Children and Youth Services Review
Volume 87, 2018, Pages 145-153

Educational inequality and achievement disparity: An empirical study of migrant children in China (Article)

Ma Y. , Hou X. , Huang J.* , Wang W. , Li Y. , Zhou X. , Du X.
  • a China Youth University for Political Science, School of Social Work, 25 Xisanhuang North Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100089, China
  • b China Youth University for Political Science, School of Social Work, 25 Xisanhuang North Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100089, China
  • c Saint Louis University, School of Social Work, 3550 Lindell Blvd., Tegeler Hall 309, St. Louis, MO 63103, United States
  • d China Youth University for Political Science, School of Social Work, 25 Xisanhuang North Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100089, China
  • e China Youth University for Political Science, School of Social Work, 25 Xisanhuang North Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100089, China
  • f China Youth University for Political Science, School of Social Work, 25 Xisanhuang North Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100089, China
  • g Louisiana State University, School of Social Work, 1434A, Baton Rouge, LA 70820, United States

Abstract

The study examined academic disparity between migrant and local urban children and its associations with family socioeconomic status, parental involvement, and school settings using the survey data conducted in 2014 from a sample of children and their families in Beijing, China. The analytic sample (N = 687) included 431 migrant children and 256 local urban children. Structural Equations Models (SEM) were used to test research questions. Results suggest that migrant children, in particular, those in private migrant schools, have much poorer academic performance than their urban counterparts. This performance gap is mainly explained by different schools that migrant and local urban children attend (public vs. private migrant schools). Family socioeconomic status and parental involvement, while are positively associated with academic performance, do not remove the disparity between migrant children in private migrant schools and local urban children. When school satisfaction is included in analyses as a proxy of school quality, the difference in academic performance between two groups becomes insignificant. The study sheds light on the potential pathway that institutional inequality in education affects migrant students’ educational achievement through the quality of educational services and financial, human, and social investment. Findings suggest that, to address academic disparity between migrant and local urban children in China, it is important to change the institutional inequality faced by migrant children. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

Author Keywords

Migrant Children Educational inequality Educational achievement

Index Keywords

empiricism male controlled study education female China human major clinical study Article satisfaction student investment social status migrant human tissue human experiment Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85042328695&doi=10.1016%2fj.childyouth.2018.02.026&partnerID=40&md5=a153dfb2bd5f7a5a91223f437b9340f6
DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.02.026
ISSN: 01907409
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English