Volume 3,Issue 9
The Resurgence and Development of Private Universities in China: An Analysis of Educational Equity Based on Bourdieu’s Theory
This paper examines the resurgence and development of private universities in China with Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital and social reproduction. It provides an overview of the history and development of private schools, introducing their initial forms and the transformation of their forms after the Reform and Opening-up Policy. It explores the relationship between the development of private schools and educational equity, and how private schools can become tools for the accumulation and transformation of cultural and social capital in their development. The paper emphasizes the educational injustice brought about by the resurgence of private schools and their impact on social justice. It concludes that Bourdieu’s theory offers a compelling explanation of the resurgence and development of private schools in China, and it reveals how the education system has intensified the social class division. Understanding and applying Bourdieu’s theory can guide future developments in Chinese education, promoting educational equity and social justice.
[1] Wang YC, 1961, Intellectuals and Society in China 1860–1949. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 3(4): 395–426.
[2] Wang C, Bergquist M, 2003, Basic Education Development in China: From Finance Reform to World Bank Projects. International Journal of Educational Management.
[3] Mackerras C, 1985, Education in the Guomindang Period, 1928–1949. Ideal and Reality. Social and Political Change in Modern China, University Press of America, Lanham, 153–183.
[4] Schulte B, 2017, Private schools in the People’s Republic of China: Development, Modalities and Contradictions, Private Schools and School Choice in Compulsory Education, Springer VS, 115–131.
[5] Kwong J, 1997, The Reemergence of Private Schools in Socialist China. Comparative Education Review, 41(3): 244–259.
[6] Renmin News, 2021, Private Schools Situation in 2020.
[7] Nagel T, 1973, Rawls on Justice. The Philosophical Review, 82(2): 220–234.
[8] Rawls J, 1971, A Theory of Justice, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
[9] Bourdieu P, Passeron J, Nice R, 1977, Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, Sage Publications.
[10] Jenkins R, 2024, Pierre Bourdieu, Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003560951
[11] Grenfell MJ (Ed.), 2014, Pierre Bourdieu: Key Concepts, Routledge.
[12] Yang Z, 2025, Different Educational Trajectories in China: A Bourdieusian Perspective, Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003668725
[13] Yu Y, 2025, The Current Situation of Educational Equity in Chongzhou City, Sichuan Province Since China’s Reform and Opening Up. Journal of Education and Educational Policy Studies, 3(1): 34–38.
[14] Kong S, Liu Y, 2025, The Impact of Government Attention to Education on Educational Equity. Business Administration and Management, 7(2).