General and Vocational Tracks and Equity of Higher Education Enrollment Opportunities among Classes - A Reconstruction of Indicator System for Social Class-based Differential Enrollment Opportunities and its Empirical Analysis

Oct 15, 2026

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Grounded in educational hierarchical reproduction theory and the MMI and EMI hypotheses, the study examines how secondary-level tracking of general versus vocational education shapes equity in higher education enrollment opportunities across social classes. Findings show that higher gross enrollment in both general high schools and secondary vocational schools can improve admission opportunity equity. Adjusting the general-vocational place structure reduces class disparities in college enrollment opportunities, while neither scale nor structure changes address inequality in top-university opportunities. Data are drawn from national enrollment databases and yearbooks for 2014–2015.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Research Background and Purpose

Research Hypotheses

Data Sources

Results and Discussion

Regression Analysis of Tracking Effects

General and Vocational Tracks and Equity of Higher Education Enrollment Opportunities among Classes: A Reconstruction of Indicator System for Social Class-based Differential Enrollment Opportunities and its Empirical Analysis Yan Cao, Shanshan Tang Institute of Higher Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China | Based on the educational hierarchical reproduction theory and the MMI and EMI hypotheses, this paper discusses the impact of the tracking of general and vocational education at the secondary level on higher education opportunity equity among social classes. The study finds that increasing gross enrollment rates of both general high schools and secondary vocational schools can help improve the equity in admission opportunities of colleges and universities among social strata; expanding the share of general high school places by adjusting the structure of general and vocational tracks (that is, the generalvocational ratio) can effectively reduce the class disparities in college and university admission opportunities; neither the change in the scale nor in the structure of general and vocational tracks will contribute to alleviating class inequality in top university enrollment opportunities.
Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2022; 11(1):1461-1466.
Doi: 10.15354/bece.22.ab003. | | --- | | How to Cite: Yan, C., & Tang, S. (2022). General and vocational tracks and equity of higher education enrollment opportunities among classes: A reconstruction of indicator system for social class-based differential enrollment opportunities and its empirical analysis. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 11(1):1461-1466. | Keywords: Tracking of General and Vocational Education, Higher Education, Enrollment Opportunity, Class Equity, Class Disparity About the Author: Shanshan Tang, Institute of Higher Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China Correspondence to: Yan Cao, Institute of Higher Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China. E-mail: [caoyan0516@126.com](caoyan0516@126.com) Conflict of Interests: None. © 2022 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 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. The tracking of general and vocational education at the secondary level is the first streaming Chinese students face in the entire educational system. To some extent, it isnot only educational tracking, but also a form of hierarchical differentiation among classes. In the context of worsening social inequality and blocked social mobility, there exist huge class disparities in the acquisition of resources and capital in students’ early stage of schooling. The expansion of regular college and junior college enrollment scale and the continuous upgrading of the industry also contribute to the problematic circumstances of secondary vocational education such as low returns, implicit social discrimination, and obscure development prospects. The primary issue for the tracking of general and vocational education in China is the contradiction between the need of economy and industry for vocational education development and the low public demand for vocational education. The purpose of this paper is to explore the appropriate tracking scale and structure that help reduce the gap in student access to higher education among social strata from the perspective of regional development. Research Hypotheses The increase in total enrollment of general schools enable those students who would otherwise be diverted to the vocational track to enter academic schools and enhance their opportuni

FAQs

How does secondary-level general and vocational tracking affect higher education opportunity equity?

The study links tracking differences to higher education opportunity equity across social classes, showing that the structure and distribution of school places influence disparities.

What do the findings suggest about improving equity in admission opportunities?

Increasing gross enrollment rates in both general high schools and secondary vocational schools helps improve equity in admission opportunities, and expanding general high school place share can reduce class disparities.

Which aspect of tracking does not help reduce inequality in top-university enrollment opportunities?

Neither changes in the scale nor changes in the structure of general and vocational tracks contribute to alleviating class inequality in top university enrollment opportunities.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Bulrr