Education as strategy: Vocational reform and social mobility in neoliberal China
| dc.contributor.author | Lu, Yifan | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Xu, Feng | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-10-03T19:35:24Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-10-03T19:35:24Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of Political Science | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Arts MA | |
| dc.description.abstract | This thesis explores the evolution of vocational education policies in China, analyzing how market forces, neoliberal ideology, and the centralized control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interact. I argue that while China aims to modernize and enhance its vocational education system to meet changing economic demands, these reforms serve dual purposes. On one hand, they aim to create a market-oriented education system that supports China’s broader economic objectives; on the other, they direct migrant and rural populations into vocational tracks, masking deeper socio-economic divides and using education reform as a tool for political stability rather than social equity. I situate China within the global trends of ‘vocationalism’ which promotes vocational education as a solution to economic and employment challenges. I then explore how vocational education reforms in China, articulated through the 1996 Vocational Education Law and its amendments, align with neoliberal trends that promote “suzhi” (quality) and “talent” to meet industrial demands. I also probe into China’s unique governance model, which combines market- driven reforms with authoritarian controls to shape its education reform. This governance strategy allows for a prioritization of national economic objectives over educational equality and perpetuates class distinctions by directing disadvantaged groups into vocational paths. I conclude that these reforms fail to uplift disadvantaged groups as claimed by state propaganda but only reinforce existing social stratifications. Empirical data for the thesis come from government reports, public media, secondary ethnographic literature and legal research. | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/20480 | |
| dc.language | English | eng |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | |
| dc.subject | Vocational Education Policy | |
| dc.subject | China | |
| dc.subject | Migrant Students | |
| dc.subject | Neoliberal Ideology | |
| dc.title | Education as strategy: Vocational reform and social mobility in neoliberal China | |
| dc.type | Thesis |