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The Influence of Overeducation on Chinese Workers’ Job Satisfaction from China Household Tracking Survey (2014–2018)

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  • Wenbo Ma

    (College of Education, Woosuk University, Wanju 55338, Republic of Korea)

  • Jongnam Baek

    (College of Education, Woosuk University, Wanju 55338, Republic of Korea)

  • Meng Qi

    (Hebei Public Policy Evaluation and Research Center, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
    School of Public Administration, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China)

  • Junjie Li

    (Hebei Public Policy Evaluation and Research Center, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
    School of Public Administration, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China)

  • Bangfan Liu

    (Hebei Public Policy Evaluation and Research Center, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
    School of Public Administration, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China)

Abstract

Overeducation means that the rapid growth in the numbers of secondary and higher education graduates begins to exceed the actual demand of the labor market due to this excessive expansion of education. Consequently, educated workers are faced with knowledge unemployment, or are engaged in jobs that do not match their academic qualifications, resulting in a decline in income and a waste of educational resources. In order to explore the effect of overeducation on workers’ job satisfaction, we selected data from China Household Tracking Survey (CFPS) and conducted a fixed-effect ordered logit model regression analysis. It was found that overeducation has a negative impact on employees’ job satisfaction and an impact on wage penalty. Wage income has a mediating effect on the relationship between overeducation and job satisfaction. We present three policy suggestions: for the Government’s administration department, it is necessary to actively create an environment for matching education and occupation; to improve the possibility of matching education and occupation; and to reduce the negative effect of labor contracts on the improvement of human capital and the job satisfaction of overeducators by adjusting the flexibility and stability of the labor contract. For institutions of higher learning: it is necessary to make forward-looking adjustments to the educational structure, according to the actual needs of economic and social development to adapt to the social demand for talent and development trends; to train highly skilled and high-quality workers needed for social development; and to reduce the unreasonable distribution of resources caused by overeducation. For enterprises: employees should be guided to correctly understand the unpredictable relationship between education and work and reasonably reduce the job expectations of new employees, according to their own work experience and technical level.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenbo Ma & Jongnam Baek & Meng Qi & Junjie Li & Bangfan Liu, 2022. "The Influence of Overeducation on Chinese Workers’ Job Satisfaction from China Household Tracking Survey (2014–2018)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-10, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:16032-:d:989425
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Briana Sell Stenard & Henry Sauermann, 2016. "Educational Mismatch, Work Outcomes, and Entry Into Entrepreneurship," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 801-824, August.
    2. Sattinger, Michael, 1993. "Assignment Models of the Distribution of Earnings," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 831-880, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhidi Pan & Yan Wang & Zhijun Liu, 2025. "Over-Education, Job Satisfaction, and Intention to Quit: Evidence from China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 287-307, January.

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