Selective Suspension: Navigating Educational Uncertainty among Second-Time Postgraduate Candidates in China

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Educational Uncertainty, Liminal Space and Black Futures

Abstract

In response to educational uncertainty and labor-market precarity, a growing number of Chinese youth retake the national postgraduate exam after initial failure. This study conceptualizes such behavior as Selective Suspension—a delay in transitioning to adulthood. Drawing on Xiang’s theory of suspension and Rosa’s notion of temporal resistance, we argue these second-time candidates inhabit a liminal space between education and employment, strategically using time as a buffer. Based on 120,000-character interviews with eight participants, we integrate suspension theory with risk-society and reflexive-modernity perspectives. Findings show that youth reframe waiting as investment, manage uncertainty through routines, and reconstruct identity through meaning-making. Selective suspension is agentic risk management amid structural constraints, offering insight into youth agency and global debates on delayed adulthood.

Author

• 可可 玉, East China Normal University