The impact of fathers’ education level on access to higher education in China 1978–2018

Using the database from China Social Comprehensive Survey (CGSS), this study explores the relationship between fathers’ education background and access to higher education in China based on people who were born from 1961 to 2000. Through the analysis of data and odds ratio method, it can be found that the odds ratio of students from advantaged families varied in a different period from 1978 to 2018. The relationship between expansion policy and equity of higher education could be summarized in different periods. At the initial stage of expansion, it enlarged the odds ratio of students from advantaged families, but with the continuous expansion policy and changes of demography, the odds ratio of students from advantaged families will be reduced significantly. Maximally maintained inequality theory could explain some changes, but the deep reasons for the differences between the trend of expansion and influence of family background should be discussed from different perspectives such as social class structure theory.