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Abstract Post-college unemployment has become a serious social problem in China. The current study draws data from two regional state universities—a comprehensive state university and a polytechnic state university—and examines the relationship between fields of study and labor market outcomes. Both universities have expanded their enrollment numbers, but the pathways to expansion and experienced structural changes vary greatly between the two. The study explores three specific questions: (1) Do university graduates majoring in humanities and social sciences (HSS) experience more difficulty obtaining a job than students majoring in economically-oriented field or technical field? (2) Is the employment gap greater in polytechnic state universities than in comprehensive state universities? And (3) are HSS students more likely to pursue graduate studies to avoid unemployment? A multinomial logistic regression analysis provides strong evidence that students majoring in HSS experience greater employment difficulties. Expansion in postgraduate studies has to some extent lessened this labor market disadvantage for students majoring in these two “soft-fields.” The relative labor market disadvantage of HSS students is greater in polytechnic state universities that have merged with a liberal arts college. The proposition that HSS students are more likely to pursue graduate studies in response to a high risk of unemployment was only confirmed for the comprehensive state university. This study extends related theories and contributes to the literature on comparative studies of higher educational expansion and employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the gross enrollment rate of higher education of 18 countries was investigated. • The EPU has a significant positive impact on the gross enrollment rate of higher education. • The EPU has a heterogeneous effect on the gross enrollment rate of higher education with apparent economy-by-economy differences. This study investigates the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the gross enrollment rate of higher education of 18 countries' from 1998 to 2019. Using the system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM), our results show that the EPU has a significant positive impact on the gross enrollment rate of higher education. Furthermore, we observe that the EPU has a heterogeneous effect on the gross enrollment rate of higher education with apparent economy-by-economy differences. Compared with developing countries, the economic policy uncertainty of developed countries has a stronger positive impact on their higher education enrollment rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The paper estimates the effects of university expansion on unskilled labour market outcomes. [•] The policy reduces the probability of being inactive in the labour market. [•] Observable characteristics indicate that those who enrol are individuals with a low opportunity cost. [•] Labour market effects are consistent with the human capital hypothesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We study the effects of the large expansion in British educational attainment that took place for cohorts born between 1970 and 1975. Using the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, we find that the expansion caused men to increase education by about a year on average and gain about 8% higher wages; women obtained a slightly greater increase in education and a similar increase in wages. Clearly, there was a sizeable gain from being born late enough to take advantage of the greater educational opportunities offered by the expansion. Treating the expansion as an exogenous increase in educational attainment, we obtain instrumental variables estimates of returns to schooling of about 6% for both men and women. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we report on a study of 1510 undergraduates from five national universities in Taiwan, and we show that compared to ¿non-prestigious¿ universities, a larger proportion of students at prestigious universities come from middle and high socioeconomic classes and a smaller proportion experience financial insecurity These results are timely in the wake of Taiwan's expansion in the number of universities and of university students. At non-prestigious universities, a higher percentage of students experience economic constraints, spend several hours per week engaged in paid employment during their university studies, and have parents who did not go to college. These different characteristics of the student bodies at elite and non-elite institutions of higher education may create quite different university contexts, which may in turn affect students¿ college experiences, professional choices, and opportunities in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The expansion of gender enrollment was not absorbed by the white-collar job market. • The expansion of higher education diminished the gender wage gap in 1.9 %. • The expansion of higher education did not affect the glass ceiling in the white-collar job market. • The expansion of higher education negatively affected the glass ceiling in the entire labor market. In 2005 Chilean congress approved a bill that established a new funding tool for higher education funding through a "private system" of student loans (named CAE). The system aimed to support higher education inclusion among students with academic merits overcoming the lack of resources for ensuring access. Politicians have referred to this reform in higher education funding as a critical factor for expanding higher education enrollment. By its immediate results, it is a great strategy to cope with inequality and social mobility issues. However, there is little empirical evidence about labor market variables' overall effects, such as gender discrimination. This work attempts to estimate the new instrument's impact on the three standard measures of gender labor discrimination: labor participation, the gender wage gap, and the glass ceiling. The empirical strategy uses a difference-in-difference approach to provide estimates. The results indicate that the CAE policy changed women's labor market participation and contributed to close the gender pay gap in the labor market. However, the glass ceiling increased in the entire labor market, but not in the white-collar job market in specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Existing education system in China prioritises economic growth but not social mobility. • Graduates' pursuit of an established occupation associated with social elitist status constitutes over-education in China. • Queuing model derived from the screening and signalling theory is illustrative in the public sector analysis. Higher education expansion is expected to widen access to universities and promote social mobility, but evidence from the real world frequently contradicts this expectation, and China is no exception. Most empirical studies have been conducted on the relationship between social origins and education without considering studies on education and social destinations. As a result, relatively weak modifying measures are suggested without a panoramic view to inform structural changes. Inspired by the 'positional competition' observed by Mok, this study attempts to continue the exploration by constructing a dialogue between the two studies and look into the fluidity process across the two relationships to trace the determinants of social stratification in the country. Key findings include the following: 1) The education system is obligated to play a specific role in China depending on the governing theme of the regime, that is, the existing one prioritises economic growth but not social mobility. 2) Social elitist status in China is associated with an occupation in the public sector, the pursuit of which constitutes over-education among graduates. 3) The queuing model derived from the screening and signalling theory exercises explanatory power in the analysis of the public sector, whereas the thesis of human capital may still be illuminative in the private market. This study argues that, without addressing the state's continual grip on commanding heights, which is a fundamental reason behind weak fluidity, future modifying measures to propel mobility may be fruitless. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Three major themes of institutional habitus are institutional infrastructure, institutional prestige, and institutional culture. • General reputation of the institution and individual programme's prestige matter most in students' choices. • An institution's infrastructures and facilities shape choices and expectation for a university life of students, particularly high-SES ones. • Institutional culture constituted by the traditions and rituals would make students self-eliminated from choosing. • Students' experiences with institutional habitus of higher educational institutions comprise direct and indirect ones. This study examined students' choice of higher educational institutions in Hong Kong, an educational system characterised by a huge expansion and greater differentiation since 2000. Drawing on semi-structured interview data from a longitudinal study and with a detailed classification of higher educational institutions and transition pathways taken by Hong Kong students, we found that the concept of 'institutional habitus' of higher educational institution manifested itself in three forms: infrastructure, prestige, and culture; and they had shaped the higher educational decisions of students from different socio-economic backgrounds. Moreover, students' educational choices reflect an alignment between institutional and individual habituses. Implications on higher education policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Student mobility is yet another way to reproduce social inequalities in Italy. • Lower-class students in the South migrate the least compared to their peers. • Class-selection in student mobility increased through higher education expansion. Student mobility is a significant component of Italian internal migration patterns, but its role in preserving or dismantling social inequalities is still largely under-investigated, especially when considering parental background—that is, the educational, occupational and social statuses of the parents. This paper has two aims. First, by analysing the effect of parental background on children's decision to move to northern regions for tertiary education, it examines the selectivity into student internal geographical mobility in Italy and discusses it in terms of possible social mobility pathways. Second, the paper adopts a diachronic perspective to evaluate if the relationship between geographical mobility and family background persisted over the years 1995–2011, a period characterized by crucial changes in the tertiary education system in Italy. We applied multinomial logit regression to a repeated cross-section of Istat's Survey on Educational and Professional Paths of Upper Secondary School Graduates. The findings highlight that student mobility in Italy is characterized by a positive self-selection in terms of family background—especially explained by parental education—which has increased over time despite the proliferation of degrees and university branches across the country resulting from the local university reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]