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Curricular and Extracurricular Learning among Students with Resilience Potential. Social Inequalities in Higher Education
37-42Views:97Does resilience potential in higher education mature into success or does it remain merely a promise of success due to rising social inequality? We studied curricular and extracurricular learning of students with outstanding academic achievement who entered higher education despite their disadvantage of social background (= students with resilience potential). A student survey database compiled in the research project “Higher Education for Social Cohesion – Cooperative Research and Development in a Cross-border Area” (HERD) (HURO/0901/253/2.2.2.) in 2012 was analyzed. Students of three Eastern Hungarian higher education institutions were surveyed (N = 1205). Students with resilience potential were identified in the intersection of two groups of variables: social background and input academic achievement. We have conducted a cluster analysis, which has resulted in the identification of students with resilience potential and other researched groups: drifters (low social background and low input academic achievement), beneficiaries (high social background and high academic achievement) and indifferent prodigals (high social background and low academic achievement). To sum up our results, the students with resilience potential only use higher education to fulfill curricular requirements, and hit a ceiling, compared to the beneficiaries, when it comes to the student year mining, meaningful extracurricular activities. Thus social inequalities crawl through these invisible channels into higher education and beyond.
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Students in Hungarian Higher Education and Their Perception of Dificulties During Their Studies
101-113Views:199Our research aims to examine the recruitment of students who experience difficulties with learning during their higher education studies and the motives behind their career choices, as well as the correlation of these factors with student persistence. The topicality of the problem stems from the diversity of students as a result of the expansion of higher education, as well as the increasing proportion of reading comprehension and other learning difficulties that can hinder individuals' progress in the labour market. Previous research has linked problems in learning in higher education to underdeveloped skills. However, we hypothesize that the occurrence of difficulties during students' studies and careers is determined by career choices, which are influenced by social background. While in higher education the social status differences of the family background already seem to disappear, the origin also affects the higher education career. To test the viability of this assumption, statistical methods were used to analyze the CHERD-Hungary database PERSIST -2019. In the case of difficulties and low persistence, we found a relationship with the career choice patterns of the students studied, especially with family factors influencing career choice and students' interest in their current education. One of our most important findings is that students who experience difficulties during learning can be divided into two groups. One group is characterized by low social status indicators, participating in low prestige and high risk fields of education, and there are specific cultural disadvantages in the background of their difficulties. The other group includes students who come from a higher-status family and concentrate on higher-risk but more prestigious courses, characterized by above-average selectivity and a higher risk of dropping out.
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“From the Initial Steps to the Concept of Online Education” – Teacher Experiences and Development Directions Based on Feedback from Online Education Introduced During the Pandemic
33-48Views:347The pandemic situation caused by COVID-19 has challenged the education system, not only in Hungary, but everywhere in the world. The use of information and communication technology in education, including higher education, has transformed students' expectations and, at the same time, redefined the role of the online educator. This is because online teaching and learning is significantly different from teaching-learning in a traditional environment, and educators need to rethink their role in the learning and teaching paradigm. Our higher education institution has developed a new learning-teaching concept based on the experience of distance education introduced as a result of the pandemic situation. The research described in the study and the corresponding developments are shared as good practice for other higher education institutions.
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The Situation and Chances of Roma students in Secondary and Tertiary Education in Hungary
26-35Views:234Addressing student drop-out or early school leaving has long been a major challenge for education policy makers at both national and international levels. This phenomenon affects all levels of education and has a profound impact on those classes of society that are economically and socio-culturally disadvantaged. This is particularly the case of the largest minority group in Hungary, the Roma, and its roots go back to primary education. Since the 1990s, so from the change of the regime, a positive tendency could have been observed in the completion of primary education, but in secondary school graduation and in obtaining a higher education degree they are still far behind the non-Roma population. In the current study, we identify causes of their learning failures, and we also present a selection of study grants that are available to young Roma students and support them to achieve higher levels of education. We also highlight the difficulties faced by those Roma youth, who have origins in traditional communities but obtain higher educational degrees.
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Myth or Reality? Mobility Trends among Recent Graduates of Different Fields of Study
43-57Views:98The paper focuses on the intergenerational mobility processes in Hungarian higher education over the past decade. Its purpose is to explore these processes and to analyse the differences between the fields of study. The second-generation mobility theories, which serve to be the theoretical background of this paper, focus on the differences between income, education, occupational groups and social classes in connection with status attainment and mobility. Among the mobility theories relating to higher education, theories analyzing inequalities are studied, to discover whether they are found in Hungarian higher education („Maximally Maintained Inequality”, MMI and the theory of „Effectively Maintained Inequality”, EMI). The analysis also covers the „dynastic effects” related to mobility, whether they strengthen or weaken intergenerational processes. The database of the analysis is the Graduate Career Tracking System 2010-2021.
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Assessing Language Learners’ Knowledge and Performance during Covid-19
38-46Views:246The new reality created by the COVID-19 caused a lot of changes in the educational sphere. The transition from face-to-face to distance learning was not smooth in Ukraine because distance learning was not a common practice in the country before and teachers were unprepared for teaching online. This unusual situation prompted us to start our qualitative research primarily to get insights into the altered daily routines of teachers and educators. In particular, we were interested in how they assessed their students’ performance online. This article focuses on secondary school language teachers (n=65) and language tutors at the tertiary level (n=18). The research findings have revealed that teachers gave feedback through different digital applications like Google Classroom. Oral performance was evaluated either synchronously or asynchronously. The most crucial implication is that teachers should improve and further develop their digital skills and distance teaching and assessing skills in order to provide quality education in the modern form.
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Foreign Language Interpretation in Teaching Soloist Singing
75-89Views:121The problems of singing in the original language have become a special feature of the soloist training in the Central and Eastern Europe. The linguistic aspects of soloist training is put to the test by international expectation that regards authentic singing in the original language as a natural part of professional efficiency. In this present paper we are looking for the answers to two questions. First, we examined what factors determine the choice of the language for vocal interpretation. Our second goal is to give an overview of a specific segment of today’s Hungarian students’ population in higher education. We examined institutional, personal and curricular components for perfecting singing in the original language. The empirical study field of our research was Hungary’s higher education institutions of music in the 2016/17 term. Our researches were based on two methodological techniques. Among the higher education instructors of solo singers we conducted structured interviews and students from six higher educational institutions with this profile were the respondents of our questionnaire. The quantitative analysis of the research unequivocally represented the stronger demand of students for the training of linguistic interpretation. Our empirical research showed that the language efficiency of the solo singer students does not meet professional expectations. Pronunciation, comprehension, vocabulary, command of language and intonation are not utilized while singing and using the mirror effect of singing in a foreign language does not help perfect language knowledge either.
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Investigation of Sporting Habits and the Attitudes Related to Physical Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic
28-40Views:149Several domestic and international studies confirm the benefits of regular sports activities regarding healthy attitudes (Földesiné, 2008; Shephard et al., 2013). On the one hand, our research aimed to survey sporting habits (with a special focus on the impacts of the Coronavirus epidemic on physical activities). On the other hand, we investigated the participants’ attitudes regarding daily physical education classes. In the course of our research, we conducted a representative data recording among Hungarian citizens 18 years old or above (n = 1015) regarding gender, age, education level, and type of habitation. The vast majority (71%) of the surveyed population is not involved in any kind of sports activities (which corresponds with the outcomes of previous investigations), however, in this aspect, the impacts of COVID-19 are marginal. Sports activities are most typical to males with a higher level of education, who reside in larger cities. The most popular sports activities are running/jogging (36.3%), cycling (16.6%), and soccer (16.2%). The opinions regarding daily physical education classes are rather positive: the majority consider the increased number of PE classes a useful development. These opinions are held mainly by those who either are active in sports or who live in Budapest. A quintessential part of life in the COVID-19 pandemic, healthier lifestyles could certainly benefit from quality physical and sports education. If this quality is further improved, it may also dispel some of the negative ideas about sporting habits.
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For the Sake of the Cause – Persistence of Romanian Higher Education Students in Finishing their Studies
22-30Views:198As a consequence of the expansion in higher education, the number of students has increased and the academic population has diversified but at the same time the university dropout has become a general problem since the last century (Trow, 2005; Kozma, 2010; Barro & Jong, 2013; Stanciu, 2014; Berei, 2018). In this paper, I proposed to analyze the persistence of students from 5 universities from Romania. We examine at institutional and individual level the perspective of their willingness to finish their studies. In partnership with the Center for Higher Education Research and Development - Hungary, named CHERD – H, from the University of Debrecen, was collected dates among students in 2012 (N=1323) and in 2014 - 2015 (N=323). Through a quantitative analysis, on a longitudinal perspective, I used SPSS statistical program to analyze data. The question of the research was: is there any difference between students` intentions to graduate on private and state institutions? Who is intending to finish and who is preparing to abandon his study? I concluded that students with unfavorable family background have nearly two times lower chance to enroll at state university and in private institutions students intention to enter into possesion of diploma was significant lower. With logistic regression I found also, that low financial status or low schooling of parents is not a significant obstacle on student academic path if they make every effort to participate in educational programs, submit assignments on time and are able to prepare for exams.
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Different Forms of Civil Activity and Employment in Hungary and Abroad, and the Development of Student Drop-out
41-54Views:282Young people involved in higher education have created a specific culture, to which, in addition to their studies, social and cultural activities associated with university life are also related (Kozma, 2006). Among these activities, student employment and participation in civic organizations should be highlighted. Voluntary and paid work among higher education students is increasing. These activities have several advantages in terms of future benefits; however, the attracting role of the labour market is one possible reason for dropout. In our current research, we emphasize the role of employment and civil activity in the development of student dropout. Masevičiūtė et al. (2018) found that a quarter of students stopped studying for work-related reasons. In addition, a negative perception of the marketability of the course they are on may lead to the interruption of university studies. In our study, we analysed the extent to which students are willing to interrupt their higher education studies in exchange for voluntary work. In our current research, we examined how often and for what reasons students who dropped out did paid work and volunteering during their studies.
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Inquiry into the Correlations between Sports Activity and Value Preference among Students in the Northern Great Plain Region as Regards the Role of Everyday Physical Education
53-65Views:119The vision of society can be influenced by the values young people hold regarding their way of life and physical well-being. Today, we are experiencing a crisis of these value preferences (Perényi, 2010). The aim of our study is to examine the effect of transferred sports values on the lifestyles of physically active and inactive students in light of the role of everyday physical education. In our research, 1521 students of the University of Debrecen and Nyíregyháza filled out the online questionnaire. Two-variable analyses and a multivariate principal component analysis were used, and the data were processed using SPSS. Regarding the relationship between sports activity and value orientation, the students included in the sample mostly focused on the “open” or post-material value dimension representing individual autonomy. This is in agreement with previous research data (Kovács, 2013; Perényi, 2010). Since this is a complex mechanism of action, we are unable to show causal relationships in our analysis. However, with regard to our research sample, it can be said that in the period since the introduction of everyday physical education, it has not yet had a demonstrable role in the physical activity and value system of students. Thus, promotion of an active lifestyle will, in the future, be critical in the lives of everyone. It will also prove essential in shaping the physical condition and mental well-being of the future’s society, not to mention it will help save the national economy. The first step in this process is the actual participating in physical education.
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The Influencing Factors of Dropout and Persistence of Central European Hungarian Minorities in Higher Educational Institutions
90-98Views:185The statistics show that minority Hungarians’ education and participation in higher education, lags far behind the majority of society in Central Europe. Furthermore, we also know that the smaller the community, the more educated they are. The explanation for this could be, those who are less educated are more prone to assimilate. As a result, the existential question from these minority groups comes down to the growth of their level of education, a condition of which is university students’ acquisition of diplomas. Those factors deserve more scrutiny, in their identification, that increase the chances of getting a diploma. The goal of our study is (1) to identify the students who are persistent and at risk of dropping out, (2) to define the risk factors, and (3) at the same time to uncover the protective/ supporting factors as well. The theoretical background for our research was constituted by the institutional integrational model. The database used for this study contains data collected during a survey of Hungarian students from four different countries in Central Europe (IESA 2015, N= 2017). We found from our research that though the effect of intergenerational connections among students at Central European minority schools proved significant, the effect of place of residence, of settlement type, and of relationships within the family was even stronger.
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Dropped-out Students and the Decision to Drop-out in Hungary
31-40Views:642The interpretation of the phenomenon of student dropout, which represents a waste of a relatively large proportion of human and material capital in the social, individual and institutional domain, is impossible without examining dropout students. In this study, we analysed the DEPART 2018 database, which contains data from 605 Hungarian dropout students. We tried to identify higher education dropout scenarios and pointed out that higher educational dropout is a complex phenomenon. Based on the students' reports on their interpretation and evaluation of their dropouts, four student clusters were created. We compared the groups with their socio-cultural background and their decision to drop out from higher education, and their assessment of that decision. The most important result of the study is that it identifies a new group in addition to the international dropout types, and provides a detailed picture that calls our attention to the diversity of dropout groups, thereby moving beyond the over-generalised image of the dropout student.
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First Generation Students in the Hungarian Higher Educational System
53-65Views:217The first part of the study attempts to summarise the most frequently used and cited theories and empirical findings in the field of first generation students. The specialist literature has identified those factors (cultural background of family, parents’ special attitude toward learning, the features of the time-budget etc.) which can generate a disadvantageous situation within the higher education system for these students. However, the presence of this group is a significant indicator of the openness of a society and social mobility, and a more careful analysis of this population may reduce the drop-out rate, as well. During the empirical analysis two databases were used (Eurostudent VI, Hungarian Youth Research 2012 and 2016). Our results draw attention to the process of social closure and the decreasing chance of attending higher education for young people from lower social groups. This unfavourable shift can mirror the relatively closed features of Hungarian society, but at the same time it can make the distances among social groups more rigid.
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International Academic Mobility as a Capacity Building Factor in Higher Education
82-91Views:193International academic mobility means the teaching or research activity of higher educational instructors or researchers, which spans a couple of days or a few months, during which individual professional growth, the establishment of international cooperation and networks, personal relations and friendships may develop. It is also considered to be a fundamental necessity for building capacity and an outstanding supremacy, even if a country’s academic resources are modest. Thus it is crucial to gain information about its current and actual state, quality, standards, struggles and the direction it is heading towards. As a part of a bigger research study, we wanted to know how international academic mobility, used for capacity building, changes over time, and whether country-specific features and patterns could be traced. In this present study we made an attempt to uncover the international activity based on the academic mobility of the full-time instructors at two Hungarian higher educational institutions. One of them is a large university that plays a leading role in internationalization. The other is a dynamically developing regional knowledge center. We examined the instructors of two faculties from the first, and everybody from the regional knowledge center, since it is smaller in size. Altogether 210 instructors responded to our 60 questions in the survey. The surveys were processed in the SPSS statistical analysis program. Concerning the examined discussions, categories and proposed topics, our research was built upon two previously carried out investigations – a Hungarian and a Norwegian one. We found that in Hungary in the given time period (2012-2014), the instructors with the strongest international activity were: 1. the men; 2. those who held higher academic positions; 3. those who were married or were in a relationship; and 4. who were from the field of social science.
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Migrating From Face-To-Face to Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Psychology Students at a Private Higher Education Institution in Gauteng
11-21Views:433Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an accelerated migration from face-to-face to online learning. This article aims to explore and describe how psychology students experienced the migration from face-to-face to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It entailed a qualitative research design with an exploratory and descriptive approach. The participants were 28 purposively sampled psychology students from a Private Higher Education Institution in Gauteng. An online survey method was employed to gather the needed information which was then subjected to a thematic analysis. It emerged that the challenges experienced by students were internet connectivity issues, insufficient computer literacy, reduced class time, anxiety, physical impact, and communication issues. Moreover, some benefits related to flexibility, the convenience of online studies and safety from infection with COVID-19 were identified. It was also noted that having certain attributes such as independence, time management skills, having support and being tech savvy improved the online learning process. Some opportunities for Higher Education Institutions to improve the experiences of students included creativity in module delivery as well as providing guidelines on how to use these online platforms.
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Higher Education Research on the Issue of Dropout
90-94Views:195Book review on Pusztai, G., Szigeti, F. (eds.): Dropout and Persistence in Higher Education. Debrecen University Press, University of Debrecen, 2018.
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Horizontal Segregation as a Consequence of Hidden Curriculum in Primary School
112-119Views:212Much of the special literature deals with examining textbooks, and during their analyses the underrepresentation of women in the world of teaching aids always comes out. The National Curricula (1995, 2003, 2007, 2012, and the new draft of the NC) serve as the basis for writing textbooks, thus it would be worth starting the examination of horizontal segregation according to gender here. In the current study, the goal is to identify and to map theoretical dimensions. This research introduces female education and stereotypes of women in Hungary, their theoretical background as regards horizontal segregation according to gender, and also introduces „hidden curriculum”. Horizontal segregation according to gender in higher education is easily seen, the goal of this study, however, is to examine its presence in primary school education through the teaching of three subjects: music, history, and physics. This dissertation is the first step in the research which furthers the mapping of the theoretical background.
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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation to Learn as Factors of Resilience in Students' Pedagogical Disciplines - Pilot Study
17-23Views:174Motivation determines the dynamics of behaviour and helps in overcoming obstacles. A related concept is resilience, which also relates to overcoming stressful situations and speaks to an individual’s ability to adapt to challenging circumstances in life. The aim of this paper was to investigate the relationship between resilience and motivation to learn in students studying in the field of education. One hundred and thirty students participated in the research (100 bachelor students and 30 master students). The research instrument used to measure resilience was The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 10) and to detemine motivation The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS-C 28) tool was used. The Mann-Whitney test found no significant difference between the two groups of students in each of the variables measured. The results show a significant association between resilience and types of intrinsic motivation in particular, but the strongest relationship was found between resilience and the lack of motivation. Students with low resilience scored higher on amotivation. For students at university, motivation to learn based on intrinsic drives is assumed to be self-evident. However, the ability to overcome obstacles is also necessary for the attainment of learning goals. Its degree can also be developed through educational intervention, which provides an opportunity for university teachers to expand their area of operation.
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The Connection between Extracurricular, Leisure Time Activities, Religiosity and the Reasons for Drop-out
55-67Views:276The interruption of tertiary education and the reduction in the dropout rate have been a central issue in educational sociology and education research. Exploring the possible reasons for dropping out can significantly contribute to reducing the trend. Our aim is to map the links between students dropping out and individual factors. Consequently, we investigate the connection between extracurricular and leisure-time activities, health behaviour and religiosity in relation to dropout. This is explained by the fact that one of the axioms of the literature on dropout is that belonging to civil networks usually strengthens the commitment to the successful completion of studies. In our analysis, we used the database created during the research carried out in 2018 by the Center for Higher Education Research and Development (CHERD-H) in the framework of project No. 123847 of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund of Hungary, entitled The Role of Social and Organisational Factors in Student Dropout (DEPART 2018, N=605). Our results show that the neglect of study obligations among those who are disappointed in the course and further education is closely related to the shift in value preferences and an increase in the time spent with entertainment activities and partying. It can also be stated that students take part indifferent types of extracurricular activities only to a limited extent, and the different forms of participation in activities and religiosity are not related to the causes of dropout.
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The Mentoring’s Role among Alumni Students of István Wáli Roma College for Advanced Studies of the Reformed Church
36-52Views:237Colleges for Advanced Studies (CASs) are the oldest institutionalized talent development initiatives of higher education in Hungary (since 1895). The Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education initiated the creation of a national network of denominational Roma CASs. In a CAS, students live in a dormitory, build a strong community, get scholarships and support from tutors and mentors. Important elements of Roma CASs are the following: religious education, social responsibility for society, and Roma identity empowerment (Godó et al., 2019; Kardos, 2013; Charta, 2011). In this study, we examined alumni (ex-university students) of a Roma CAS in Debrecen. Among other things, we were interested in how they relate to the mentoring process, how they feel about it, and how mentoring is perceived in their own lives. We are also interested in what types of mentors are mentioned and whether there is any form of mentoring in their current activities. Method of our research: qualitative interview analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2018 with 17 alumni selected by snowball method. According to our results, the former students named 2 types of mentors who were next to them: layman and professional mentors, or they themselves can be typed as mentors on the basis of the following: layman mentors (layman persons involved in mentoring activities) and professional mentors. We consider it important to emphasize the role of the pastor in a Reformed institution, who has also been promoted to the professional mentoring category. In addition, our goal is to investigate the characteristics of networking patterns that emerge around specialist college students.
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How Do University Students Get Relevant Information?
67-79Views:193The web and learning have evolved parallel as technological changes have influenced teaching and learning processes. In this study, I intend to extend this parallel with two other dimensions, namely, human 1.0-3.0 and influencer 1.0-3.0. The concepts are closely related to how the online world became popular abroad and what their impact is on learning and education. Thus, the question, “what is the significance of social media, and of its latest, most popular actors, of the “work” of influencers (which can be interpreted as fake news) in the lives of students in higher education?”, is also a very pertinent issue to touch on. Its involvement in our lives is ever growing and very often influences our media literacy. This gives us even more reason to look into social media’s impact.
However, our main goal is to find answers to the following questions:
• What opportunities does the digital toolkit give to students? What kind of digital literacy do students think they need to thrive in the job market?
• To what extent does the ICT literacy of pedagogical students differ from that of other students (lawyer, economics, doctor, technical)? What form of cognitive development is used for lifelong learning?
• To what extent are students’ IT literacy influenced by cultural, material, and family capital?
• How is information acquisition implemented in education? How conscious is the use of media among university students, and what is their critical attitude?
• To what extent does online media penetrate the medium of formal-informal and non-formal learning? How does the influencer activity of professional opinion leaders help students to think critically and thoughtfully?The sample of the survey is made up of students from the University of Debrecen. From the results we can see, that university students behave differently in the online space, on social media platforms and on messengers than they would elsewhere, thus this affects how they get information. The current situation, the pandemic, clearly demonstrates that advanced digital competence is essential for a confident presence in the online space and advanced critical thinking. Problems of digital inequality and division have surfaced, and the constructed reality mediated by the media is becoming increasingly distorted. During this period, the relationship between the media and media consumers has changed greatly, and the interaction has intensified.
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Non-completed Studies: What Factors Affect Academic Success or Failure?
79-89Views:251The ratio of early school leavers is 12.5 in Hungary, which means 22nd place within the EU28. Early school leaving is an important issue in all European countries, because those who finished their studies after primary education are more likely unemployed and it causes problems for both them and the society. Higher educational drop-out also an important issue, although for other reasons than early school leaving. It is even more difficult to find precise data on this: we don’t know what proportion of the students is affected by this in Hungary. In this study I analyze the database of the Hungarian Youth Research 2016. This survey was conducted on a representative sample of 15-29 year olds, questioning 8,000 people, therefore, early school leavers and higher educational drop-outs should be found among the interviewees. The results show that early school leavers have significantly worse status both financial and cultural. Some of those who had finished only primary school think that they have successfully completed their studies. They answered that despite 18.3 percent of them have started a vocational training, which didn’t finish. Despite the expectations, not much is known about the higher educational drop-outs. 4.5 percent of the interviewees did not answer the question of whether they had completed their studies: they are probably the drop-outs, but we can just assume that. The results show that they have better cultural status than the others.
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Children’s Literature in Transcarpathian Schools for Teaching English as a Foreign Language
108-120Views:293Since the origins of formal foreign language teaching, literature has always played an important role. Currently, modern language teaching trends suggest starting foreign language learning as early as possible; thus, the use of children’s literature in foreign language teaching is undergoing a revolution. This situation encouraged us to examine the use of children’s literature and the attitude of foreign language teachers to it. This article focuses on primary and secondary school English language teachers in a western county of Ukraine (N = 118). The results of the qualitative research revealed that the teachers’ general attitude to the use of children’s literature is positive; they are aware of their advantages but still avoid using these materials. Most teachers do not apply children’s literature in their foreign language teaching because the school curriculum is too congested and fast-paced, they do not have access to appropriate authentic children’s literature, or they were not taught how to utilize authentic children’s literature during their university years. Results suggest that teachers should be encouraged to use children’s literature, though there is no universal solution. The first suggestion is for schools themselves to support teachers, but it would be a significant step forward if this approach were also to be taken in in-service training.
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Favouring Middle-and Upper-Class Students? The Structure and Process of Attending China’s Selective Universities
1-16Views:273Research suggests the increasing influence of family socioeconomic status, as measured by parents’ income and occupations, in access to Chinese higher education. Yet, the literature remains inconclusive about the extent to which the social background of rural and urban students is associated with academic and social performance at elite universities. We address this limitation by looking at the academic and social success of representative samples of first- and second-year students enrolled at four Chinese elite universities. Our aim is to understand the characteristics that students from both urban and rural environments bring with them and how those characteristics bear on academic and social performance in university. We found an overrepresentation of students from middle- and upper-class backgrounds in both urban and rural student groups. The fact that the process indicator of cultural capital has a direct association with social success suggests students from urban areas exhibit traits valued in the selective university environment.