The Impacts of “Neijuan” on College Students in China

Yuxia PENG

Abstract


The concept of “neijuan” has garnered significant attention in the contemporary landscape of Chinese higher education. This study explores the adverse consequences of “neijuan” within China’s rapidly expanding higher education system. Methodologically, this paper employed the Academic Involution Scale for College Students in China (AISCSC) to assess “neijuan” behavior among Chinese college students. An online questionnaire was administered to 353 students enrolled in universities located in the Eastern and Northern regions of China. The correlation analysis revealed a positive relationship between “neijuan” behavior and college students’ anxiety. The findings of this study underscore the significant challenges posed by “neijuan” to the psychological well-being, motivation, and personal growth of Chinese college students. It highlights the pressing need for educational reforms that prioritize holistic development and future success in higher education.


Keywords


neijuan; Chinese college students; Involution behavior scale; Quantitative research; Anxiety

Full Text:

PDF

References


Chen, S., & Hu, Z. (2022). How competition shapes peer effects: Evidence from a university in China. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4012786

Chen, X., Qi, H., Liu, R., Feng, Y., Li, W., Xiang, M., Cheung, T., Jackson, T., Wang, G., & Xiang, Y. (2021). Depression, anxiety and associated factors among Chinese adolescents during the COVID-19 outbreak: A comparison of two cross-sectional studies. Translational Psychiatry, 11(1), 148-155. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01271-4

Curran, T., & Hill, A. (2022). Young people’s perceptions of their parents’ expectations and criticism are increasing over time: Implications for perfectionism. Psychological Bulletin, 148(1), 107-128. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000347

Gu, X., & Mao, E. (2023). The impacts of academic stress on college students’ problematic smartphone use and Internet gaming disorder under the background of “neijuan”: Hierarchical regressions with mediational analysis on escape and coping motives. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1032700

Guo, L., Huang, J., & Zhang, Y. (2019). Education development in China: Education return, quality, and equity. Sustainability, 11(13), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133750

Hannum, E., Ishida, H., Park, H., & Tam, T. (2019). Education in East Asian societies: Postwar expansion and the evolution of inequality. Annual Review of Sociology, 45(1), 625-647. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022507

Huang, T., & Saito, E. (2020). Risk factors of suicide among Chinese college students: A literature review. China Journal of Social Work, 15(1), 22-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/17525098.2020.1858736

Jabbar, H., Fong, C., Germain, E., Li, D., Sanchez, J., Sun, W., & Devall, M. (2019). The competitive effects of school choice on student achievement: A systematic review. Educational Policy, 36(2), 247-281. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904819874756

Kang, L., & Jin, Y. (2020). A review of involution and its psychological interpretation. Filozofia Publiczna i Edukacja Demokratyczna, 9(1), 7-28. https://doi.org/10.14746/fped.2020.9.1.1

Li, C. (2021). From involution to education: A glance to Chinese young generation. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 615, 1884-1887. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211220.320

Liang, Y. (2023). Reflecting on the influence of involution to the shaping of pedagogical partnerships in Chinese universities. Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education, 1(39), 1-6. https://repository.brynmawr.edu/tlthe/vol1/iss39/2

Liu, G., & Helwig, C. (2022). Autonomy, social inequality, and support in Chinese urban and rural adolescents’ reasoning about the Chinese college entrance examination (Gaokao). Journal of Adolescent Research, 37(5), 639-671. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558420914082

Liu, Y., Tu, Y., Yang, H., Gao, J., Xu, Y., & Yang, Q. (2022). Have you “involution” today-Competition psychology scale for college students. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.951931

Liu, Y., Zhou, Y., Li, Q., & Ye, X. (2022). Impact study of the learning effects and motivation of competitive modes in gamified learning. Sustainability, 14(11), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116626

Mulvey, B., & Wright, E. (2022). Global and local possible selves: Differentiated strategies for positional competition among Chinese university students. British Educational Research Journal, 48(5), 841-858. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3797

OECD. (2017). PISA 2015 results (volume iii): Students’ well-being. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264273856-en

Pang, H., Cheng, M., Yu, J., & Wu, J. (2020). Suzhi education and general education in China. ECNU Review of Education, 3(2), 380-395. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120913171

Si, J. (2022). No other choices but involution: Understanding Chinese young academics in the tenure track system. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 45(1), 53-67. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080x.2022.2115332

Tullis, J., & Goldstone, R. (2020). Why does peer instruction benefit student learning? Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 5(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-020-00218-5

Wang, F., Yang, Y., & Cui, T. (2023). Development and validation of an academic involution scale for college students in China. Psychology in the Schools, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.23087

Xue, L. (2021). Educational involution during the social transition period. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 615, 675-678. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211220.115

Yan, C. (2015). We can’t change much unless the exams change: Teachers’ dilemmas in the curriculum reform in China. Improving Schools, 18(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480214553744

Yan, D., Zhang, H., Guo, S., & Zeng, W. (2022). Influence of anxiety on university students’ academic involution behavior during COVID-19 pandemic: Mediating effect of cognitive closure needs. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1005708

Yang, L., Liu, X., Chen, W., & Li, L. (2019). A test of the three-step theory of suicide among Chinese people: A study based on the ideation-to-action framework. Archives of Suicide Research, 23(4), 648-661. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2018.1497563

Yang, Y., Peng, Y., Li, W., Lu, S., Wang, C., Chen, S., & Zhong, J. (2023). Psychometric evaluation of the academic involution scale for college students in China: An application of Rasch analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1135658

Yi, D., Wu, J., Zhang, M., Zeng, Q., Wang, J., Liang, J., & Cai, Y. (2022). Does involution cause anxiety? An empirical study from Chinese universities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(16), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19169826

Yu, S., Chen, B., Levesque-Bristol, C., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2018). Chinese education examined via the lens of self-determination. Educational Psychology Review, 30(1), 177-214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-016-9395-x

Zhang, W., & Bray, M. (2018). Equalising schooling, unequalising private supplementary tutoring: Access and tracking through shadow education in China. Oxford Review of Education, 44(2), 221-238. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2017.1389710

Zhao, B., & Zhu, J. (2019). Research review on involution. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 351, 562-565. https://doi.org/10.2991/mmetss-19.2019.113




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/13223

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 Canadian Social Science

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Reminder

  • How to do online submission to another Journal?
  • If you have already registered in Journal A, then how can you submit another article to Journal B? It takes two steps to make it happen:

Submission Guidelines for Canadian Social Science

We are currently accepting submissions via email only. The registration and online submission functions have been disabled.

Please send your manuscripts to css@cscanada.net，or css@cscanada.org for consideration. We look forward to receiving your work.

 Articles published in Canadian Social Science are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY).

 

Canadian Social Science Editorial Office

Address: 1020 Bouvier Street, Suite 400, Quebec City, Quebec, G2K 0K9, Canada.
Telephone: 1-514-558 6138 
Website: Http://www.cscanada.net; Http://www.cscanada.org 
E-mail:caooc@hotmail.com; office@cscanada.net

Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture