A Study on The Impact of University Enrollment Expansion on Intergenerational Mobility: A Case Study of Different Provinces in China

Abstract

The impact of university enrollment expansion on intergenerational mobility is one of the key research topics today. In 1999, China implemented an enrollment expansion policy, but with the implementation of the policy, "it is difficult for a poor family to produce a noble son" and similar remarks sparked discussion. To explore whether the expansion of university enrollment has promoted intergenerational mobility and how it affects people in different regions and majors, this article is based on data from the China Comprehensive Social Survey (CGSS) in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2021, and uses a multiple regression model to analyze whether the expansion of university enrollment has an impact on intergenerational mobility. The main findings of this article are as follows: 1) After the expansion of university enrollment, intergenerational upward mobility in provinces with abundant higher education resources did not significantly affect those with scarce higher education resources. However, the policy of university enrollment expansion promoted intergenerational upward mobility. 2) In addition, the study also found that the choice of major did not have a significant impact on intergenerational upward mobility. The innovation of this article lies in the addition of provincial heterogeneity analysis and the inclusion of professional factors as an influencing factor.