Family Capital and the Quality of Senior Secondary Education Opportunities - An Analysis Based on the Post-Junior Secondary Education Tracking in County B of Jiangsu Province

Oct 15, 2026

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Disparities in the quality of senior secondary education opportunities are central to China’s educational equity research because they shape students’ access to higher education and future occupational outcomes. This study examines how family capital relates to the quality of children’s senior secondary education opportunities using post-junior secondary education tracking data in County B of Jiangsu. Results show stronger effects from family social capital than cultural capital, with cultural capital more influential for admission to high-quality schools, while policy and support strategies are proposed.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages10

Reading Time25 min

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Introduction

The Analytical Framework and Research Hypotheses

Family Capital and the Quality of Senior Secondary Education Opportunities: An Analysis Based on the Post-Junior Secondary Education Tracking in County B of Jiangsu Province Xinzhuo Zhu, Jingya Luo Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China Abstract: The disparities in the quality of senior secondary education opportunities are one of key topics in educational equity research in China as they have a critical impact on students’ access to higher education and even their future occupational attainments. Students’senior secondary education opportunities are related to multiple factors. This study attempted to examine the relationship between family capital and the quality of children’s senior secondary education opportunities. The research into the post-junior secondary education tracking in County B of Jiangsu Province demonstrated that compared with vocational secondary education opportunities, children’s access to general senior secondary education (including ordinary and key high schools) was significantly and positively affected by family social capital and less so by family cultural capital, but had a weak correlation with family economic capital; and that cultural capital had more significant impact on children’s admission to high-quality senior secondary schools than to ordinary high schools. Subjective aspects of family capital helped improve the access to ordinary senior secondary education of children from underprivileged classes, whilst objective aspects of family capital could limit their key high school enrollment opportunity. It was suggested that the government push through the implementation of the“quota allocation policy” to promote balanced distribution of high achieving students; and that disadvantaged families make more efforts to increase their cultural capital, and schools and communities provide more support to disadvantaged groups to compensate for their paucity of cultural capital and to upgrade the quality of senior secondary education opportunities of their children. | Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2023; 13(1):1679-1688.
Doi: [10.15354/bece.23.ar029](10.15354/bece.23.ar029) | | --- | | How to Cite: Zhu, X., & Luo, J. (2023). Family capital and the quality of senior secondary education opportunities: An analysis based on the post-junior secondary education tracking in county B of Jiangsu province. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 13(1):1679-1688. | Keywords: Family Capital, Cultural Capital, Economic Capital, Social Capital, Senior Secondary Education Opportunities, Post-Junior Secondary Education Tracking Correspondence to: Xinzhuo Zhu, School of Education, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China. E-mail: [57097061@qq.com](57097061@qq.com) [Conflict of Interests](Conflict of Interests: None.)[: None.](Conflict of Interests: None.) © 2023 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 License ([http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. Introduction As a result of the universalization of compulsory education and the increasing popularization of senior secondary education in China, child school enrollment is no longer an issue, and high-quality education resources have become the most pressing demands of the public. To undertake reliable studies of the equity of educational opportunities, we need first to identify the quality levels of and quality gaps in educational opportunities, and then to examine whether all groups have equitable access to educational resources of varying quality levels. Students’ access to education opportunities is af

FAQs

How does family capital relate to the quality of children’s senior secondary education opportunities in County B, Jiangsu?

Children’s access to general senior secondary education is significantly and positively affected by family social capital, less by family cultural capital, and weakly correlated with family economic capital.

Which aspect of family capital most affects admission to high-quality senior secondary schools?

Family cultural capital has a more significant impact on children’s admission to high-quality senior secondary schools than to ordinary high schools.

What policy and support recommendations does the study propose?

It suggests government implementation of a “quota allocation policy” to balance the distribution of high-achieving students, and encourages disadvantaged families to increase cultural capital while schools and communities provide additional support to compensate for disadvantages.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Bulrr