Educational Opportunities of Ethnic Groups in China: The Disparities in Attainment and Achievemen

The disparities of educational opportunities between ethnic groups are common phenomena in multi-ethnic countries. Compared with dominant groups, minority groups usually do not gain equal educational opportunities measured by educational attainment and achievement.;Structure and culture are two major sociological explanations for the disparities of educational attainment between minority and majority groups. It means that the disparities are not due to minority status per se but work through structural and cultural factors associated with ethnic minority groups. In China, these disparities might have enlarged during the periods of education expansion and marketization when educational reform occurred and the criteria for educational selection changed. This research is an analysis of the disparities in educational attainment and achievement between ethnic minority groups and Han Chinese. It illustrates the effects of family background and cultural factors on ethnic minorities' educational attainment. Moreover, it shows that the ethnic disparities enlarged during the periods of education expansion and market reform. This research also finds that ethnic minorities do not achieve equally because of their lack of capitals.;Using the nationally representative dataset, The Chinese Family Panel Survey 2010, this research employs quantitative methods. A variety of statistical methods are applied in this research. In addition, it uses the multiple imputation method to deal with missing data. The main findings include:;(1) There is a bottle-neck in the structure of educational opportunities, as revealed by the low transition rate from junior high school to senior high school, and the high transition rate from senior high school to tertiary school, and these gaps within minority groups are bigger than they are within the Han majority group. Constrained by the bottle-neck structure, the disparity of educational attainment between ethnic minorities and Hans are more significant in lower educational levels. Further analysis shows that family background, house registration status, residential location, and language are the factors associated with the disparity of educational attainment between minorities and the Han majority. There are interaction effects between minority status on the one hand, and residence in the western region and language on the other hand. Moreover, education expansion and market transition enlarge the social and economic disparities between minority groups and the Han majority, which also indirectly marginalize minorities in education.;(2) Minority ethnic groups are significantly different from the Han Chinese in terms of capitals, educational aspiration and friends. Among those factors, capitals account for minorities' disadvantage in educational achievement. Educational aspiration and friends are associated with individuals' educational achievement.;(3) Heterogeneity exists among ethnic minority groups. Some groups, such as Manchurians, Mongolians and Koreans are "model" ethnic minority groups. They are well educated and attain high socioeconomic status. The sensitivity analysis shows there are no disparities of education attainment and achievement between the Han majority and the Manchurian, Mongolian and Korean minority groups.;(4) Family background factors are the major mediator of the disparities between ethnic minority groups and the Han Chinese. Hukou (household registration) status and residence constrain ethnic minority groups' educational attainment but they do not impact their achievement.;Policy implications are discussed based on those findings. This research emphasizes that economic development policies, multicultural education policies, and educational preferential policies are potential instruments to alleviate the educational disparities between minorities and the Han majority.