Dr Ye Liu is a Lecturer in International Development at the International Development Institute, the King’s College London. She was a Senior Lecturer in International Education at Bath Spa University between 2013 and 2016. She was awarded a PhD in Comparative Sociology in 2011 at the Institute of Education, University of London. She won the 2014 Junior Sociologist Prize by the Research Committee on Women in Society of the International Sociology Association and the 2014 Newer Researcher Award by the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE). Over ten years of research she has conducted survey studies, in-depth interviews and observations in China. Covering the topics including access to higher education, cultural capital and education attainment, elite opportunities, the ‘One-Child’ policy, rural youth, geographical and gender inequality, her analysis has paid particular attention to institutional/contextual causes and consequences of shifting socio-political circumstances overthe course of the People’s Republic of China that underpin the life chances of various social groups. She has published in highly ranked international journals such as British Journal of Sociology of Education and International Journal of Educational Development. Her media articles on the end of China’s One Child Policy as well as China’s educational success and failures were published in the Conversation.

• Chapter 1 Origins of Meritocracy in China.- Chapter 2 A Comparative Analysis of Western Meritocracies.- Chapter 3 Education and Social Harmony during the China's Great Transformation.- Chapter 4 The Gaokao as a Meritocratic Selection?.- Chapter 5 Meritocracy, Education Opportunities and Social Stratification.- Chapter 6 Meritocracy and Cultural Capital.- Chapter 7 Meritocracy, Gender and the 'One-Child' Policy.- Chapter 8 Meritocracy and Geographical Stratification.- Chapter 9 Conclusion.

Dr Ye Liu is a Lecturer in International Development at the International Development Institute, the King’s College London. She was a Senior Lecturer in International Education at Bath Spa University between 2013 and 2016. She was awarded a PhD in Comparative Sociology in 2011 at the Institute of Education, University of London. She won the 2014 Junior Sociologist Prize by the Research Committee on Women in Society of the International Sociology Association and the 2014 Newer Researcher Award by the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE). Over ten years of research she has conducted survey studies, in-depth interviews and observations in China. Covering the topics including access to higher education, cultural capital and education attainment, elite opportunities, the ‘One-Child’ policy, rural youth, geographical and gender inequality, her analysis has paid particular attention to institutional/contextual causes and consequences of shifting socio-political circumstances overthe course of the People’s Republic of China that underpin the life chances of various social groups. She has published in highly ranked international journals such as British Journal of Sociology of Education and International Journal of Educational Development. Her media articles on the end of China’s One Child Policy as well as China’s educational success and failures were published in the Conversation.

• Chapter 1 Origins of Meritocracy in China.- Chapter 2 A Comparative Analysis of Western Meritocracies.- Chapter 3 Education and Social Harmony during the China's Great Transformation.- Chapter 4 The Gaokao as a Meritocratic Selection?.- Chapter 5 Meritocracy, Education Opportunities and Social Stratification.- Chapter 6 Meritocracy and Cultural Capital.- Chapter 7 Meritocracy, Gender and the 'One-Child' Policy.- Chapter 8 Meritocracy and Geographical Stratification.- Chapter 9 Conclusion.

Dr Ye Liu is a Lecturer in International Development at the International Development Institute, the King’s College London. She was a Senior Lecturer in International Education at Bath Spa University between 2013 and 2016. She was awarded a PhD in Comparative Sociology in 2011 at the Institute of Education, University of London. She won the 2014 Junior Sociologist Prize by the Research Committee on Women in Society of the International Sociology Association and the 2014 Newer Researcher Award by the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE). Over ten years of research she has conducted survey studies, in-depth interviews and observations in China. Covering the topics including access to higher education, cultural capital and education attainment, elite opportunities, the ‘One-Child’ policy, rural youth, geographical and gender inequality, her analysis has paid particular attention to institutional/contextual causes and consequences of shifting socio-political circumstances overthe course of the People’s Republic of China that underpin the life chances of various social groups. She has published in highly ranked international journals such as British Journal of Sociology of Education and International Journal of Educational Development. Her media articles on the end of China’s One Child Policy as well as China’s educational success and failures were published in the Conversation.

• Chapter 1 Origins of Meritocracy in China.- Chapter 2 A Comparative Analysis of Western Meritocracies.- Chapter 3 Education and Social Harmony during the China's Great Transformation.- Chapter 4 The Gaokao as a Meritocratic Selection?.- Chapter 5 Meritocracy, Education Opportunities and Social Stratification.- Chapter 6 Meritocracy and Cultural Capital.- Chapter 7 Meritocracy, Gender and the 'One-Child' Policy.- Chapter 8 Meritocracy and Geographical Stratification.- Chapter 9 Conclusion.