State Schooling and Ethnic Stratification in China

Abstract

The market economy has come more slowly to the western regions of China, through it has the potential to transform relations of education and social stratification between ethnic nationalities in China. Dependency on state subsidies for minority schools has reinforced cultural subordinance in education. Ethnic minority educational indicators remain below the national average, and cultural resistance is reflected in higher dropout rates. This paper examines the role of ethnicity and state schooling in the process of social stratification of ethnic minorities in the PRC and how it differs from stratification in other areas of China. The aim of the paper is to develop a framework that can encompass the diversity of factors affecting ethnic minorities within Chinese society. Attention will be placed on four levels of stratification: across minority groups, within a minority group, within a minority region, and across minority regions. The paper argues for a model based on cultural as well as economic factors to explain the effects of schooling on ethnic stratification. The research draws upon field work undertaken between 1993 and 1997 in Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Qinghai, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia.