Trap versus trade-off: cohort evidence on overeducation, income returns, and group disparities after China’s higher education expansion

These findings imply that to fulfill the fundamental aims of higher education expansion-raising educational attainment and reducing social inequality-policymakers must design targeted, group-sensitive interventions to address the unequal risks and opportunities generated during the expansion process.

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Publication Details

Journal
Frontiers in Sociology
Published
2026-02-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2026.1705158
Primary Topic
Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Trap versus trade-off: cohort evidence on overeducation, income returns, and group disparities after China’s higher education expansion

Yann Zhang, Junxiu Wang, Yangyang Liu, Qing Yun
Frontiers in Sociology
Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
article

Trap versus trade-off: cohort evidence on overeducation, income returns, and group disparities after China’s higher education expansion

Yann Zhang, Junxiu Wang, Yangyang Liu, Qing Yun
article en

Abstract

These findings imply that to fulfill the fundamental aims of higher education expansion-raising educational attainment and reducing social inequality-policymakers must design targeted, group-sensitive interventions to address the unequal risks and opportunities generated during the expansion process.

Frontiers in SociologyVol. 11
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CN), Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology (US), National Council Of Educational Research And Training (IN), Wenzhou Medical University (CN), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Sociology (CZ), National Academy of Education (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 57%
Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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