What enables the “meritocratic power” of a college degree? Changing labor market outcomes of first-generation college graduates in post-revolution China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 18973409 |
|---|---|
| Authors | H Dong (0000-0003-2261-9122, Peking University, corresponding author), X Fan (0000-0002-1324-3138, Zhejiang University) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 382-408 |
| Publication date | 2021-08-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Chinese Sociological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2162-0555 • E-ISSN: 2162-0563 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/21620555.2021.1888080 |
| OpenAlex | W3137906531 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 31 |
Taking advantage of changes in college admissions and the labor market in post-revolution China, this study sheds light on the institutional conditions under which a college degree may “equalize” the influence of family educational background on labor market outcomes. We examine differences in the first job’s occupational attainment and economic returns between first-generation, second-generation, and non-college graduates. We compare birth cohorts with distinctive experiences, some of whom entered college through political recommendation while others did so through objective examination, and some of whom attained their first job through state assignment while others did so through market matching. We find that a college degree only equalized occupational attainment in cohort 1980–1992, who experienced expanded test-based admissions and a developed labor market. Within-occupation economic returns were equalized in cohort 1966–1979, who experienced test-based admissions and yet an underdeveloped labor market, but appeared to be unequal again in cohort 1980–1992, echoing rising social inequality
China · Cohort · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Educational attainment · Inequality · Job market · Labour economics · Meritocracy · Political science · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Global Educational Reforms and Inequalities · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Medicine
Changes in educational inequality in China, 1990–2005
The Ladder of Success in Imperial China
Parental resources and child well-being in East Asia
First-generation students
Influences of monetary and non-monetary family resources on children's development in verbal ability in China
Economic transition, school expansion and educational inequality in China, 1990–2000
Persisting gaps
The household registration system and social stratification in China
American Collegiate Gothic
The American occupational structure
Occupational Mobility of Black Men
Equalization or Selection? Reassessing the "Meritocratic Power" of a College Degree in Intergenerational Income Mobility
Children of the Cultural Revolution
Tightening Up
Independent Freshman Admission and Educational Inequality in the Access to Elite Higher Education
Higher Education Expansion and Social Stratification in China
Trends in Educational Attainment in China
Educational Stratification in Urban China
Cultural Capital, the State, and Educational Inequality in China, 1949-1996
Chinese Social Stratification and Social Mobility
Inequality and Social Stratification in Postsocialist China
Is a College Degree Still the Great Equalizer? Intergenerational Mobility across Levels of Schooling in the United States
Inequality and Equality under Chinese Socialism
Explaining Change in Social Fluidity
The Impact of the Cultural Revolution on Trends in Educational Attainment in the People's Republic of China
How Not to Measure Intergenerational Occupational Persistence
More Universalism, Less Structural Mobility
The influence of family background on educational expectations
Unfulfilled Promise of Educational Meritocracy? Academic Ability and China's Urban-Rural Gap in Access to Higher Education
From Poverty to Prosperity
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |