Returns on Tertiary Vocational Education and Gender Differences: Evidence from China
Journal: Journal of Higher Education Research DOI: 10.32629/jher.v6i2.3927
Abstract
Higher education plays a crucial role in human capital investment, especially in China, where it includes tertiary vocational education (junior college), undergraduate, and postgraduate programs. However, in China, a cultural preference for academic over vocational learning, coupled with low social recognition and uncertain employment prospects, has led to the neglect of tertiary vocational education. This sector is vital for producing skilled professionals essential to China's industrial advancement and the manufacturing sector's rise in the global value chain.This article focuses on the returns of tertiary vocational education and the gender disparities in these returns. With China's demographic dividend shrinking and its manufacturing sector undergoing transformation, understanding the return on investment in vocational education, along with gender differences, is of both practical and theoretical significance. Using data from the CFPS of China, the study estimates the trends and gender differences in the return on tertiary vocational education from 2016 to 2020, employing Mincer's income equation and OLS, followed by a robustness test.
Keywords
rate of return on Tertiary vocational education, junior college,gender difference,gender discrimination
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