




































BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.18, No.1, 2024, BECE 1898 

 

 

 

 

The Disparities in Students’ Access to College Admis-

sion Information: Narrowing the “Information Divide” 

By Wu, Q. 
Correspondence to: Qiuxiang Wu, Renmin University of China, China. E-mail: 

editorial-office@bonoi.org  

HIS study investigates the effects of student socio-economic status (SES) 

on their access to college admission information with a sample of 2056 

12th-graders from a county-level city in western China. 

Research Findings: 

 The effect of the student’ SES on their access to college admis-

sion information is contingent on their utilization of information 

from their connections and the internet. Students with high SES 

have the access to more open information networks through su-

perior family social capital (e.g., connections with professional 

expertise and experience), as opposed to those with low SES, 

who can only enjoy comparatively narrow information networks 

based on the limited knowledge on college choice of their own 

and their connections in the village and rural school. This gap in 

social support is a direct consequence of the SES differences be-

tween the two groups. The low-SES group is more likely to ex-

perience the stagnation of information flow in this regard. 

 Students’ internet use in accessing college admission information 

is associated with their personal preferences and information 

search tactics. High-SES students are skillful in using internet-

based official platforms provided by the government’s college 

admission management departments and universities’ admission 

offices to obtain richer and more authoritative information. On 

the other hand, low-SES students may resort to social media, 

such as WeChat, Micro-blog, and TikTok, and as a result, the in-

formation gathered is unreliable and incomplete. Students’ use of 

internet-based channels is determined by their internet use habits 

developed under different social and cultural backgrounds as 

well as being influenced by the social support they have received. 

Internet-based information channels used by low-SES students 

are less effective or sometimes, even misleading.  

 The high school and classroom teacher play vital roles in provid-

ing valuable information on the transition to postsecondary edu-

cation for students. The school’s guidance in this regard can sig-

T 

mailto:editorial-office@bonoi.org


 

Vol.18, No.1, 2024, BECE 1899 

nificantly narrow the SES gap in the access to college admission 

information between students; the classroom teacher plays an 

important compensatory role in supplying low-SES students with 

relevant information, which should have been partially fulfilled 

by their parents. 

Based on its research findings, the study highlights the following 

implications: (i) For lower-SES students, the improvement in the in-

dividual’s information literacy can make up for the inadequacy in col-

lege admission information due to the lack of social support. (ii) Pub-

lic institutions, particularly the high school, have the obligation to 

transmit comprehensive information on university admission to stu-

dents and provide relevant education to enhance their information ac-

quisition competence. (iii) School progression counseling institutions 

should be encouraged to open up advisory services of reasonable 

charges to meet low-SES students’ needs for both public and on-

demand information about university admission. In addition, the study 

proposes to establish an information support mechanism based on 

joint efforts of homes, public agencies, and private institutions to 

promote the equity in the access to Gaokao-related information among 

all students. 

 
Source: Educational Research, 2024; 45(6): 53-62. 


