“Parentocracy” is “mothercracy”: The mothers as key factor to the access to primary “key schools” in China

The Chinese educational system operates on a chain relationship, where primary education acts as a gateway to better secondary education. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of attending a reputable high school, ultimately leading to a higher probability of gaining admission to a prestigious university. Consequently, primary schools, particularly key schools, represent a significant and influential market at the initial stage of the educational journey. The decision and selection process for a primary school are influenced by three types of capital: cultural capital, economic capital, and social capital. And in order to explore the predominant factors influencing access to a key primary school, this quantitative study has been conducted through questionnaires aimed at 1,082 Chinese students hailing from 21 universities across China. The findings of this study indicate that social capital, cultural capital and economic capital play pivotal roles in predicting access to a key primary school. In this sense, influential variables such as extracurricular activities, purchase housing, mother's education and social relationships have been identified. But it is important to note that both parents do not exert equal influence in this regard, with the mother emerging as the primary determining factor. In essence, the mother wields more influence than the father when it comes to selecting a primary school for their children.