UIUC
On the Nexus of Local
and Global
Chinese college students in the era of
global economic restructuring
Yan Zhao Ciupak, PhD
yanciupak@gmail.com
Today’s Talk
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www.themegallery.com
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Ciupak’s Research
The Chinese Students Project
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China’s Institutional Change
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Social Class and Education
Choice
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Classed Spatial Strategies
Yan Ciupak
Ciupak’s Research
 Education of Immigrant Children
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Ciupak, Y.(Forthcoming). Education of immigrants' children. in Some &
Pierre(Eds.) Re-defining America: The new wave of minority students and
immigrants of color. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
 Weis, L., Ciupak, Y., Meyers, M. (2011). Sociology of Education in the United
States. In S.Tozer, B.Gallegos & A.Henry (Eds.) Handbook of Research in
the Social Foundations of Education. New York: Routledge.
www.themegallery.com
 Globalization, Chinese Edu & Society
 Ciupak, Y. (In Press). The changing educational opportunity structure in
China: Positioning for access to higher education. In L. Weis & N. Dolby
(Eds.) Social Class and Education: Global Perspectives. New York:
Routledge.
 Ciupak, Y. (Forthcoming). On the nexus of local and global: Chinese higher
education and college students in the era of globalization. New York: AMC
Press
Yan Ciupak
www.themegallery.com
Using Immigrant Theories in
Studying International Students?
 John Ogbu's immigrant theories (cultural–
ecological theory ); John Ogbu's
neglection of Asian Americans in his
studies
 Traditional assimilation theories->
"segmented assimilation (Portes and
Zhou (1993) “
 "selective acculturation (Portes &
Rumbaut, 2001)
 Transculturation: "developmental process
that portrays children of immigrants as
actors of merging and converging cultures
in multidirectional and synchronous ways
(Oh & Cooc, 2011, p.401)
 The framework of multiple capitals-intellectual, financial, social, and cultural
(Bourdieu)
Yan Ciupak
www.themegallery.com
My Research on Chinese Students
(in China)
The purpose: Study structural changes
through key actors’ lived experiences
and policy analysis.
To be more specific, this project
explores how college students’
educational- and occupational related
choices and experiences connect to the
local and global change, and in relation
to the students’ family and institutional
backgrounds.
Yan Ciupak
www.themegallery.com
Major Methods:
 Policy analysis and interview data from 75
students enrolled in 21 institutions in
developed and less developed regions in
China—Beijing, Shanghai, Taiyuan,
Xinzhou, Shandong
 The participants: 66 undergraduate
students from 15 colleges of three tiers;
 9 graduate students from 6 institutions.
 6 administrators/ teachers were
interviewed to supplement information on
university policies, expectations, graduate
job placements, etc.
 6 parents
Yan Ciupak
On the Nexus of Local and Global
www.themegallery.com
Glocal
Global: the
market, the
virtual
community
(internet),
western
commercialism
…
Local:
the state power
(Hukou system),
the rural/urban
divide, regional
disparity,
traditional
culture…
Yan Ciupak
www.themegallery.com
China and the Global Economic
Restructuring
China and the new global economic
map
China’s higher education in the
innovation shift debate
Yan Ciupak
China’s Economic Reform and
Institutional Change
Industrializing agrarian Society
Nature of
Chinese Society
www.themegallery.com
• Working class is splitting
• Peasant class is shrinking
New
Social Stratification • Middle class is in the making
State Redistributive vs Market
Dual Reward System
Yan Ciupak
Chinese Higher Education
Admission Policy & Practice
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 centrally controlled system
 The annual standardized test NCEE is
practically the only selection criteria.
 Quota policy based on provinces plays a
central role.
 Regional inequality
--Favorable admission policies for the
municipalities directly under the Central
Government (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai,etc. )
--The uneven distribution of education resources
-- The residence registration system hukou
Yan Ciupak
Social Class and Education Choice
in Globalizing China
 Anxiety of Competition: Chinese
Urban Middle Class on the Rise
www.themegallery.com
 Anxiety of being Left Behind:
Chinese Rural Peasant Families
Yan Ciupak
The Middle Class: Anxiety of
Competition
 Trendy Majors
The Chinese middle class parents are anxious to
frame their children’s choices around “trendy”
majors related to the new global capital economy
and institutions that provide ample global culture
and experience.
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 Western Credential
“Maximally maintained nequality(Gamaron)” occurs
with a classed spatial strategy, facilitated and
encouraged by the educational markets on a world
stage. Those who possess economic and cultural
capitals begin to accumulate more valuable
capitals and consolidate class by permeating
national borders.
Yan Ciupak
www.themegallery.com
The Allure of a Western Credential
 International education in Asian middle
class family’s seeking to access and
accumulate economic, social, and cultural
capitals (Mitchell 1997; Ong & Nonini
1997; Ong 1999).
 Abroad experience embodies cultural
capital, reflects better English skill, more
“modern” attitude and characters, etc.
 A more valuable form of institutionalized”
cultural capital, hence a preferred
qualification in employment screening in
Asian countries.
 Returning as an integral spatial strategy
Yan Ciupak
www.themegallery.com
The Peasants: Anxiety of Being Left
Behind
a middle class
disposition/admiration for western
culture and education.
 Decision making is characterized by
ill-information, conservatism, and
arbitrariness.
Yan Ciupak
Classed Spatial Strategies and Placemaking in the Global Modernity
 “outside” (wai4 mian)
Middle class: major city, western countries
Rural Peasants: leaving the rural area
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YC: What are your parents’ expectations?
Bei: They expect me to get good social status, get out of our small city,
go to a big city, and try to study abroad. My Dad thought that only in this
way would my life be meaningful. Since junior high, my Dad had been
suggesting that Beijing is a key city where I could broaden myself and
get exposed to some international culture. They wanted me to go to
Beijing. But I actually always liked Wuhan University. My interest is
actually in engineering, not international trade.
(Bei, F. Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
YC: What do you think your parents expect of you?
Shan-feng: I'm all their hope. They want me to grow up well and find a
good job.
YC: What is a ‘good job’ according to your parents?
Shan-feng: A secure job outside.
YC: where does ‘outside’ refer to?
Shan-feng: Fairly big cities, not in the countryside, away from the
suffering land. The parents’ generation has been struggling and
suffering their whole lives, therefore they hope I could leave the village
for better opportunities.
YC: Xinzhou city belongs to ‘outside’? (All the interviewees laughed).
Shan-feng: (also laughing): Not really outside, but compared to a village,
it's outside.
Yan Ciupak
(Shan-feng, M, Xinzhou Teacher’s College)
Is the World Flat?
Both groups show aspiration and
admiration for global culture,
urbanity, and modernity
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 Urban middle class students: “think
and act locally and globally”
 Rural peasant students are
“dreaming globally, planning
locally”.
Yan Ciupak
UIUC