ISSN: 2226-6348
Open access
The poor academic achievement of students has caused a crisis, which has affected their reputation and requires mitigation to achieve high student excellence. In China, students at the University of Jinan and the Qilu University of Technology in Shandong have experienced poor academic achievement, which is attributed to a lack of social mobility, educational inequality, and inadequate utilisation of digital technologies, resulting in subpar academic outcomes. This study investigates the social mobility and factors influencing academic achievement among undergraduate students in Shandong, China. This study employed a case study design, targeting a location of the University of Jinan and the Qilu University of Technology in Shandong, China. The research employed a case study design, focusing on the University of Jinan and the Qilu University of Technology. The researcher conducted interviews with 20 participants (ten from each university) to assess the academic achievement of students. The participants included students (aged 16-40) from both universities. Data was collected through interviews, observations, and document analysis, and analysed using NVivo version 12 software. The results confirmed that students face challenges due to poor social mobility, which negatively impacts their academic achievement. Furthermore, education inequalities have a profound impact on educational outcomes. The improved leveraging of digital technologies has a significant impact on academic achievement, thereby enhancing students' digital literacy and skills. In conclusion, enhancing social mobility and addressing education inequalities have helped boost students' academic achievement and lessen teachers' challenges in guiding the learning process. Enhancing the leveraging of digital technologies has significantly contributed to the development of students' academic achievement, having a positive impact on both students and teachers. This study fills a gap identified in previous research, thereby contributing to the existing body of knowledge and supporting the academic achievement of students in China.
Anirudha Jena1 & Rupali Das. (2024). Enhancing Access, Equity, and Quality in Higher Education in India through Technology and Its Challenges. International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2024.v06i02.14623
Avsec, S., Jagie??o-Kowalczyk, M., ?abicka, A., Gawlak, A., & Gil-Mastalerczyk, J. (2023). Leveraging Systems Thinking, Engagement, and Digital Competencies to Enhance First-Year Architecture Students’ Achievement in Design-Based Learning. Sustainability, 15(20), 15115. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152015115
Bao, C., Li, Y., & Zhao, X. (2023). The Influence of Social Capital and Intergenerational Mobility on University Students’ Sustainable Development in China. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15076118
Cao, Y. (2022). Improving Gender Equality in China Through Education: Redistribution and Recognition. Journal of Education and Development, 6(3), 1. https://doi.org/10.20849/jed.v6i3.1217
Chen, H. (2024). Digital interactive information technologies in political education and civic participation of students of Chinese universities. Education and Information Technologies, 29(4), 3903–3921. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11951-x
Chen, X., & Bhuiyan, M. A. (2023). The influence of religious beliefs on the expectations of individual social class mobility. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 42(8), 1069–1086. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-05-2022-012
Chen, Y., & Wu, X. (2022). A Study of the Relationship Between the Weakening of the Social Mobility Function of Education and the Educational Equity in China. International Research in Higher Education, 7(2), 28. https://doi.org/10.5430/irhe.v7n2p28
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative. Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ding, L., & Wu, S. (2024). Digital Transformation of Education in China: A Review Against the Backdrop of the 2024 World Digital Education Conference. Science Insights Education Frontiers, 20(2), 3283–3299. https://doi.org/10.15354/sief.24.re340
Ghauri, P., Grønhaug, K., & Strange, R. (2020). Research Methods in Business Studies. Cambridge University Press.
Guan, X. (2024). The Influence of Digital Transformation of Higher Education on China University Teaching Management. International Journal of Education and Humanities, 12(1), 208–211. https://doi.org/10.54097/fgwggz04
Gui, P., & Alam, G. M. (2024). Does socioeconomic status influence students’ access to residential college and ameliorate performance discrepancies among them in China? Discover Sustainability, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-024-00203-8
Guo, Z., Qi, C., Yang, J., Xu, Y., & Li, S. (2023). How family structure influences middle-school students’ involvement in physical exercise and their academic achievement in China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01636-8
Harpaz, G., Vaizman, T., & Yaffe, Y. (2024). University students’ academic grit and academic achievements predicted by subjective well-being, coping resources, and self-cultivation characteristics. Higher Education Quarterly, 78(1), 192–211. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12455
Huang, F., & Xu, J. (2024). New Teaching Approaches to Art and Design Education in the Digital Age. SHS Web of Conferences, 181, 01046. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202418101046
Jiang, X., Xu, J., & Xu, X. (2024). An overview of domestic and international applications of digital technology in teaching in vocational education: Systematic literature mapping. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12528-y
Jin, X. (2024). The role of effort in understanding academic achievements: empirical evidence from China. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 39(1), 389–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-023-00694-5
Lee, J. Y., Pyon, C. U., & Woo, J. (2023). Digital Twin for Math Education: A Study on the Utilization of Games and Gamification for University Mathematics Education. Electronics (Switzerland), 12(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12153207
Lei, H., Wang, X., Chiu, M. M., Du, M., & Xie, T. (2023). Teacher-student relationship and academic achievement in China: Evidence from a three-level meta-analysis. School Psychology International, 44(1), 68–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/01430343221122453
Lei, W. (2023). Does Preschool Education Experience Help Disadvantaged Students Become Academically Resilient? Empirical Evidence from CEPS Data. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 13(1), 1665–1670. https://doi.org/10.15354/bece.23.ar026
Li, J., & Xue, E. (2022). Unpacking the Policies, Historical Stages, and Themes of the Education Equality for Educational Sustainable Development: Evidence from China. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(17). https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710522
Li, J., Chan, P. W. K., & Hu, Y. (2023). The Effects of Principals’ Instructional Leadership on Primary School Students’ Academic Achievement in China: Evidence from Serial Multiple Mediating Analysis. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032844
Li, K., & Christophe, B. (2024). Oscillating between the techniques of discipline and self: how Chinese policy papers on the digitalization of education subjectivize educators and the educated. Learning, Media and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2024.2306552
Lo, L., Li, W., & Tan, Y. (2023). Students on the move? Intellectual migration and international student mobility. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(18), 4621–4640. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2023.2270331
Li, M., & Cao, J. (2023). Multi-generational educational mobility in China in the twentieth century. China Economic Review, 80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2023.101990
Li, M., Jiang, S., & Jotikasthira, N. (2024). Developing A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Development Education Through Digital Tools: Qualitative Insights from Southwest China. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 13(1), 119–138. https://doi.org/10.5430/jct.v13n1p119
Liu, Q., Colak, F. Z., & Agirdag, O. (2024). Thinking beyond deficits in Southwest China: Perspectives of ethnic minority teachers on academic achievement disparities among students. British Educational Research Journal, 50(4), 1676–1700. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3993
Liu, S., Cao, Y., & Zhang, H. (2023). Online Education and Subjective Well-Being in China: Multiple Mediating Roles of Social Class Mobility and Social Tolerance. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032177
Lin, Y. L., & Wang, W. T. (2024). Enhancing students’ online collaborative PBL learning performance in the context of coauthoring-based technologies: A case of wiki technologies. Education and Information Technologies, 29(2), 2303–2328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11907-1
Luo, Q., Chen, L., Yu, D., & Zhang, K. (2023). The Mediating Role of Learning Engagement Between Self-Efficacy and Academic Achievement Among Chinese College Students. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 1533–1543. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S401145
Lyu, Y., Chi, T., & Zheng, X. (2024). Digital Transformation of Design Education in Chinese Universities: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities. SHS Web of Conferences, 181, 04037. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202418104037
Mulvey, B., & Li, B. (2023). Social inequality in a ‘hyper-mobile’ society: intra-national mobilities and formal education in China. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(17), 4225–4243. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2023.2193673
Pang, T. Y., Lee, T. K., & Murshed, M. (2023). Towards a New Paradigm for Digital Health Training and Education in Australia: Exploring the Implication of the Fifth Industrial Revolution. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 13(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/app13116854
Rea, L. M., & Parker, R. A. (2014). Using Focus Groups in the Survey Research Process. In Designing and Conducting Survey Research: A Comprehensive Guide, 80-95.
Shen, W. (2023). Education Equality in China: Economic, Geographical, Gender and Education Policies. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media, 17(1), 162–171. https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/17/20231237
Shen, Y., & Zhang, X. (2024). The impact of artificial intelligence on employment: the role of virtual agglomeration. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02647-9
Song, J. (2023). Gender Equality Education in China: Inadequacy and Outlook. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 12, 235–240. https://doi.org/10.54097/ehss.v12i.7645
Sparfeldt, J. R., & Schwabe, S. (2024). Academic procrastination mediates the relation between conscientiousness and academic achievement. Personality and Individual Differences, 218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2023.112466
Sun, Z., Yuan, Y., Xiong, X., Meng, S., Shi, Y., & Chen, A. (2024). Predicting academic achievement from the collaborative influences of executive function, physical fitness, and demographic factors among primary school students in China: ensemble learning methods. BMC Public Health, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17769-7
Tang, X. (2023). Educational Inequality Between Urban and Rural Areas in China. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media, 30(1), 293–297. https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/30/20231736
Taraza, E., Anastasiadou, S., Papademetriou, C., & Masouras, A. (2024). Evaluation of Quality and Equality in Education Using the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model—A Literature Review. Sustainability (Switzerland), 16(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16030960
Wang, H. (2024). Analysis of Issues Related to the Development of Special Education. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media, 40(1), 248–253. https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/40/20240765
Xia, R. (2023). Examining the optimal option for gender equality education in the digital era. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 12, 217–223. https://doi.org/10.54097/ehss.v12i.7639
Xie, Y., Dong, H., Zhou, X., & Song, X. (2022). Trends in social mobility in postrevolution China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(7). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117471119
Yu, Y., Cheng, M., & Xu, Y. (2022). Understanding international postgraduate students’ educational mobility to China: an ecological systematic perspective. Higher Education Research and Development, 41(6), 2137–2153. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1973383
Yang, P. (2024). The winner’s curse? Temporal and spatial impacts of higher education expansion on graduate employment and social mobility. Studies in Higher Education, 49(2), 286–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2231023
Zhao, D., Liu, S., & Li, Q. (2023). Effects of socioeconomic status and its components on academic achievement: evidence from Beijing-Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang (China). Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 43(4), 968–983. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2021.2015286
Zhou, L., Meng, W., Wu, S., & Cheng, X. (2023). Development of Digital Education in the Age of Digital Transformation: Citing China’s Practice in Smart Education as a Case Study. Science Insights Education Frontiers, 14(2), 2077–2092. https://doi.org/10.15354/sief.23.or095
Meng, L., & Bakar, N. I. B. A. (2025). Social Mobility and Factors Influencing Academic Achievement among Undergraduate Students in Shandong, China. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 14(4), 989-1011.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode