Diploma Exchanging With Social Resource: Sociological Analysis

This dissertation mainly describes the phenomenon of "diploma hotness"in SocialExchange Theory terms and analyses the value and social function of diploma. In the"diploma society", diploma, which can be exchanged for social resources such as wealth,power, and status, serves as the "universal equivalent"in the exchange between individualand society. The writer, referring to the researchers` achievements in home and abroad,explains the mechanism why this phenomenon is existed in the eyes of Human CapitalTheory, Social Capital Theory, Screening Hypothesis Theory, Functionalist Theory,Conflict Perspective, and Exchange Interactionist Theory etc.The phenomenon that diploma is used to exchange and distribute social resourcesaccord with the "Rationality"and "Efficiency"principles of the industrial society, promotesthe development of society and economy, brings social and economic benefit to theindividual. Therefore, many people regard the diploma as the efficient approach to goodvocation, high pay and opportunities of promotion. In this condition, there is the diplomacrisis that is resulted from the current educational phenomena such as Exam-orientededucation, over-education, Educational rentseeking and Diploma-corruption.Government is an ultimate authority on granting the diploma and a governor of theintegration of value and social resources. In the writer's opinion, on the one hand thegovernment should upgrade the "educational quality"of school, make the diploma accordwith knowledge and ability, and bring the diploma into play the positive function in socialexchange; on the other hand the government should integrate and utilize the socialresources, advocate and develop a variety of social education, set up the learning systemand network for all people lifelong education, arouse people heading for new valuableobject, striding forward the learning society.This dissertation mostly adopts the methods of normal analysis and empirical analysis.There are four chapters in this article. Chapter one is the introduction, in which the writerexplains the research background, theoretical and operational significance and researchmethodology in brief. Chapter two expatiates Social Exchange Theory, which is theprimary theory of this issue. Chapter three is the highlight of this article. In this part, thewriter dissertates on the exchange between the diploma and social resources, such asvocation, income, power, and status etc. and analyses the reasons and essences of thesephenomena. Chapter four, as the conclusion part, summarizes the advantage anddisadvantage of "diploma society"and puts forward the opinion about construction of"learning society". Social education, for the tenet of education-for-all and lifelongeducation, having internal relation with the feature of learning society, will be turned intothe introduction of constructing the learning society.