Young people's management of the transition from education to employment in the knowledge‐based sector in Shanghai

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of the transition from university to work by students/employees in the complex and rapidly changing socio‐economic context of contemporary Shanghai. It aims at understanding how highly educated young people perceive the nature and mode of operation of the newly emerging labour market for knowledge‐based jobs, and how they manage and construct their employability in relation to the economic, educational and sociocultural values. Uncertainty and opportunity emerge as key perceptions of the new context and we identify strategies used to negotiate the way between these two. This is seen as part of a wider project of the reflexive construction of ‘self’ that includes the salvaging of ontological security based on key traditional values. The analysis leads to further discussion of the nature and role of human capital in relation to the employment ‘battle’ and with respect to education, training and qualification.

Keywords:

• employability
• human capital
• credentialism
• labour market
• China

Notes

1. Guanxi means ‘connections’, similar to the notion of ‘social capital’ but with particular Chinese characteristics. It is crucial in almost all social and business transactions.

2. Shanghai is the major financial and industrial centre of China. According to the municipal government statistics in 2008, Shanghai enjoyed a population of 13.8 million, with a negative growth rate of −0.10‰ (Shanghai Statistics 2009). With less than 1.3% of the Chinese population and 0.06% of its geographical land, the city has achieved double figures in the GDP annual growth rate since 1992 and is responsible for a share of the national GDP that is disproportionately large for its population.

3. A further four interviews were held with individuals involved in planning and designing the skills improvement programme but data from these are not strictly relevant to the purposes of this paper.

4. Undergraduates from other places in China studying in Shanghai will be granted a temporary Shanghai hukou. They will have a deadline to transfer their hukou back to their hometown if they fail to gain employment after graduation.

5. The two characters are literally translatable as ‘heart attitude’.