Higher Education Policy

, Volume 28, Issue 1, pp 35–53 | Cite as

Higher Education and Graduate Employment in China: Challenges for Sustainable Development

  • Wing Kit Chan
Article
First Online:

Abstract

In the summer of 2013, the number of Chinese university graduates who did not know where to go after graduation reached an unprecedented 2 million. These graduates are not illegible to claim any benefits from social insurance schemes that based on formal employment. When away from home, neither do they have access to other supplementary benefits based on household registration status (hukou) financed and provided by the local governments of host cities. To address the issue of massive unemployment among graduates, the Chinese government has introduced a range of policy measures with an emphasis on ‘flexible employment’, an umbrella for several types of atypical jobs, while leaving the basic structure of social protection intact. This study reviews the development of the Chinese graduate employment policy with emphasis on the changes in the forefront of massive unemployment among graduates. By evaluating the effectiveness of policy measures, this study argues for a thorough reform of the higher education system.

Keywords

graduate employment atypical employment China social protection labour market 
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Copyright information

© International Association of Universities 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Wing Kit Chan
    • 1
  1. 1.Center for Chinese Public Administration Research/School of Government, Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhouChina

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