Graduate unemployment: Dilemmas and challenges in China's move to mass higher education

China Quarterly

Volumn , Issue 185, 2006, Pages 128-144

  Bai, Limin ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; HIGHER EDUCATION; SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS; UNEMPLOYMENT;

ASIA; CHINA; EURASIA; FAR EAST;

EID: 33645283616     PISSN: 03057410     EISSN: 14682648     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0305741006000087     Document Type: Article

References (73)

1. Martin Trow, "Problems in the transition from elite to mass higher education," in Policies for Higher Education, Conference on Future Structures of Post-secondary Education (Paris: OECD, 1973), p. 63.
2. This goal was set in the document of the Minstry of Education entitled Mianxiang 21 shiji jiaoyu zhenxing xingdong jihua (Action Plan for Vitalizing Education in the 21st Century) in 1998; after the 1999 expansion, the Ministry of Education in 2001 planned to reach 15% enrolment in higher education by the end of the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005).
3. See Ji Baocheng, Shiji zhijiao de Zhongguo gaodeng jiaoyu (China's Higher Education at the Turn of the Century) (Beijing: Gaodeng jiaoyu chubanshe, 2003), p. 371.
4. China Daily (Overseas edition), 7 December 2004, p. 2.
5. Figures cited here are from Ouyang Kang, "Higher education in China today," Policy Futures in Education, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2004), p. 142.
6. For a discussion of China's educational reform in the 1990s, see Limin Bai, "The metamorphosis of China's higher education in the 1990s," in Keith Sullivan (ed.), Education and Change in the Pacific Rim, Meeting the Challenges (Oxfordshire, UK: Triangle Books, 1998), pp. 241-265.
7. Figures and information are from Surveys of the Educational Reform and Development in China (Ministry of Education, 1996, 1997, 1998).
8. Kang Ning, "Lun zhengce juece yu zhidu chuangxin" ("On education policy and the creating of a new system"), in Yuan Zhenguo, Zhongguo jiaoyu zhengce pinglun (On China's Educational Policy) (Beijing: Jiaoyu kexue chubanshe, 2000), pp. 9-10
9. Surveys of the Educational Reform and Development in China (Ministry of Education, 1999).
10. State Department, "Resolution on the further development of educational reform and quality education working meeting on 13 June 1999," opening paragraph.
11. Xi Mi, "Market confronts education reform," Beijing Review, Vol. 42, No. 44 (1999), p. 21.
12. It is very difficult to obtain accurate statistics of unemployed graduates, and figures from media reports and official sources often vary. The figures used here are from the conference on employment problems of young people (aged between 16 and 35), held in Chengdu, Sichuan, 6-7 November 2004 (http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/8213/40408/).
13. "More money spent on education," Beijing Review, Vol. 42, No. 26 (1999), p. 23.
14. Li Yan, "Economy remains healthy," Beijing Review, Vol. 42, No. 32 (1999), p. 17.
15. Zhang Yi, "Burdensome-population a headache for China," Beijing Review, Vol. 42, No. 25 (1999), p. 20.
16. In November 1998, Tang Min and his wife Zuo Xiaolei submitted a letter to the State Department, advocating the use of education to stimulate the economy. In early 1999, a plan of expanding enrolment in the higher education sector was formed. At the time, the planned rate of increase was about 20% more than the enrolment in 1998. After a few months, the policy makers felt that scale was still not large enough, so it was then increased to 47%. See http://www.sina.com.cn, accessed 12 August 2003.
17. Hu Angang and Shi Zulin's proposal was first published in Liaowang (Outlook), No. 7-8 (15 February 1999)
18. then in Kexue shibao (Scientific News) on 26 March 1999, with different titles.
19. This article uses the version in Yuan Zhenguo, On China's Educational Policy, pp. 180-84.
20. Tang and Zuo's proposal was initially reported in the newspaper Jingjixue xiaoxibao (Newsletter of Economics) on 9 February 1999.
21. This article uses the version in Yuan Zhenguo, On China's Educational Policy, pp. 185-87.
22. For a detailed account of this debate, see Du Ping, "Dui gaoxiao kuozhao de zhengcexue fenxi" ("An analysis of the 1999 expansion of university enrolment"), in ibid. pp. 157-58.
23. Xi Mi, "Market confronts education reform," p. 21.
24. "More money spent on education," pp. 23-24.
25. Kang Ning, "On education policy and the creating of a new system," p. 14.
26. Surveys of the Educational Reform and Development in China (Ministry of Education, 1998)
27. The figures and information are from Hu Angang, Diqu yu fazhan (Regions and Development) (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan, 2004) (http://www.cas.cn/html/books/061BG/d1/xbkf04.htm).
28. Wei Xin, "Kuoda zhaosheng nanyi xunsu ladong jingji zengzhang" ("The expansion of university enrolment would not stimulate economic growth immediately"), was originally published in Zhongguo gaigebao (China Reform) on 19 May 1999. Beijing University's team report, "Ruhe kandai kuoda gaodeng jiaoyu guimo dui duanqi jingji zengzhang de zuoyong" ("Comments on the impact of the expansion of university enrolment on economic growth in the short term"), was published in Jingjixue xiaoxibao (6 August 1999). This article uses the version in Yuan Zhenguo, On China's Educational Policy, pp. 192-203.
29. Xi Mi, "Market confronts education reform," p. 22.
30. Li Ning, "Economy maintains steady growth," in Beijing Review, Vol. 42, No. 32 (1999), p. 20.
31. Kang Ning, "On education policy and the creating of a new system," p. 19.
32. For discussions about income disparity between the rich and poor, see Zhu Xinwu and Ruan Dawei, "Jumin shouru chaju guoda yi chengwei zhiyue woguo jingji fazhan de tuchu zhang'ai" ("The huge gap in people's income has become a major barrier for China's economic development"), Tongji yanjiu (The Study of Statistics), No. 10 (1999), pp. 12-14
33. Lin Qingguo and Zheng Min, "Heli tiaokong shouru chaju, zengqiang youxiao xiaofei lali" ("Adjusting the income disparity, increasing consumption ability"), Tongji yangjiu (The Study of Statistics), No. 12 (1999), pp. 3-4.
34. For a description of the widening economic and social gap between haves and have-nots in urban China in late 2002, see Dorothy J. Solinger, "State and society in urban China in the wake of the 16th Party Congress," The China Quarterly, No. 176 (2003), pp. 943-47.
35. Yangzi wanbao (Yangtze Evening Post), 23 August, 2004.
36. Figures cited here come from Min Weifang, "Historical perspectives and contemporary challenges: The case of Chinese universities," http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/coce/publications.htm#(c), 2004.
37. Martin Trow, "From mass higher education to universal access: The American advantage," Minerva, No. 37 (2000), pp. 1-26.
38. Qian Xiaoying, "Jiaoyu ciji jingji zhishuo zhuguan secai guonong" ("The idea of using education to stimulate economy is too subjective"), in Yuan Zhenguo, On China's Educational Policy, pp. 190-91.
39. Min Weifang, "Current trends in higher education development in China," International Higher Education, No. 22 (Winter 2001), p. 14.
40. Feng Jianhua, "Educated and unemployed?" Beijing Review, Vol. 46, No. 27 (2003), p. 21.
41. Ibid. p. 21.
42. also Niu Jinrong, "Daxuesheng jiuye nan zai na'er?" ("Where the difficulties lie in graduates' employment"), Juece cankao (References for Policy Makers), No. 35 (2002), pp. 12-13.
43. For the origin and discussion of the theory, see Theodore W. Schultz, Investment in Human Capital, the Role of Education and of Research (New York: The Free Press; London: Collier-Macmillan Ltd, 1971).
44. Also, B. F. Kiker (ed.), Investment in Human Capital (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1971).
45. See Limin Bai, "Monetary reward versus the national ideological agenda: career choice among Chinese university students," Journal of Moral Education, Vol. 27, No.4 (1998), pp. 525-540.
46. Xu Jiangshan and Wu Xian, "Gaoxiao biyesheng cunzai zhuduo jiuye wuqu" ("Various confusions about career choices among university graduates), Juece cankao, No. 29 (2002), pp. 19-20.
47. Li Wei et al., "Woguo daxue biyesheng jiuye xingshi ji duice jianyi" ("The situation of China's graduate employment and our suggestions"), Gaojiao lingdao cankao (University Administration), No. 8 (2002), p. 21.
48. Kang Ning, "On education policy and the creating of a new system," p. 20.
49. Trow, "Problems in the transition from elite to mass higher education," p. 85.
50. Ibid. pp. 73-74.
51. Ruth Hayhoe and Qiang Zha, "The role of public universities in the move to mass higher education: Some reflections on the experience of Taiwan, Hong Kong and China," paper for the conference "Taking public universities seriously," University of Toronto, 3-4 December 2004, p. 25.
52. Xi Mi, "Market confronts education reform," p. 21.
53. Zhongguo jiaoyubao, 16 October 2004, p. 3.
54. Xi Mi, "Market confronts education reform," pp. 21-22.
55. "More money spent on education," p. 24.
56. Kang Ning, "On education policy and the creating of a new system," p. 23
57. Li Jinsheng, "Nongcun 'pazi chenglong' xianxiang fenxi" ("An analysis of rural parents' worries about their children being academically successful"), Qingnian yanjiu (Youth Study), No. 6 (2003), pp. 1-6
58. Bi Mingfu and Hu Meiye, "Kuozhao zhi xia de gaoxiao tekunsheng wenti yanjiu" ("A study of the financial problems faced by destitute students after the augmentation of university enrolment"), Anhui shifan daxue xuebao (The Journal of Anhui Normal University - humanities & social sciences edition), Vol. 28, No.2 (2000), pp. 297-300.
59. Hayhoe and Zha, "The role of public universities in the move to mass higher education," p. 26.
60. Kang Ning, "On education policy and the creating of a new system," pp. 21-22
61. Wang Hongcai, "Daxue kuozhao dui jiaoxue zhiliang yingxiang zhuangkuang de diaocha" ("Survey of the impact of the augmentation of university enrolment on teaching quality"), Qinghua daxue jiaoyu yanjiu (Education Research of Qinghua University), No. 4 (2001), pp. 145-153
62. Pang Siqin and Xu Chengjun, "Daxue kuozhao hou jiaoxue zhiliang wenti de jidian sikao" ("On teaching quality after the augmentation of university enrolment"), Beijing ligong daxue xuebao (Journal of Beijing Institute of Technology - social sciences edition), Vol. 3, No. 3 (2001), pp. 72-75.
63. Min Weifang, "Historical perspectives and contemporary challenges."
64. Kang Ning, "On education policy and the creating of a new system," pp. 23-24
65. Chen Qiang, "Zhide guanzhu de 'gaozhi' xuesheng bu baodao xianxiang" ("Concerns over students' refusal to enrol in vocational institutes"), Liaowang (Outlook), No. 46 (15 November 1999), p. 53
66. Li Wei et al., "The situation of China's graduate employment and our suggestions," pp. 20-21.
67. The government announced in November 2002 that residence quotas in provincial capitals and cities would be eliminated so that college/ university graduates could seek jobs across the country. See China Daily, 26 November 2002, p. 4.
68. For instance, if one has a close look at the last chapter in Bikas C. Sanyal, Higher Education and Employment, An International Comparative Analysis (London, New York & Philadephia: The Falmer Press, 1987, pp. 182-197), one could find that many measures implemented by the Chinese government after the 1999 expansion are similar to some hints for planning higher education elaborated by the authors.
69. Ronald Dore, The Diploma Disease, Education, Qualification and Development (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1976).
70. Mark Blaug, Richard Layard and Maureen Woodhall, The Causes of Graduate Unemployment in India (London: Allen Lane (Penguin), 1969), authors' preface, p. 1.
71. Ibid. p. 5.
72. Such opinions were expressed in some research papers as well as at the conference on "The theory of China's mass higher education and policy making," held at Xiamen University, 19-21 September 2001.
73. Also, see Ji Baocheng, China's Higher Education at the Turn of the Century, pp. 367-69.