Employment Priority Policy: Blocking the IntergenerationalTransmission of Poverty in Ethnic Minority Areas with“Fair and Quality Education”

Xu Shanshan　Zhang Wenying

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2020.04.007Abstract：Employment constitutes the most important part of people? s livelihood. In the Report on the Work of the Government of the National People? s Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference 2019， it says “employment policy is prioritized on a macro level for the first time this year.” As a new method for blocking the intergenerational transmission of poverty， “employment priority”， takes short-term effectiveness and sustainable development into consideration. As far as the promotion of education equity is concerned， in practice， this equity should also be more holistic and longterm.

The renowned “cultural reproduction” theory of Bourdieu， demonstrates that the deficiency ofcultural capital of the elder generation of poor families leads to difficulties for the younger generation to obtain higherlevel academic achievements and degrees in an eliteoriented school education， thereby ending up repeating the working class jobs of their parents within the same social division of labor. Bourdieu? s theory of “cultural reproduction” receives wide support among those within the circle of the Sociology of Education. This theory is applied by certain Chinese scholars to their quantitative research on ethnic minorities， rural underprivileged families and urban lowincome populations， and they draw a similar conclusion. However， this article does not concur with this model of argumentation， which mechanically applies western theory to affirm that China has “educational inequity”.

In fact， the major obstacle of educational equity inethnic minority areas of China is the phased difficulty of employment rather than the structural resistance of “cultural reproduction”. Origin， process and result are three key points of education equity. During the time? time when infrastructure and teachers were inadequate， ensuring every child “can go to school” （equity at the origin） was the bottom line. After education became compulsory， and the enrollment expanded at universities， the key point became to improve the quality of curriculum and the level of schooling in order to ensure access to good education （equity in the process）. However， in order to complete the cycle， it is necessary to secure that the academic investments of the person who is educated results in career development， which， in turn， leads the educated person? to the conclusion that “education benefits my life” （equity in result）. Therefore， the pressing issue at the moment for promoting education equity is to shift the focus away from “origin” and “process”， i.e. promoting the equal supply of educational resources， to a focus on “result”， i.e. “promoting social justice via the leverage and ladder of education”. Guaranteeing the sense of gain， for most families， builds a consensus that “education changes fate” for the public. Once a student finds an employment， the family? s investment in education get payback.

Another way is to allocate educational resources with the consideration of boosting employments; and to provide services that integrate into the market needs. Nowadays， outdated industries， agriculture and animal husbandry with low production efficiency coexist in many impoverished ethnic minority areas. The entire system of a market-oriented economy is waiting to be better interconnected. In the process of poverty alleviation through education， employment should be both the starting point and the foothold. Allocating educational resources based on the needs of the employment market in educational hubs helps to foster competition among ethnic minority students with skills in short supply and， it also helps to guide ethnic minorities to realize their selfvalue and reinforce cultural confidence within the circumstances of “work hard in unity， prosper together”.

The third way is to invigorate impetus and optimize systems via boosting employments，and in this way precisely prevent a return to poverty. We should help ethnic minority areas eliminate multidimensional poverty caused by different kinds of reasons， and not rest on the transient success of “taking off the hat of poverty” brought about to a short-term increase of GDP. It is more important to lay a solid foundation for the future， guarantee opportunities for? acquiring work skills， develop motivation and employment， and implement the concept that “education changes fate” to stop intergenerational transmission of poverty on a daily basis.

Nowadays， China is only one step away from completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Poverty alleviation via education must be executed in crucial spots， to the base， and for each family in need. Enhancing the equity of education through the perspective of employment no longer offers guaranteed job assignments for ethnic minority college graduates. Instead， we should supply them with abilities and capacities to compete in the job market， and opportunities to practice their skills， expand the scale of employment through multiple channels， promote diversified ways of career development， and help new generations of ethnic minorities find their own positions on the “social ladder”.

Key Words： ethnic minority education; equity of education; educational poverty alleviation; employment; cultural reproduction

References：

Pierre Bourdieu ， JeanClaude Passeron. zai shengchang—yizhong jiaoyu xitong lilun de yaodian（Reproduction in Education， Society and Culture）.Xing Kechao，transl. Beijing： shangwu yinshuguan ，（2002）[1990].

Pierre Bourdieu ， JeanClaude Passeron. jinchengren—daxuesheng yu wenhua （The Inheritors： French Students and Their Relation to Culture）.Xing Kechao，transl.Beijing： shangwu yinshuguan ，（2002）[1979].