Qualitative inquiry into the meanings of higher education: Implications for developments in education and social integration in Hong Kong in the post-Covid-19 period

Qualitative inquiry into the meanings of higher education: Implications for developments in education and social integration in Hong Kong in the post-Covid-19 period

• Lam, Beatrice Oi Yeung Hong Kong Metropolitan University
• Tang, Hei Hang Hayes The Education University of Hong Kong

China Perspectives, (137), 21-32, 2024

French Centre for Research on Contemporary China

2024

• Q Philosophy of Education, Educational System & School At Different Levels
  • QE Post-Secondary Education

Employability Study-to-work Transition Skills Mismatch Workplace Higher Education Social Mobility Social Integration

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

The pursuit of equitable education is key to a government’s regulation and allocation of life-chances, which enables social integration. Yet, evidence of the diminishing returns of degrees and of the “skills mismatch” between higher education training and labour market requirements casts doubts on the role of higher educational institutions in facilitating social mobility. This paper draws upon the findings of 40 qualitative interviews with young people conducted in 2018 in Hong Kong to shed light on the micro-level processes in which higher education training is translated into graduate employment outcomes. Findings comparing two sets of higher education graduates’ interview narratives are presented. Assumptions of the logic of human capital theory are questioned from the “positional” and the “processual” perspectives on graduate employability. The discussion unpacks the meanings of “skills mismatch” and “graduate employability,” and foregrounds the assumptions of the differential values assigned to skills and knowledges of different kinds in the local higher education system. With the insights drawn, this paper concludes with a reflection on the relevance of higher education to our understanding of social mobility and social integration in post-Covid-19 Hong Kong. Copyright © 2024 China Perspectives is the property of French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC).

• English

Journal Articles

• 20703449

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/9f89210a

2025-02-05