An Analysis Of The Junior College Students' Employment Problem With The "Social Exclusion" Theory

With the reforming of employmental systems of college students from "Unified Enrollment and Job Assignment" to "Mutual Choices", college graduates'status in labor market from seller's position to buyer's one. That is, the students who have received formal higher education (including all sorts of college and university education) find themselves failed to get a job after graduation, which increasingly amount to sever problem of college students'employment. This is incompatible with the pace of social development and the construction of a harmonious society. A profound and extensive research into the cause of this problem was done by psychologists, economists and educationists from different angles. However, in author's opinion, despite of quite a few useful discussions and descriptions for the employment problem, these studies mostly focus on practical phenomena, the researchers'working experience, and the exploration of specific policies, but they lack of deep theoretical analysis. They can't thoroughly reveal the reasons for the "surplus of students" in the period when a lot of high-qualified labor are in need because of the low degree of modernization in China. Still, they pay pretty less attention to the employment plight of junior college students, who are on the lowest level of higher education. From the relevant studies on this issue, the author found that the employment plight of college students is caused by a variety of social factors, and"social exclusion"theory can accurately reveal the principle and mechanism of these factors.Therefore, taking the junior college graduates of the Provincial Normal University in H province as an object for study, this paper attempts to select "social exclusion" theory as a research perspective. The author is eager to find the factors and the mechanisms of social exclusion for junior college students and the reasons for the employment plight, and trying to put forward measures and proposals to present a new perspective to the research into college students'employment and a new field to which"social exclusion"theory applies.Firstly, this paper adopts the method of document inspection to sort out the theories associated with the "social exclusion" and the localized researches by Chinese scholars. In Western countries, the research of"social exclusion"theory which covers all aspects of social life experienced a continuously enriched and expanded developmental process. Roma deemed that social exclusion is the result of the lack of community participation, and of social integration and rights. Peace gave us a summary of the consequences of social exclusion. Giddens thought that social exclusion emphasizes on the exclusion mechanism. Chinese scholars will also introduce this concept into our sociological research, to solve the problems of China's current unemployment, poverty, polarization, education, disability, housing, employment and other social issues. The researches of exclusion during the students'employment made by the scholars mainly reflected the social discrimination. They are the discrimination, exclusion and the deprivation of the opportunities of the employment brought about by the difference among gender, record of education and registration. In the times of social reformation, the graduates are confronted with different discriminations, such as census register, gender, experience, record of education, college and body discrimination, etc.Then, in order to truly reflect on the "social exclusion" factors which may exist in the process of employment, the author chose a group of junior college students adopted a method of survey of individual cases to interview the graduates, who have the employment barriers from Provincial Normal University in H province. This paper aims to certify the existence of the exclusive factors which impact on the employment of college graduates and to analyze its functional mechanism. Breaking the limitation that social exclusion theory applies only to laid-off and unemployed groups and peasant laborer groups, also takes the junior college students are introduced into its field of research to expand to scope of application of this theory in China.Based on survey, this paper has discovered the elements which consist of the social exclusion, are social network exclusion, labor market exclusion and social system exclusion. These elements are formed because of the imperfection of market economic system, also the "social circle" and ethics - based cultural traditions. With the poor social relation system between the students and their families, the weak social relation network and lack of social capital which they can, the junior college students are alienated from society, deprived of the opportunities for higher status, better conditions and higher wages and benefits. So this causes the social network exclusion. In the job market, due to their low educational level and fewer working experience, there appears the phenomenon of the human capital ineffectiveness, which results in social discrimination. The bondage of the establishment of the personnel system and vacancy of the social security system brings about less job opportunities, loss of the rights of exchanging resources of economics, politics and guarantee. The combination of above reasons formed social system exclusion. The interaction among social networks, social discrimination and social system formed a dynamic social exclusion system and process, resulting in a situation of the graduates'unemployment immediately after graduation. So the students are gradually marginalized and become the "new groups of the unemployed"in the society.This shows that it is a fact that junior college students are encountering social exclusion in the course of their employment. This will cause the reduction of social material resources the students possessed, the reduction of the human capitals and the reduction of scale of the social network. Conversely, because they are unable to contact with others or participate in social life, their interpersonal relationship networks are vulnerable, their human capitals are limited, and they are in need of necessary material resources, which will lead to their pitiable plight. Eventually, they were "thrown off the fast-moving society highway" and become the target of social succour, creating a vicious cycle. Therefore, we need combined efforts from the society, the government, schools, employers and junior college graduates to eliminate the social exclusion of employment. Society must constantly purify the social environment, and cut off social network barriers; The government should strengthen macro-control, deepen the reform of systems in order to eliminate all the obstacles in the course of employment; Schools should do something to change the training patterns of college students and do some"Graduates Promotion"to enhance and improve the guidance of employment, and to accelerate the circulation of information; The employers must establish a concept of personnel restoration, reform the personnel system and remove the threshold for students be recruited; junior college students themselves ought to change their concepts and improve their own qualities, so as to better meet the market voluntarily.