Abstract
This article examines the formation of social capital and the relevance of guanxi (a Chinese concept closely related to that of social capital), among ethnic minority students and Han students in a Chinese university. Using data from 42 semi-structured interviews with university students, our study demonstrates that three distinct student categories (Min Kao Min, Min Kao Han, and Han students) access social capital in similar ways, including via the Chinese class-based cohort model, faculty and staff, engagement in social media and online platforms, and other on and off-campus social connections. However, these three groups of students showed significant differences in the formation and use of social capital. Due to the influence of pre-college education and Internet literacy, MKM and MKH students are relatively restricted in using social media and other online platforms to obtain social capital. The varying awareness of and attitude towards the concept of “guanxi” affect its formation and utilization, with many ethnic minority students viewing it as a cultural symbol of Han society and more likely to form bonding social capital within their own ethnicity. This shows that though the diverse campus environment effectively reduces the physical space between students of different ethnicity, it does little to break through the cultural barriers, making it challenging for minority students to form cross-ethnic bridging social capital.