'Stupid and lazy' youths? Meritocratic discourse and perceptions of the popular stereotyping of VET students in China

Wang, G. (2022) 'Stupid and lazy' youths? Meritocratic discourse and perceptions of the popular stereotyping of VET students in China. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 43(4), pp. 585-600. (doi: 10.1080/01596306.2020.1868977)

Abstract

Since the start of the Reform Era in 1978, vocational education and training (VET) in China has been seen as inferior to academic routes and positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy. VET students are stereotyped as being ‘stupid and lazy’ and suffer considerable prejudice in Chinese society. Drawing on Foucault’s disciplinary power and Ball’s idea of performativity, this paper analyses how academically focused, exam-driven societal attitudes, as a form of meritocratic discourse, impact on these students and on how they perceive their stereotyped position within the Reform Era educational system. The findings reveal that these students have internalised the ideology of meritocracy, coming to see themselves as inferior and inadequate compared to their academic counterparts. Turning ‘the gaze’ upon themselves, they examine whether they ‘add up’ and assume responsibility for their own ‘failures’. VET students are trained to be the new kind of youthful subject required to sustain the Reform Era China’s engagement with neoliberal governance.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wang, Dr Geng
• Authors: Wang, G.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Journal Name: Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 0159-6306
• ISSN (Online): 1469-3739
• Published Online: 02 January 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
• First Published: First published in Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 43(4):585-600
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy