The effects of multiplicative and convertible capitals on non-Chinese language minorities’ accessing university in Hong Kong

Despite rapid growth at the compulsory education stage, Hong Kong ’s non -Chinese language minority (NCLM) students only consisted 1.3% of the whole full-time postsecondary student population; an attendance rate of 13.8%, far behind the overall rate of 43.8%. Policy initiatives focally address their deficit in linguistic capital to accessing university, and yet have overlooked the effects of other capitals in tandem with linguistic capital on university enrollment. This study fills the gap through investigating how the multiplicative capitals in conversion mediate under-represented NCLMs’ pathways to university. Drawing on 13 participants ’ narratives, we identify the linguistic constraints, financial struggles, lack of social capital and symbolic violence, which compound with each other and constrain NCLMs’ opportunities for tertiary education. This study calls for the need for educational policy to shift from a narrow focus on remediating NCLMs’ limited Chinese proficiency to policy initiatives addressing the importance of multiplicative capital resources for achieving equality and excellence in education. Copyright © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.