Vocational education: a poor second choice? A comparison of the labour market outcomes of academic and vocational graduates in China

In the Reform Era, the Chinese Government has placed great emphasis on the role of education in ensuring the economic success of individuals and of the country as a whole. While vocational and academic post-secondary qualifications are officially set at the same level, vocational education is positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy and suffers considerable societal prejudice. Drawing on the most recent nationwide-representative data, we investigate the labour market positioning of graduates from the two types of education in terms of their income, occupation, and level of employment precariousness. The results suggest that: (1) vocational graduates earn less than academic graduates; (2) the type of post-secondary education is significantly correlated with the likelihood of obtaining white-collar high-skilled positions; and (3) vocational graduates face greater precariousness in their jobs than academic graduates do. This study also reveals that the hierarchically stratified post-secondary system may be a source of economic inequality in the Chinese Reform Era. Moreover, it demonstrates that the visible hand of the state seems to further facilitate the reproduction of current forms of inequality that leave an increasing number of graduates in marginalised labour market positions.