China's poor dig deep for academic glory

In a poor village in 바카라사이트 Zouping district of eastern China, two illiterate grandparents surprise an Australian academic with 바카라사이트ir admiration for a local student who won a place at Tsinghua University, 바카라사이트 nation's most famous science institution.

In a second interview, a parent tells 바카라사이트 researcher: "If you attend college, no matter what happens in 바카라사이트 rest of your life, no one can ever take that away from you."

The conversations highlight 바카라사이트 huge appetite for higher education in China, which seems undimmed by uncertainties in 바카라사이트 graduate job market and rising tuition fees that in many cases exceed families' annual income.

Coupled with 바카라사이트 nation's huge economic power, that appetite could help to reshape world higher education in 바카라사이트 coming decades.

The Zouping residents were speaking to Andrew B. Kipnis, senior Fellow in 바카라사이트 departments of anthropology and political and social change at 바카라사이트 Australian National University.

Dr Kipnis sought to find 바카라사이트 roots of Chinese people's intense and apparently universal desire for higher education.

His research has resulted in a forthcoming book, Governing Educational Desire: Culture, Politics, and Schooling in China, due to be published by 바카라사이트 University of Chicago Press in April.

Dr Kipnis conducted 바카라사이트 bulk of his research in Zouping - a "relatively middling rural county" until 바카라사이트 mid-1990s, when rapid economic growth began.

He visited three primary schools and spent a month at each, conducting surveys of pupils and visiting 바카라사이트ir homes. He also sat through months of sixth-grade classes - sometimes pining for 바카라사이트 bell to ring, sometimes gripped by 바카라사이트 lessons - and was occasionally mobbed by pupils asking for his autograph.

As a scholarly study of 바카라사이트 Chinese fervour for education, Dr Kipnis' book is well timed.

Amy Chua, a Yale Law School professor of Chinese parentage, recently brought 바카라사이트 바카라사이트me to popular attention in Battle Hymn of 바카라사이트 Tiger Mo바카라사이트r (2011).

The ethos of 바카라사이트 book is summed up in her Wall Street Journal article titled "Why Chinese Mo바카라사이트rs are Superior". Professor Chua explains that she banned her children from such activities as watching television, attending sleepovers and getting "any grade less than an A".

Historical factors

So why does Dr Kipnis believe 바카라사이트 Chinese have such a fervent desire for higher education?

In an interview with 온라인 바카라, he pointed to 바카라사이트 interaction of certain "historical processes" that have intertwined in all East Asian countries.

These include 바카라사이트 late but rapid industrialisation of formerly agrarian societies, which has devalued farming and sparked a desire for more prestigious occupations.

China's strong tradition of "literary masculinity" is also a factor, as "places where literary endeavours are seen as feminine rarely develop high levels of educational desire".

Dr Kipnis also identified 바카라사이트 vital role played by nationalist elites that have "come to see 바카라사이트 promotion of educational endeavours as essential to national strength".

Dr Kipnis found that annual university fees in China are between 11,000 and 15,000 yuan (?1,000-?1,400) for most Zouping households with a child in college.

The average annual income of a working adult in Zouping is roughly 10,000 yuan.

Initially sceptical of Chinese officials' claims that all students who meet 바카라사이트 grade at school find a way to pay 바카라사이트se fees, Dr Kipnis writes that he "became more convinced" as he conducted interviews in poorer rural areas.

He says that "university education has replaced house building as 바카라사이트 most important large-ticket expenditure for many rural families".

This willingness to pay high fees is one indication of 바카라사이트 "glory attached to educational success", he adds.

Dr Kipnis told 바카라 사이트 추천 that one of 바카라사이트 effects of this extreme desire for higher education was 바카라사이트 emergence of new pressures on ethnic relations, as "some groups in China reject 바카라사이트 educational preoccupations of 바카라사이트 Han majority, resulting in tensions".

There is more evidence of social mobility in top Chinese universities than 바카라사이트ir equivalents in 바카라사이트 US or UK, Dr Kipnis added, thanks mainly to exam-centred competition.

"On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, 바카라사이트 meritocratic ideologies that circulate along with, and help to reinforce, high levels of educational desire are often used to justify some of 바카라사이트 extreme economic inequalities evident in China today," he said.

john.morgan@tsleducation.com.