Chinese Higher Education Reform and Social Justice

In place of a distributive justice perspective which focuses simply on equal access to universities, this book presents a broader understanding of the relationship between Chinese higher education and economic and social change. The necessity for research on the place of universities in contemporary Chinese society may be seen from current debates about and policy towards issues of educational inequality at Chinese universities. Many questions arise as a consequence: What are the limitations of neo-liberalism in higher education policy and what are the alternatives? How has the Chinese government met the challenges of educational inequality, and what lessons may be learned from its recent initiatives? How may higher education enhance social justice in Chinese society given economic, social, and cultural inequality? What may be learned from the experience of Macau, Hong Kong, and of Taiwan in terms of achieving social justice in Chinese universities? These questions are considered by a group of leading scholars from both inside and outside China.

Introduction 1. Chinese higher education and social justice: The capabilities approach Zhen Li and John Lowe 2. Social justice through financial support at China's universities: A student survey in Shaanxi Province Bin Wu and Bernadette Robinson 3. Employment equality at China's universities: Perceptions of income distribution among university teachers in Beijing Junfu Li, Bin Wu and W. John Morgan 4. The career prospects of university graduates from urban families: A cultural perspective Dian Liu and Yanbi Hong 5. Moving to find a job: Chinese masters’ degree graduates and internal migration Fengliang Li, Yandong Zhao and W. John Morgan 6. Residential colleges as living-learning communities in China: Some recent developments Kai-yan Choi 7. Adult higher and continuing education in mainland China and in Hong Kong: Social justice or user pays? Ning Rong Liu and John Cribbin 8. Social justice and higher education financing in Hong Kong Peter P Yuen, Ngok Lee, Stephanie W Lee and Jason K Y Chan 9. Taiwanese adult learners with self-regulated learning difficulties: The social justice perspective Cheng-Yen Wang

Bin Wu is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK.