This book explores how family background, geographic location, and institutional settings profoundly shape educational journeys in China, with a particular focus on English language learning. It reveals the deeply entrenched inequalities within the education system. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 36 English majors from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds at an elite Chinese university, the study traces their educational trajectories in a longitudinal framework. It offers a novel application of Bourdieu’s theoretical constructs—capital, field, and habitus—by extending the concept of institutional habitus to the Chinese context. Through this lens, the analysis uncovers how the interplay of social and institutional forces influences access, opportunity, and academic outcomes. This title is essential reading for sociologists of education, comparative education researchers, policymakers, educators, university administrators, and students in China and beyond. It provides critical perspectives for anyone interested in educational equity, social mobility, and language policy.
