ABSTRACT
Meritocracy and equity are two logics often involved in distributing higher education opportunities. However, they are frequently found to be inconsistent with each other under specific contexts. This chapter reviews the evolution of the National College Entrance Examination in China since 1977 and uses it as an example to discuss how the meritocracy and equity logics have been addressed and evolved across time in a transitional economy. The chapter argues that policy may shift its priorities between the two across historical periods: the meritocracy logic was the main focus in the early period of forming the examination system, and, currently, the equity logic has come to the front of the policy debate together with meritocracy. The analysis also points to the role of market mechanisms working in parallel with strong state-directed interventions in distributing higher education opportunities in China’s transitional economy.
