Contribution to RC-28 meeting, May 24-27, Brno

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Contribution to RC-28 meeting, May 24-27,
Brno Postsecondary Educational Opportunity and
Civil Society in Hong Kong In Search of the
Missing Link by David Post (post_at_pop.psu.edu) Pe
nn State University and Chinese University of
Hong Kong
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Can we accept the following assumptions?

• That the consequences of higher education
  expansion go beyond impact on individual and
  group equality of educational opportunity.
• That these consequences include social
  integration and state legitimacy
• And that these broader consequences are not
  merely byproducts of expanded opportunity.
  Frequently they are intended as major outcomes in
  themselves that are politically contended by
  actors who seek a hand in the control of
  state-society relations.

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If these assumptions are reasonable then.

• Researchers in the RC-28 who focus on the ways
  that societies govern access to power, prestige,
  and the allocation of social status to adults of
  different class backgrounds are studying a
  political process that is larger than that direct
  concerning mobility.
• Concomitantly, through research on
  stratification, we also investigate the
  transformation of the ways individuals are
  situated by their education and how they
  consciously situate themselves in relation to the
  status hierarchy, a hierarchy that includes
  political power as well as wealth and prestige.

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Why is Hong Kong of interest?

• In the final decades of colonial rule, and in the
  ten years since reunification with China in 1997,
  Hong Kongs top-down control of postsecondary
  opportunities and supply-side expansion resemble
  a natural experiment because in Hong Kong the
  before-after contrasts are readily apparent.
• In this paper, I extend past investigations of
  Hong Kong post-secondary education expansion to
  consider the political consequences, including
  the opportunities and the challenges facing civil
  society organizations and non-governmental
  actors.

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Background to study

• Prior to the Sino-British accord of 1982, where
  Britain promised to relinquish Colonial authority
  and return Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in
  1997, Hong Kong had one of the worlds most
  restrictive systems of higher education.
• The government owned and operated only two
  universities, with spaces for less than 3 percent
  of each age cohort.
• Yet the colony deliberately monopolized
  post-secondary opportunities by either absorbing
  or relegating to the margins any potential
  competitors. Potential students were forced
  either to compete for a space in one of the two
  universities or (for the very wealthy) study
  overseas.

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Expansion

• Facing pressure from European trade unionists,
  and with huge budget surpluses, Britain in 1978
  extended free and compulsory education to nine
  years.
• In 1980s and, especially after the 4 June 1989
  Tiananmen massacre, the governor rapidly expanded
  higher education places (all paid by government)

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Decision-making and arguments pre-1997

• There were no political parties in Hong Kong
  until late 1980s to press demands on government,
  and there was no direct means to influence
  decision-making in education
• Government rationales for supporting education
  were inexplicit or were based on manpower
  planning and human capital arguments.

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Hong Kongs first post-colonial Chief Executive
tried to limit arguments to human capital and
trading framework .   Chief Executive
Tung Chee Hwa in 2000 In developed countries
and some major cities in Asia, up to 60 of
senior secondary school graduates pursue tertiary
education. For Hong Kong, however, the rate is
just about half that. Not only are we lagging far
behind, but failing to meet the needs of a
knowledge-based economy. It is imperative we
catch up. Our objective is that within 10 years,
60 of senior secondary school leavers will
receive tertiary education.  
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But a coalition of human rights activists
gradually sought to change the terms of the
debate.   President of the Teachers Union and
opposition Legislative Councilor Cheung
Man-kwong .the emphasis of Tung Che Hwas
policy, whether it be on education or
environmental protection, is laid more on its
value as an economic tool than on its intrinsic
humanistic values. In the field of education,
cultivating talents means providing sufficient
human resources to improve Hong Kong's
competitiveness and to increase its wealth. .. To
cultivate a whole person and to build a green
environment, we must rely on every individual. To
do this, we need a democratic political system
where we can choose our own government through
universal suffrage. Only such a government, as
opposed to one relying on the support of the
businesses, can truly represent us and help us
decide our own fate.
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Expansion had obvious impact on equalizing
education opportunity

• Girls attained parity and then overtook boys
• Gap between upper and lower income narrowed
  between 1981 and 1991
• This same gap slightly widened between 1991 and
  2001, reversing earlier trend

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. Education Attained by Hong Kong Girls Relative
to Attainment by Boys at Ages 19-20, by Census
Year

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Composition of university student body in 1981,
by quarters of parents income
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Composition of university student body in 1991,
by quarters of parents income
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. Composition of university student body in 2001,
by quarters of parents income
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Childrens University Transition Rates by
Quarters of Total Parental Income
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What is impact of supply-driven, top-down
expansion on public discourse and debate?

• Modernization perspectives (traceable to
  Durkheim) suggest more receptiveness to
  innovation and willingness to embrace reform by
  university graduates
• Institutionalist perspectives, traceable to
  Weber, suggest the socializing power of
  universities inheres in its acceptance as a
  legitimate allocator of expertise

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Impact of universities as organizations

• Higher education promotes values that are more
  inclusive or more public than other civic
  venues, such as religious communities, households
  and families, or ethnic and linguistic groups.
  Higher education is expected to embody norms of
  social interaction such as open debate and
  argumentative reason to emphasize the autonomy
  and self-reliance of its individual members and
  to reject discrimination based on gender,
  ethnicity, religious belief, or social class. The
  best higher education institution is a model and
  a source of pressure for creating a modern civil
  society. - Task Force on Higher Education and
  Society, World Bank, 2002

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Education as an institution

• The focus on individual equality, rather than
  group rights or needs, suggests how much
  education in the contemporary world has a liberal
  and individualist cast. Talk that educational
  opportunity ought principally to be structured by
  national or local needs, rather than by
  individual choice (and thus liberal market
  forces), tends to disappear.
• John W.
  Meyer, 2001

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How has discussion of educational opportunity
affected decision-making?

• An Alliance Concerned With Sub-Degree Education
  has been formed in order to press the government
  to offer more publicly-funded university places
  for students who complete a sub-degree (two
  year degree).
• Legislative Councilors have staked out positions
  opposing the government rationing of education
• A new, non-government supported university has
  been established

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Who controls the terms of debate?

• With one big exception (a former finance minister
  later forced from office), government leaders use
  language of efficiency, quality, human resources
• Opposition pressure groups would like to expand
  bases of pressure but they have been constrained
  strategically from doing so.
• Interviews with numerous officials reveal an
  avoidance of terms such as equity or fairness

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Political parties have emerged, expanding the
definition of what is at stake in the process of
distinguishing themselves from one another and
from government

• Economic and social progress for Hong Kong's
  people is the primary and perennial target to
  which we must all dedicate our efforts. We will
  strive for an even better future by sustained
  dynamic growth through sound economic principles
  and planning. Building on proven success, we aim
  to create an economy that will bring about jobs
  and wealth for all. In addition, we must, through
  long term planning, ensure that the growth we
  seek will be a sustainable one and that our
  children enjoy the best education so that they
  remain competitive in this increasingly
  globalised economy. - Liberal Party

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• Education is concerned with the development of
  humankind. Therefore, education should aim at
  teaching our next generation to be loving in our
  families, community, country and nation, in
  addition to preserving peace on earth. In
  addition to teaching academic knowledge,
  education policy should then aim at helping
  students to develop independent minds, healthy
  moral standards, decent temperaments, and to be
  honest, responsible, just and loving persons.
  The young should not only be considered precious
  community resources, but also be given respect
  and the opportunity to live and grow in a free
  and democratic environment. - Democratic Party

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• We believe everyone should be given a fair chance
  to succeed and work towards the fulfillment of
  his or her potential. We believe in the creation
  of sustainable communities and in the improvement
  of the quality of life as a common goal. We
  believe economic development should be pursued in
  that context and not for its own sake. We believe
  social harmony and stability can only come about
  with social justice and equity. - Civic Party

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Response of government is to seek to preserve
legitimacy by ceding to demands

• Increased funding for students to transfer from
  community colleges to university degree
  programs
• Free kindergarten
• Smaller class sizes

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Hong Kong government is unable to control
increasing demands for participation, both in its
political process and its housing, land use,
environmental, immigration, and education
policies. All because it faces a legitimacy
deficit due to legislators and Chief Executive
selected without popular election. Typology
suggested by Javier Corrales is applicable to
Hong Kong.
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Tentative conclusion

• As government planning documents and promises
  begin to take for granted an expanded role in
  guaranteeing basic human rights for the
  development of citizens, equally and regardless
  of their social origin, public expectations are
  raised. Opponents can then turn these raised
  expectations to their advantage and create a
  bidding by competing public advocates and
  interest groups. Therefore, expanding the
  rationale for higher education opens the door to
  a new dynamic that could limit state autonomy and
  promote pluralism.