The Social Differentiation of Chinese University Students' Cultural Consumption

With reference to capital' theory,the features of university students' cultural consumption and the process of cultural capital accumulation have been observed and analyzed.Data collected from a survey made in2013 further reveal the inner differences of university students' cultural consumption and cultural capital accumulation,which can roughly be displayed as:1) the differentiation of higher education corresponds to the preferences for Chinese or Western cultures;2) isomorphism exists between the ability of the dominant group and their social status;3) regional differences within groups of university students help shape students' cultural preferences,whose difference indicates students' different backgrounds and heritages—it depends on whether the students are from the rural and urban areas.China is in the finalization process of class differentiation.Different from previous studies on human capital and social capital,this study finds that cultural capital is unevenly distributed within groups of university students in China,and it proceeds to address the reproduction of culture and social classes.