Leveraging vocational education as a ladder for a bright future: motivations, aspirations and self-identity among Chinese vocational students

Similar to most Asian countries, China adopts a highly selective and meritocratic educational system in which the long-standing stereotyped perception regards vocational education as a fallback choice for academically underachieving adolescents from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. Based on semi-structured interviews with vocational students in a culinary school in Beijing, this paper explored the learning experiences of Chinese vocational students and examined their motivations for studying in the vocational track as well as their aspirations for the future. Findings indicated that vocational students are not passive learners or the so-called ‘losers’ in the examination competition, but rather strongly motivated to choose the vocational school and aspire to a successful career after graduation. To them, the vocational school not only offers alternative opportunities that fulfil their personal interests outside the crowded academic track, but also allows them to acquire skills that promise competitive employment advantages in the labour market, meet family obligations and win social recognition. It is suggested that vocational schooling in China should shift from traditional compensatory positioning to an effective transformative carrier enabling disadvantaged adolescents to accumulate marketable skills and find a ‘niche’ for themselves in the increasingly competitive society.