Cultural capital and habitus in the field of higher education: academic and social adaptation of rural students in four elite universities in Shanghai, China

Referring to Bourdieu’s three-level analysis and trio concepts, the authors offer a third-level analysis of the academic and social adaptation of 32 rural students in four elite universities in Shanghai, China. Respondents with rural habitus and cultural capital had difficulties in adapting to the field of an elite university in an urban city and were disadvantaged in making themselves a competitive portfolio. But many respondents changed habitus and acquired new cultural capital, so that they looked urbane, survived academic crises and got prepared for the labour market. Nevertheless, some were not confident of securing a well-paid professional job in competitive Shanghai, and few chose to disengage from social competition. Amid a structural explanation of social reproduction, this analysis demonstrates room for agency and possibilities for social change by addressing a characteristic of the field of higher education overlooked in many Bourdieusian analyses: the transformative nature of university education.