As we can see from the recent 2012 Labor Market of China report, released by the Labor Research Center of Beijing Normal University, over-qualification has affected many graduates in China.

Over-qualification means that the education level one has received after university or college is considered too high for the work one does.

Graduates working as cleaners are an example of this. In contrast, teachers in remote mountain areas are often under-qualified. 

In an overview of the Chinese mainland, we find that East and Central China exceed the average level of over-qualification nationwide.

The insurance field, cultural venues, broadcasting, research institutions and government offices all showed a particularly high rate of staff being overly educated. 

However, over-qualification is a normal phenomenon of the market in a sense.

Against the backdrop of the free flow of labor, workers have the tendency to move into regions and industries with high economic development levels, high public services, good salaries and a well-established social welfare policy.

Most such regions or cities are located in the central or eastern parts of China, and governmental offices rank high in desirability.

The expansion of enrollment for higher education means more people graduate each year, meaning that the average education level of employees rises too.

Without any connections or a family business, being over-qualified may be a hallmark of many fresh graduates beginning to climb the Chinese career ladder. In a society with severe competition but unequal opportunity in employment, many are striving for more education to get success.

Although it may alleviate employment pressure in the short term, the negative effects of over-qualification are severe.

One reason is that when over-qualification dominates limited education resources in China, and when a person with a high education does no better than people with less education in their career path, it makes clear the low returns of higher education.

The other is that with an education gap forming in the labor market, this gap will soon become a gulf as different districts and industries expand.

Over-qualification is both a consequence of the market and of the traditional Chinese concept of success. Because of the "born to win" mentality held by most parents in China, many children are taught to walk along a straight path to highest education, a decent job and a high salary.

Establishing a balanced development between eastern and western regions, eliminating the dual economic structure of urban-rural areas and accepting different standards of success are fundamental solutions to solving problems of over-qualification.  

 

Nangfang Daily