Volition or coercion?—the role of socio-psychological factors in the stratification pathways of Chinese university students

Vollständiger Abstract

Worum geht es in dieser Arbeit?

The existing literature on educational and social attainment has largely overlooked the role and interaction of social-psychological factors at the individual level. To address this gap, this study employs in-depth qualitative interviews ( N = 45) to explore how such factors shape the academic and career trajectories of Chinese university students. Anchored in a social-psychological perspective, the research identifies six core thematic drivers: parental educational conceptions, individual educational and occupational aspirations, self-reflection practices, socially informed behavioral expectations, self-concept development, and peer influence dynamics. Building on these findings, the study develops a context-sensitive analytical framework that illustrates how established social-psychological mechanisms of status attainment operate within contemporary Chinese higher education system. Rather than proposing new social-psychological constructs, the study demonstrates how parental expectations, aspirations, self-concept, reflective practices, and peer influence interact with institutional features such as the Gaokao, rural–urban disparities, and changing labour-market conditions across different stages of educational and career attainment. In doing so, the study provides a qualitative refinement of the Wisconsin Model by specifying how its established mechanisms are configured within the contemporary Chinese context.