The developing purposes of low-income college students in China's elite universities: A longitudinal case study of how socioeconomic background and university culture interact to influence the development and realization of low income college students' goals.

摘要

In the process of China's transformation from a socialist to a post-socialist society, China's entire system of education has experienced breathtaking expansion and reform. In this context, first-tier universities increasingly accept students from more financially well off backgrounds. While second-tier universities are inclined to accept more poor students. The university experiences and social needs of low-income students have emerged as a critical educational problem and topic of research in China. My dissertation study is designed to explore the college experiences of low-income students in Tsinghua University, where low-income students are increasingly less likely to be admitted, a characteristic shared by China's other most elite institutions. I hope to understand and explain how Tsinghua University (and by extension other elite institutions) with advantaged financial and material conditions and resources, missions, and targets for educating students is serving students from economically needy backgrounds. Specifically, I explore how family poverty and university culture influence students' experiences and career goals.;It is a qualitative longitudinal case study. I interviewed six low-income students of Tsinghua University for four years. Their college experiences are personalized. To some extent, however, their future choices are limited by their family backgrounds. Meanwhile, resources provided by universities, such as university reputation and student administration system, can help these low-income students develop their comprehensive competences and improve their confidence in the future. Overall, during their college career, they have to face multifarious resources and constraints from family, university, culture and politics. They develop their self-recognition and adjust their future choices based on their college experiences.