A study on the demand for higher education in the Chinese mainland: Disparities in the urban and rural regions (Chinese text)

Higher education is both consumption and investment. As a kind of professional human capital investment, higher education plays an important role in increasing productivity and enhancing social mobility. Educational supply and educational demand are two basic forces of educational development. In the context of the dual structure of urban and rural regions (URR) in mainland China, the study of the disparities of demand for higher education in URR is meaningful to higher education development.; Based on the human capital theory and social capital theory, this study analyzes the disparities of demand for higher education in URR in mainland China. The data used in this study comes from the survey, entitled "Demand for Higher Education", conducted by Prof Yue-ping Chung, Faculty of Education, CUHK, funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council. The total number of valid respondents was 10513 in 86 senior secondary schools (SS) located in four city and provinces, namely Beijing, Jiangsu, Hubei and Shanxi. The empirical evidence suggests that: (1) As a whole, there is no significant disparity in the demand for higher education in URR with reference to the willingness to go to colleges. However, significant disparities do exist under specific conditions. (2) There are significant disparities in the demand for higher education in URR with reference to the choice over different kinds of colleges. (3) Based on fathers' educational levels, two different groups are separated within URR: the high social economic status (SES) group and the low SES group. (4) Family income has a persistent impact on the demand for higher education, which reveals the imperfection of the capital market in mainland China.; In general, rural students are relatively disadvantaged in the demand for higher education under the present dual structure of URR in mainland China. With the expansion of higher education, more attention should be paid to the educational inequality in the rural regions, especially those rural students from low SES families. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...