Like Mother, Like Daughter? Mother–Daughter Educational Mobility in Rural China*

Abstract

This study examines the extent to which educational outcomes are transmitted from mothers to daughters in rural China. An analysis of the 2010 China Family Panel Survey reveals that: (i) how far daughters go in their education is strongly associated with their mothers’ education; (ii) the association between mothers’ and daughters’ educational outcomes in rural China was found to be stronger than the corresponding relationships between mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, and fathers and sons, especially at higher levels of education; and (iii) while having more brothers and being born later worsens daughters’ educational outcomes, mothers’ higher education effectively mitigates these negative effects. These findings add to a growing body of literature and empirical evidence that challenges conventional social mobility research paradigms that neglect mothers’ roles. More importantly, the distinction between mother–daughter relationship and that between fathers and daughters and mothers and sons highlights the fact that education is likely transmitted intergenerationally via mechanisms that differ depending on the gendered parent–child pairs.

Citation

Chen, M. (2021), "Like Mother, Like Daughter? Mother–Daughter Educational Mobility in Rural China*", Kan, M.-Y. and Blair, S.L. (Ed.) Chinese Families: Tradition, Modernisation, and Change (Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, Vol. 16), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 31-64. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1530-353520210000016003