In this seminar, Yushan presents findings from her thesis, which address the intersection of neoliberalism, social inequality, higher education, and agency as they are embodied in marginalised students’ pursuit and experiences of higher education for upward mobility. Amid the massification and stratification of China’s higher education system, poor, rural students often attend lowertier institutions perceived as ‘lesser’. In contrast to the typical research focus on elite institutions, the thesis studies the experiences of 37 marginalised students studying at three lower-tier higher education institutions in China and how they understand and navigate their ongoing self-formation in relation to the implications of lower-tier degrees. The thesis shows that these students experienced a sense of being ordinary and drifting as they tried to balance private aspirations, societal expectations, and state agendas from afar. It further argues that higher education has become the focal mechanism and vehicle to construct and shape an imagined life trajectory, within which the self constantly navigates time, power relations, and exercises agency.

Yushan Xie is a PhD candidate in the Department of Education, Oxford University. Her research focuses on higher education, institutional stratification, student experience and mobility, and equity in higher education.

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