Inequality in educational attainment and expectation: evidence from the China Family Panel Studies

This article studies educational inequalities in China by measuring both educational attainment and educational expectations using the 2010 nationally representative data from the China Family Panel Study. We find that educational inequalities have increased over the past several decades, and these inequalities are mainly reflected in the widening gaps in higher education between rural and urban residents. This is true for both educational attainment and expectations. Because parental education level is another significant factor affecting both educational attainment and expectations, imminent measures are needed to stop the vicious cycle of translating existing educational inequalities into larger inequalities in later generations.