The Impact of Overeducation on Employment in the “Involution” Era: An Analysis Based on the Phenomenon of “Voluntary Underemployment” among College Graduates

School of Marxism, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, 075000, China

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Abstract

In the era of “involution”, the phenomenon of “voluntary underemployment” among college graduates has become a prominent issue in the labor market. Overeducation is a byproduct of internalization and is directly related to this phenomenon. The continuous development of higher education has led to a widespread devaluation of academic qualifications, while changes in technology and industrial restructuring have not been matched by an increase in the number of high-quality job positions. In this context, a large number of college graduates have entered the secondary labor market, where the required level of education is lower, leading to a general trend of over education. This article argues that insufficient voluntary employment is not only a passive manifestation of job mismatch, but also a form of adaptation adopted by graduates under extreme employment pressure, leading to fundamental adjustments in workers’ subjective expectations. This phenomenon has complex and profound impacts on the salary returns, skill utilization, career development, and job stability of graduates. This study provides a unified analytical framework for understanding the current employment difficulties of college graduates by examining the development of the concepts of over education and voluntary employment insufficiency, as well as analyzing their causes and underlying logic within the framework of internalization theory.