Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Staying afloat via guanxi : student networks, social capital and inequality in Chinese adult higher education

Guan, Shanshan; James, Fiona

Authors

Shanshan Guan

Profile Image

Dr Fiona James F.James@hull.ac.uk
Lecturer in Education/ Chair of the Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education Ethics Committee



Abstract

This study illuminates students’ purposive cultivation of guanxi, or social networks based on continuous exchange of resources, in the context of China’s Adult Higher Education (HE) system. Interviews with 30 students reveal the motivations underpinning their creation of informal ties amongst peers, which they consider to procure beneficial resources for the present and long-term. They deem guanxi with peers to compensate for the isolation they experience. Such experiences, taken in the context of a competitive HE and graduate employment landscape, are then related to social capital. The marriage of the concepts guanxi and social capital is also discussed in light of our analysis.

Citation

Guan, S., & James, F. (2020). Staying afloat via guanxi : student networks, social capital and inequality in Chinese adult higher education. British journal of educational studies, 68(3), 349-364. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2019.1618788

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 9, 2019
Online Publication Date May 27, 2019
Publication Date May 3, 2020
Deposit Date Jun 3, 2019
Publicly Available Date Nov 28, 2020
Journal British Journal of Educational Studies
Print ISSN 0007-1005
Electronic ISSN 1467-8527
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 68
Issue 3
Pages 349-364
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2019.1618788
Keywords Mature students; China; Higher education; Guanxi; Social capital
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1929089
Additional Information Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=rbje20; Published: 2019-05-27

Files






You might also like



Downloadable Citations