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Why are certain college-educated workers in China more likely to secure state sector employment? This study reveals that graduates from less marketable and specific fields have better odds, especially if they have familial ties within the sector, showcasing how educational and family backgrounds influence career paths in the context of China’s market reforms.

Image courtesy of interviewee. November 5, 2024

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This video discusses a study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic that examines the economic mobility of young adults in China amid declining economic security. The research focuses on how college majors influence job sector destinations—either state or private sector jobs—especially as young graduates enter a challenging labor market. It highlights a shift in preference towards state sector jobs for those seeking employment security, contrasting with previous trends when state jobs were almost the only option.

The study identifies a significant gap between graduates of general fields and specialized vocational studies regarding their employment outcomes. Those majoring in specialized fields are more likely to find opportunities in the private sector, while those with general majors often gravitate toward state sector positions. Additionally, familial influence plays a crucial role, as graduates whose fathers work in the state sector are more likely to prefer similar paths due to the resources and information parents can provide.

The findings underscore issues of social inequality and status reproduction, where advantages, such as employment in desirable state sector jobs, are passed from one generation to the next, potentially limiting opportunities for others. This video also points out that as the number of college graduates grows, not all degrees will ensure the same economic returns, raising concerns about the effectiveness of higher education in facilitating upward mobility.

The discussion extends to include the anxiety both young job seekers and their parents experience in the current economic climate, with parents often encouraging their children to pursue stability over passion or personal interests. This video concludes by questioning what the long-term implications might be for the labor market if this trend towards valuing job security over personal fulfillment continues in China.

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Here are five key points extracted from the video:

1. **Economic Mobility and Labor Market Uncertainty**: The study examines the challenges faced by young adults entering China's labor market during the economic downturn exacerbated by COVID-19. These young workers experience high levels of uncertainty regarding their economic mobility and future job security.

2. **Field of Study and Sector Preference**: The researchers identify a correlation between college majors and employment sectors, emphasizing that vocationally-oriented students are more likely to secure jobs in the private sector, while those with general majors may gravitate towards state sector jobs, especially during times of economic insecurity.

3. **Influence of Parental Background**: The findings suggest that parental background plays a significant role in shaping young people's career preferences. Children whose fathers work in the state sector may receive guidance and resources that foster a preference for stable state jobs, illustrating a cycle of status reproduction.

4. **Stratification and Economic Returns**: The discussion touches on two forms of educational stratification: vertical (degree level) and horizontal (field of study). The study highlights that in China, field of study significantly influences job sector placement, which in turn impacts economic returns, differentiating it from Western convideos where such segmentation is less pronounced.

5. **Implications for Policy Making**: The video underscores the need for policymakers to recognize the growing number of college graduates in China and the varying economic returns associated with different degrees. There is a call for strategies to ensure that all graduates have meaningful opportunities for economic mobility, particularly in a challenging labor market.

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Here are some key quotes extracted from the video , highlighting the central ideas discussed:

1. **Economic Convideo and Mobility**:
- "We were doing this study during the COVID... in the convideo of declining economic security, especially for the young adults who are new workers in the labor market."

2. **Uncertainty in Labor Market**:
- "They feel highly uncertain and unsure about whether and how far they can get ahead... So to achieve this, so-called economic mobility, upward mobility."

3. **Transition from State Sector to Private Sector**:
- "After the marketization, there are more and more private sector jobs and not actually it's dominating the market share."

4. **Field of Study and Job Preferences**:
- "It matters a lot if they prefer security over profit. So if they do so, then they may prefer the state sector job."

5. **Specialization and Employment Opportunities**:
- "If one is more specialized and studied in a vocational specific college major, then there's a higher chance that he or she can find a better opportunity in the private sector."

6. **Role of Family in Career Choices**:
- "The father plays a part in giving the children information, cultivating their preference for state jobs, and also giving them the resources."

7. **Status Reproduction and Social Inequality**:
- "If the father can help the children gain such advantage, then it's a so-called status reproduction process in sociology."

8. **Types of Stratification**:
- "There can still be another type of stratification called horizontal one, which usually mean two things... this creates one kind of horizontal stratification."

9. **Economic Returns and Fields of Study**:
- "Given this convideo, then we have to consider not every college degree would give the same return."

10. **Policy Implications**:
- "Policymakers really need to take into consideration the expansion of college graduates in China."

11. **Parent-Child Dynamics in Career Choices**:
- "Parents... may pursue their children to just give up whatever the unrealistic dreams that they have, but to pursue the so-called state sector pathway."

12. **Anxiety Across Generations**:
- "Not only are the young people anxious today, their parents are as anxious as they are, maybe more anxious, in the current economic downturn."

These quotes encapsulate the study's exploration of economic mobility, the impact of educational choices, the influence of parental guidance, and the broader socioeconomic implications within the convideo of China's labor market dynamics.

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We were doing this study during the covid, actually,

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we were conceiving it, in the context

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of declining economic security, especially

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for the young adults

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who are new workers in the labor market.

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So they're trying to enter this labor market

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that is really bad.

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Uh, they feel highly uncertain and unsure about whether

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and how far they can get ahead.

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So to achieve this,

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so-called economic mobility, upward mobility.

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So in China there is this specific kind of safety net

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that is called the state sector jobs.

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So, it is no longer that, they find that this kind

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of jobs especially attractive during the economic downturn.

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We are trying to figure out whether people's college major

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or their field of study is associated

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with their sector destination,

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meaning whether they landed the job in a state sector

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or in a private sector.

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So, as I said, it matters a lot

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if they prefer security over profit.

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So if they do so, then they may prefer the state sector job.

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If so, how can they get such a job?

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That's the question before the marketization.

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As we know, China, was the communist, society.

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So everyone basically worked for a state sector job.

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The so-called DME way, everyone works in a dime way, but

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after the marketization, there are more

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and more private sector jobs

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and not actually it's dominating the, market share.

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There are more private jobs than state sector jobs.

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So in the, preform era, regardless of one's field

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of study, one has to work in a public

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or stay on sector, but no one has choices.

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So if one, is more specialized

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who studied in a vocational specific college major,

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then there's a higher chance that he

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or she can find a better opportunity in the private sector,

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which also emphasize on skill specialization.

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But in the state sector jobs,

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they may prefer more general majors.

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So those who majored in a more general field study,

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may find him or herself more,

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or less, disadvantaged in the private sector,

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not so competitive.

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So then he or she may prefer the stay at the job.

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So this is how the division, happens,

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opening up in the 90 70 end of 1970s, early 90 eighties.

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So people no longer have to work in the private, sorry,

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the state owned work unit.

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So they have the opportunity to work in the private sector

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and their human capital portfolio,

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meaning are they more specialized

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or are they more, general would now play a part

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because they can choose whether they want

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to have a more general job like an a government office job,

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or they want to become technician or programmer or whatever

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In the, the private sector.

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So that's why the human capital specification now matters.

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The basic finding is really about, there's a gap

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between those who major in general field

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or a specialized field.

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So the gap is set. Those

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who major in a general field has a higher chance

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to work in the state sector jobs,

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but the gap is reduced if his

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or her father is already working in the state sector.

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So, we, we also wondered why this is the case

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and we believe that,

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the father plays a part in giving the children information,

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cultivate their preference for state jobs,

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and also giving them the resources,

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helping them shape the pathway into the state sector job.

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So if one's father is not already in the state sector,

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then the field of study matter a lot, a vocationally

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oriented student major, preferred private sector jobs.

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But if I have a vocational oriented field of study,

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but my father gives me a lot of information about

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what is good about working in the state sector,

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then despite I have a lot of skill specifications,

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I still may prefer working in the state sector.

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So this matters a lot

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because the father is like what people observe,

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what kind of pathway they,

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they they can shape in the future.

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We believe this is important.

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Also, it's important for social inequality

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because as I said, state sector jobs are attractive.

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So it is considered a advantage in status in China.

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So if the father can help the children gain such advantage,

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then it's a, so-called status

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reproduction process in sociology.

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So the advantage is passed on to the next generation,

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which is concerning if the father already father

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is in the state sector.

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So the father is the advantaged one,

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and then he passed this advantage

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to the children's generation so that the children are also,

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more easily can find a job in the state sector.

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Then this advantage is just passed

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generation after generation.

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Other people who want

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to work in the state sector may not have the opportunity.

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So it's kind of a closure.

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If you consider in sociology of education,

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there are two kinds of stratification forms.

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One is called vertical, the other is called horizontal.

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So the vertical one is simply how many years

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or what kind of degree, what level of degree

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that you have attended.

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So if I attend a PhD degree,

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the other person attend only a master's,

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then this is a vertical inequality.

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I have more education than the other person.

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But given the same level of education,

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there can still be another type

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of stratification called horizontal one,

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which usually mean two things.

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One is someone

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who attends a more prestigious college like Harvard, Yale,

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the other attends an ordinary

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University. This

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creates one kind of horizontal stratification.

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The other is like our paper, it's based on field of study.

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So certain people majored in more lucrative fields

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that gives them better economic returns.

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Uh, other people majored in ordinary fields

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or those that do not give them a lot of economic returns.

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So this is a second type of horizontal stratification.

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Now, what we contribute to this literature is

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that we do study, field study as,

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the previous questions already asked,

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but we link it a different kind of mechanism.

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So in most of the studies in the west,

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people observe field two occupation linkage.

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So what creates the economic return differences

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to field study is

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because they lead two different occupations.

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So if I major in engineering,

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then likely I will become an engineer,

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which pays pretty good.

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But if I major in sociology, it is quite unclear

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what I will become.

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It can be a lot of different occupations, right?

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So this kind of diffuse pathways for the general fields,

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it's a little bit concerning

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because you don't know how much,

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what is the level of economic returns.

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But no, in China there's a third consideration,

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additional consideration associated with your field.

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That is the sector.

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So in the west, because there's no such segmentation

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between private and state owned,

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people don't usually take into consideration this.

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But in China we believe

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that it is important to consider that.

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So we link, the field to the sector.

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In addition to linking the field to the occupations,

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China has this heritage of, communism.

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So that is why despite its marketization process,

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consider both proportion of state sector jobs, wide sector.

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So we don't really think it's just a heritage.

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It's actually something that's, that that's,

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that needs you to compete for.

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So it's like a very good occupation

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that people want to compete for.

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Now here, the state sector jobs, regardless of its content,

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people compete for it.

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So that's why it's linked to the idea of stratification,

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because someone wins, someone loses in the process

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of this competition.

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As for the policy making,

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I think now the policy makers really need

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to take into consideration the expansion

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of college graduates in China.

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So now this, nowadays a lot

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of people have a college degrees, not something that is,

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as valuable as before.

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So given this context, then we have to consider

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not every college degree would give the same return, right?

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So if, the college degrees

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that people attend can actually lead to a very high level

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of economic returns, then it may be a way for the poor kids

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to achieve social mobility, upward mobility.

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But if they end up not having a lot of economic returns even

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after getting this degree, then the policymakers really have

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to think carefully about how can we link the degree

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to a more certain way of economic mobility.

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And we hope that our, our piece of a,

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advice here can be useful.

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This study actually takes the perspective

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of the job seekers, the young people.

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So they are facing a pretty dis small labor market

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and the covid and so on.

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But as the third piece of finding about their fathers,

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actually, appears, we think we can share more light on,

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the perspective from the parents.

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So I have observed that,

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not only are the young people anxious today,

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their parents are as anxious as they are,

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maybe more anxious, in the current economic downturn

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because, we can see that when they're pursuing

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for security, they actually sacrifice

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what they are really passionate about.

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So what should I work for the rest of my life?

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Should I just pursue my passion

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or should I just pursue the safest kind of pathway?

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Right? So,

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the young people themselves may have already made the

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compromise, but their parents may also play a really

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important part leading to their compromise.

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So they maybe pursue, their children

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to just give up whatever the unrealistic dreams

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that they have, but to pursue the, so-called state sector,

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state pathway.

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So, it is very interesting

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to study their status anxiety,

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especially the middle class ones.

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So if I am a working class parents,

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I am not a high status enough person,

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so I wouldn't expect so much for my children.

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But if I am a middle

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or upper class parents in the current situation, I

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may not expect that the children's generation have a higher

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status than I already have now,

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but at least I would want them

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to maintain the current status of my generation.

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It is hard enough to maintain the current status, of my

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own generation if my children is entering such a bad

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economic situation.

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So then, what do they do to ensure

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that their children don't get a status down grade?

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Right? It's an intriguing question,

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and for the long run, if Chinese people always prefer

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security over profit

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or over their passion, then what would be the labor market

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situation in let's say 10, 20 years?

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That would also be another future direction

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that I would be really interested in.

Navigating Economic Mobility in Post-COVID China

00:00:00 - We were doing this study during the covid, actually, we were conceiving it, in the context of declining economic security, especially for the young adults who are new workers in the labor market. So they're trying to enter this labor market that is really bad. they feel highly uncertain and unsure about whether and how far they can get ahead. So to achieve this, so-called economic mobility, upward mobility. So in China there is this specific kind of safety net

00:00:33 - So, it is no longer that, they find that this kind of jobs especially attractive during the economic downturn. We are trying to figure out whether people's college major or their field of study is associated with their sector destination, meaning whether they landed the job in a state sector or in a private sector. So, as I said, it matters a lot if they prefer security over profit. So if they do so, then they may prefer the state sector job.

00:01:06 - That's the question before the marketization. As we know, China, was the communist, society. So everyone basically worked for a state sector job. The so-called DME way, everyone works in a dime way, but after the marketization, there are more and more private sector jobs and not actually it's dominating the, market share. There are more private jobs than state sector jobs. So in the, preform era, regardless of one's field

Field of Study and Employment Dynamics in China

00:01:41 - or stay on sector, but no one has choices. So if one, is more specialized who studied in a vocational specific college major, then there's a higher chance that he or she can find a better opportunity in the private sector, which also emphasize on skill specialization. But in the state sector jobs, they may prefer more general majors. So those who majored in a more general field study,

00:02:14 - or less, disadvantaged in the private sector, not so competitive. So then he or she may prefer the stay at the job. So this is how the division, happens, opening up in the 90 70 end of 1970s, early 90 eighties. So people no longer have to work in the private, sorry, the state owned work unit. So they have the opportunity to work in the private sector and their human capital portfolio,

00:02:45 - or are they more, general would now play a part because they can choose whether they want to have a more general job like an a government office job, or they want to become technician or programmer or whatever In the, the private sector. So that's why the human capital specification now matters. The basic finding is really about, there's a gap between those who major in general field or a specialized field. So the gap is set. Those

Parental Influence on Career Choices and Social Inequality

00:03:17 - to work in the state sector jobs, but the gap is reduced if his or her father is already working in the state sector. So, we, we also wondered why this is the case and we believe that, the father plays a part in giving the children information, cultivate their preference for state jobs, and also giving them the resources, helping them shape the pathway into the state sector job.

00:03:49 - then the field of study matter a lot, a vocationally oriented student major, preferred private sector jobs. But if I have a vocational oriented field of study, but my father gives me a lot of information about what is good about working in the state sector, then despite I have a lot of skill specifications, I still may prefer working in the state sector. So this matters a lot because the father is like what people observe,

00:04:20 - they they can shape in the future. We believe this is important. Also, it's important for social inequality because as I said, state sector jobs are attractive. So it is considered a advantage in status in China. So if the father can help the children gain such advantage, then it's a, so-called status reproduction process in sociology. So the advantage is passed on to the next generation, which is concerning if the father already father

Generational Advantage and Educational Stratification

00:04:52 - So the father is the advantaged one, and then he passed this advantage to the children's generation so that the children are also, more easily can find a job in the state sector. Then this advantage is just passed generation after generation. Other people who want to work in the state sector may not have the opportunity. So it's kind of a closure. If you consider in sociology of education, there are two kinds of stratification forms.

00:05:24 - So the vertical one is simply how many years or what kind of degree, what level of degree that you have attended. So if I attend a PhD degree, the other person attend only a master's, then this is a vertical inequality. I have more education than the other person. But given the same level of education, there can still be another type of stratification called horizontal one, which usually mean two things. One is someone

00:05:55 - the other attends an ordinary University. This creates one kind of horizontal stratification. The other is like our paper, it's based on field of study. So certain people majored in more lucrative fields that gives them better economic returns. other people majored in ordinary fields or those that do not give them a lot of economic returns. So this is a second type of horizontal stratification. Now, what we contribute to this literature is

Field of Study and Sector Dynamics in China

00:06:27 - the previous questions already asked, but we link it a different kind of mechanism. So in most of the studies in the west, people observe field two occupation linkage. So what creates the economic return differences to field study is because they lead two different occupations. So if I major in engineering, then likely I will become an engineer, which pays pretty good. But if I major in sociology, it is quite unclear

00:06:57 - It can be a lot of different occupations, right? So this kind of diffuse pathways for the general fields, it's a little bit concerning because you don't know how much, what is the level of economic returns. But no, in China there's a third consideration, additional consideration associated with your field. That is the sector. So in the west, because there's no such segmentation between private and state owned,

00:07:29 - But in China we believe that it is important to consider that. So we link, the field to the sector. In addition to linking the field to the occupations, China has this heritage of, communism. So that is why despite its marketization process, consider both proportion of state sector jobs, wide sector. So we don't really think it's just a heritage. It's actually something that's, that that's, that needs you to compete for.

Competition for State Sector Jobs and Economic Mobility

00:08:00 - that people want to compete for. Now here, the state sector jobs, regardless of its content, people compete for it. So that's why it's linked to the idea of stratification, because someone wins, someone loses in the process of this competition. As for the policy making, I think now the policy makers really need to take into consideration the expansion of college graduates in China. So now this, nowadays a lot of people have a college degrees, not something that is,

00:08:33 - So given this context, then we have to consider not every college degree would give the same return, right? So if, the college degrees that people attend can actually lead to a very high level of economic returns, then it may be a way for the poor kids to achieve social mobility, upward mobility. But if they end up not having a lot of economic returns even after getting this degree, then the policymakers really have

00:09:07 - to a more certain way of economic mobility. And we hope that our, our piece of a, advice here can be useful. This study actually takes the perspective of the job seekers, the young people. So they are facing a pretty dis small labor market and the covid and so on. But as the third piece of finding about their fathers, actually, appears, we think we can share more light on,

Anxiety and Compromise: Navigating Career Choices Amid Economic Uncertainty

00:09:38 - So I have observed that, not only are the young people anxious today, their parents are as anxious as they are, maybe more anxious, in the current economic downturn because, we can see that when they're pursuing for security, they actually sacrifice what they are really passionate about. So what should I work for the rest of my life? Should I just pursue my passion or should I just pursue the safest kind of pathway?

00:10:09 - the young people themselves may have already made the compromise, but their parents may also play a really important part leading to their compromise. So they maybe pursue, their children to just give up whatever the unrealistic dreams that they have, but to pursue the, so-called state sector, state pathway. So, it is very interesting to study their status anxiety, especially the middle class ones. So if I am a working class parents,

00:10:40 - so I wouldn't expect so much for my children. But if I am a middle or upper class parents in the current situation, I may not expect that the children's generation have a higher status than I already have now, but at least I would want them to maintain the current status of my generation. It is hard enough to maintain the current status, of my own generation if my children is entering such a bad

Future Implications of Chinese Labor Market Preferences

00:11:32 - So then, what do they do to ensure that their children don't get a status down grade? Right? It's an intriguing question, and for the long run, if Chinese people always prefer security over profit or over their passion, then what would be the labor market situation in let's say 10, 20 years? That would also be another future direction that I would be really interested in.

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