The Impact Of Social Capital On Accessibility In Higher Education

The expansion of higher education has given many students the opportunity to access higher education.Higher education access equity issues have also become a hot topic in the whole society,and factors affecting access to higher education have consistently been examined.Researchers mostly focus on the impact of urban and rural sources,social class,cultural capital and social capital on accessibility in higher education.In recent years,the impact of social capital on accessibility in higher education has become on of the most important components of research on the equity of higher education opportunities.At present,researchers mostly use quantitative methods to study the impact of students' educational experiences at a certain stage on their access to higher education.There is little in-depth research of how educational experiences affect students' access to higher education.Therefore,it is particularly necessary to extend research to analyze what social capital factors have an impact on students' access to higher education,and to what degree the factors affect accessibility to higher education through understanding students' educational experiences in primary,secondary,and high schools.This study uses life history research method.Through in-depth interviews with14 students from three different levels of universities,the study examines their family backgrounds and basic educational experiences,thus analyze how social capital affects their access to higher education.The findings show that parents' socio-economic status,family social capital(family education style,family social relations and providing information and encouragement provided by parents and relatives),peer social capital(academic performance,entrance intention and behavior),urban and rural communityenvironment and resources,and the resources provided by the basic school(including the information of entering a college or university,teachers' teaching level,emotional support),affect their access to higher education.Especially in senior high school,all kinds of educational resources have a greater impact.The findings suggest that the government should play a leading role in balancing the distribution of educational resources between urban and rural areas.Higher education should optimize admissions structure and increase compensation and support for disadvantaged groups in remote rural areas.Primary and secondary schools carry out targeted education and teaching,expand information to make up for the lack of family capital.Parents should participate in the process of their children's education and make full use of available family capital to improve their children's academic performance,so as to increase their children's access to high-quality higher education.