market

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Chinese Higher Education Admission Policy & Practice centrally controlled system The annual standardized test NCEE is

practically the only selection criteria. Quota policy based on provinces plays a

central role. Regional inequality --Favorable admission policies for the

municipalities directly under the Central Government (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai,etc. )

--The uneven distribution of education resources -- The residence registration system hukou

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Social Class and Education Choice in Globalizing China

Anxiety of Competition: Chinese Urban Middle Class on the Rise

Anxiety of being Left Behind:Chinese Rural Peasant Families

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The Middle Class: Anxiety of Competition Trendy Majors The Chinese middle class parents are anxious to

frame their children’s choices around “trendy” majors related to the new global capital economy and institutions that provide ample global culture and experience.

Western Credential “Maximally maintained nequality(Gamaron)” occurs

with a classed spatial strategy, facilitated and encouraged by the educational markets on a world stage. Those who possess economic and cultural capitals begin to accumulate more valuable capitals and consolidate class by permeating national borders.

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The Allure of a Western Credential

International education in Asian middle class family’s seeking to access and accumulate economic, social, and cultural capitals (Mitchell 1997; Ong & Nonini 1997; Ong 1999).

Abroad experience embodies cultural capital, reflects better English skill, more “modern” attitude and characters, etc.

A more valuable form of institutionalized” cultural capital, hence a preferred qualification in employment screening in Asian countries.

Returning as an integral spatial strategy

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The Peasants: Anxiety of Being Left Behinda middle class

disposition/admiration for western culture and education.

Decision making is characterized by ill-information, conservatism, and arbitrariness.

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Classed Spatial Strategies and Place-making in the Global Modernity “outside” (wai4 mian)Middle class: major city, western countriesRural Peasants: leaving the rural area

YC: What are your parents’ expectations? Bei: They expect me to get good social status, get out of our small city, go

to a big city, and try to study abroad. My Dad thought that only in this way would my life be meaningful. Since junior high, my Dad had been suggesting that Beijing is a key city where I could broaden myself and get exposed to some international culture. They wanted me to go to Beijing. But I actually always liked Wuhan University. My interest is actually in engineering, not international trade.

(Bei, F. Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

YC: What do you think your parents expect of you? Shan-feng: I'm all their hope. They want me to grow up well and find a good

job. YC: What is a ‘good job’ according to your parents? Shan-feng: A secure job outside. YC: where does ‘outside’ refer to? Shan-feng: Fairly big cities, not in the countryside, away from the suffering

land. The parents’ generation has been struggling and suffering their whole lives, therefore they hope I could leave the village for better opportunities.

YC: Xinzhou city belongs to ‘outside’? (All the interviewees laughed). Shan-feng: (also laughing): Not really outside, but compared to a village,

it's outside. (Shan-feng, M, Xinzhou Teacher’s College)

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Is the World Flat?

Both groups show aspiration and admiration for global culture, urbanity, and modernity

Urban middle class students: “think and act locally and globally”

Rural peasant students are “dreaming globally, planning locally”.

UIUC On the Nexus of Local and Global Chinese college students in the era of global economic...

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