HURDLES AND HOPES: AN ECOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF MIGRANT CHILDREN IN CHINA

Abstract

This mixed-method research explores how multiple contexts stratify Chinese rural migrant adolescents’ educational achievement, which documents coexisting opportunities and barriers. At the family level, the China Education Panel Survey shows that migrant adolescents significantly outperform their rural-remaining peers in cognitive skills, which is mediated by their higher family SES, better educational resources and higher parental aspirations. Qualitative research with 23 migrant families in Hunan and Shenzhen reveals that these families engage in a process of “doing family” to advance children’s education. At the school level, after accounting for between-school variation, migrant children’s advantage relative to rural peers disappears. However, interaction analysis suggests that they are more likely to be channeled to low-ranking and less academically competitive schools, which is further confirmed and consolidated by a qualitative case study of two schools in field. Moreover, attending schools in the East is positively associated with migrant students’ cognitive skills.