Secondary Vocational Schools as Pathways to Higher Education in China

Yuan Wan, Nadia Siddiqui, Xiaodong Wei and Zheng Li
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Yuan Wan: Academy for China’s Rule‐of‐Law, East China University of Political Science and Law, China
Nadia Siddiqui: School of Education, Durham University, UK
Xiaodong Wei: School of Marxism, Shandong University of Technology, China
Zheng Li: Institute of Vocational and Adult Education, East China Normal University, China

Social Inclusion, 2025, vol. 13

Abstract: Over the past decade, the proportion of graduates from upper secondary vocational schools who have progressed to higher education (HE) has increased significantly in China. This study adopts a multiple case study methodology to provide an in‐depth examination of the under‐researched role vocational schools play in HE progression. Drawing on interview data, relevant policy documents, and administrative records, our findings reveal that vocational schools have actively promoted the “HE progression” trend. This role serves not only as a strategy for organizational survival—addressing challenges related to resource dependence and the pressure of institutional isomorphism—but also as a means of establishing organizational legitimacy. To improve HE admission rates, the schools in our case studies have implemented similar efficiency mechanisms in response to environmental pressures. These include enhancing the delivery of integrated‐education programs with symbolic quality control during the transfer process, adopting classification‐based student management systems that differ in form but are similar in substance, and establishing systems characterized by strong “examination‐oriented” features.

Keywords: assimilation pressure; China; pathways to higher education; resource dependence; secondary vocational schools (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v13:y:2025:a:9786

DOI: 10.17645/si.9786

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