Abstract:

Under the "New Normal" China strives for a more equal and quality-oriented growth model to support ist long-term economic development. Here providing a more equal access to higher education resources across provinces is expected to be the key. Bickenbach and Liu (2013) found that the young in China have obtained more and more equal access to higher education opportunities over time. Liu and Ma (Work in Progress) goes one step further and analyses whether a more equal access to higher education "resources" has been provided to registered university students. Analysis results suggest that higher education resources spanning from teaching personnel to physical equipment and to financial resources have been by no means equally provided across Chinese provinces. The unequal distribution has even become more deteriorated over the research period from 2002 to 2012. The strong increase in regional inequality is not attributable to the different treatments between regions with different development states in this regard only. Instead, the strongly rising provincial difference with respect to the provision of higher education resources to university students within traditionally assumed to be homogeneous regions, the East or the rich region in particular, plays a more dominant role.

Papers:

• Regional Inequality of Higher Education in China
• Regional Inequality of Higher Education in China and the Role of Unequal Economic Development