Who earns the iron rice bowl? Major marketability and state sector jobs among college-educated workers in urban China

Abstract

In China, state sector employees enjoy a persistent organizational premium, but surprisingly few studies have examined which college-educated workers tend to work in the state sector. In this study, we focus on one key dimension in horizontal stratification in higher education—field of study—to examine patterns of state sector employment among college-educated workers in China according to the occupational specificity and profit orientation of their college majors. Using data from three nationally representative surveys in urban China, we find that college graduates majoring in less occupationally specific and less profitable fields (i.e. those with lower marketability) are more likely to work in the state sector, and this pattern is more pronounced during the later period of marketization reform. Moreover, family resources in the form of a father working in the state sector can weaken the field-to-sector association, and we observe greater intergenerational mobility into state sector employment among college graduates majoring in fields with lower marketability. These findings highlight the field-to-sector relationship as a unique mechanism of China's horizontal stratification in higher education and school-to-work transition. They also underscore the significance of considering organizational contexts when examining the educational stratification in labor market outcomes.