Dignity Defense Model : A Study on the Structural Mismatch in Employment of Female University Students in China and Its Shaping Mechanism on the Decline in Fertility Rate

Millions of female university graduates in China face a severe shortage of standardized office jobs with weekends off each year. This structural mismatch exacerbates employment pressure. Drawing on empirical data from the Anhui provincial civil service examination, this paper proposes a “dignity-defense-oriented reproductive decision-making model.” Confronted with the gap between high career expectations and labor-market reality, female university students, motivated by dignity defense and risk aversion toward the motherhood penalty, prefer survival strategies such as “slow employment” and the “civil service examination craze” over marriage and childbearing. These choices significantly suppress the overall birth rate. To address this dilemma, the paper recommends reconstructing the university employment-quality evaluation system and disciplinary structure, introducing national policies that reduce the motherhood penalty, and promoting a shift in the macro-market toward consumption infrastructure centered on independent women.