More Graduates, Fewer Skills? Vocational Education Expansion and Skilled Labour Shortages in China

China's need for skilled workers to upgrade its industrial system is increasingly urgent due to global economic competition. Despite massive expansion of its Vocational Education and Training system over the past two decades, a significant skilled labour deficit remains. Current debates on the inefficacy of vocational education focuses on the lack of institutional synergies between education and industry but often overlooks the inherent conflicts within the vocational education system and micro-level skill formation processes. Our ethnographic research in two upper-secondary vocational schools unveils a disturbing trend: the rapid massification of vocational education, which prioritizes student enrolment numbers over educational quality, fails to address the demand for skill formation and skilled labour. It inadvertently generates adverse consequences for both administrative management and classroom instruction. Skill development frequently falls to after-school professional associations and an exclusive group of elite students. Meanwhile, reform initiatives, such as the craftsmanship campaign and skill competitions, benefit only a few without improving the employment prospects for the wider student population. These findings call for greater attention to the inherent tensions within China's Vocational Education and Training system. Only when there is a deeper understanding of the underlying causes of ineffective skill formation in vocational schools can China achieve its national goal of industrial upgrades.

随着全球经济竞争加剧，中国亟需一大批技术工人以帮助产业升级。然而，在过去二十年间，职业教育的大规模扩招似乎并未能有效解决中国的技术工人短缺问题。目前关于“无效职业教育”的学术讨论，主要强调教育与产业之间缺乏制度协同，却常常忽视了职业教育系统内部以及微观技能形成过程中存在的问题和矛盾。基于在两所中等职业学校的田野调查，本文揭示出了一个令人不安的趋势：职业教育的快速普及化使得学校重招生数量而轻教育质量，导致其既未能有效提高学生的技能，又不能解决中国技术工人短缺问题，反而给行政管理和课堂教学带来了未曾预想的诸多挑战。此外，技能培养的责任被转移至课后专业社团和少数精英学生。而新的改革措施，如弘扬工匠精神和技能大赛，也只是惠及少数学生，而未能改善大部分学生的就业前景。基于这些发现，本文呼吁后续研究能更多地关注中国职业教育培训系统在快速扩招后所出现的内在矛盾和张力。只有更深入地了解造成“无效职业教育”的根本原因，中国才能实现产业升级的宏大目标。