Trends in Educational Inequality in Different Eras (1940–2010)—A Re-Examination of Opportunity Inequalities in Urban-Rural Education

Based on national sampling survey data from 2006, 2008, and 2011, the author uses the Mare educational transition model to systematically examine changing trends in inequalities in urban-rural educational opportunities at all educational stages from 1940 to 2010. Through a comparative analysis of five birth year groups, inequalities in urban-rural opportunities for elementary education were found to decrease, there were no changes in urban-rural opportunity inequalities for middle school education, inequalities in urban-rural opportunities in high school and other advanced secondary education continued to increase, and there was a slight increase in urban-rural opportunity inequalities at the college stage. The main conclusion of this paper is that urban-rural inequality in secondary education is the key location of educational stratification. The continued expansion of urban-rural opportunity inequality at the secondary education stage of transitioning from middle school to high school is the ca...