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Higher education expansion and post-college unemployment: Understanding the roles of fields of study in China

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  • Yang, Lijun

Abstract

Post-college unemployment has become a serious social problem in China. The current study draws data from two regional state universities—a comprehensive state university and a polytechnic state university—and examines the relationship between fields of study and labor market outcomes. Both universities have expanded their enrollment numbers, but the pathways to expansion and experienced structural changes vary greatly between the two. The study explores three specific questions: (1) Do university graduates majoring in humanities and social sciences (HSS) experience more difficulty obtaining a job than students majoring in economically-oriented field or technical field? (2) Is the employment gap greater in polytechnic state universities than in comprehensive state universities? And (3) are HSS students more likely to pursue graduate studies to avoid unemployment? A multinomial logistic regression analysis provides strong evidence that students majoring in HSS experience greater employment difficulties. Expansion in postgraduate studies has to some extent lessened this labor market disadvantage for students majoring in these two “soft-fields.” The relative labor market disadvantage of HSS students is greater in polytechnic state universities that have merged with a liberal arts college. The proposition that HSS students are more likely to pursue graduate studies in response to a high risk of unemployment was only confirmed for the comprehensive state university. This study extends related theories and contributes to the literature on comparative studies of higher educational expansion and employment.

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  • Yang, Lijun, 2018. "Higher education expansion and post-college unemployment: Understanding the roles of fields of study in China," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 62-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:62:y:2018:i:c:p:62-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.02.009
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    3. Piracha, Matloob & Tani, Massimiliano & Zimmermann, Klaus F. & Zhang, Yu, 2022. "Higher education expansion and the rise of China in economics research," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
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    6. Yu-Hsin Lo & Dian-Fu Chang & Angel Chang, 2022. "Exploring Concurrent Relationships between Economic Factors and Student Mobility in Expanding Higher Education Achieving 2030," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, November.
    7. Lijun Yang, 2021. "The role of premarital cohabitation in the timing of first birth in China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(8), pages 259-290.
    8. Luo, Haotian & Hu, Qing, 2024. "A re-examination of the influence of human capital on urban-rural income gap in China: College enrollment expansion, digital economy and spatial spillover," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 494-519.
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