SEMINAR: Asian Studies Seminar

In this presentation, I will discuss how the Chinese household registration system (the hukou system) affects graduates’ transition experiences. As a background, I start with an introduction of the Chinese household system and the resident card system in Shanghai. The resident card system was introduced by the Shanghai government to deal with the flooding migration without challenging the existing hukou system. I will then discuss what a local hukou means for graduates in the job market in Shanghai as well as the effects of not having a local hukou on outsider graduates’ transition experiences and their struggles on whether to stay in or to leave Shanghai for a better life. The hierarchical structure in population management has led to citizenship stratification, for university graduates in the job market, not owning a Shanghai local hukou has a great negative effect on their job hunting experiences. I argue in this presentation that the existing hukou system creates a dual form of citizenship between local and outsider graduates. The inequality in access to job opportunities and resources between local and outsider graduates creates discrimination and exclusion, which has a passive effect on the outsider-graduates’ transition experiences and their later life chances.