Does Educational Status Function as Human Capital or as a Signal of Abilities?

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 15. Country-level Variations/ International Research: Session II

Abstract

This study aims to clarify ways to understand changes in enrollment at Japanese universities. One possible explanation is that the Japanese people understand college education as a type of human capital for status achievement. On the other hand, the Japanese people could perceive college education as an indicator of special abilities. This study tests these two conflicting hypotheses using Japanese social survey data. Multiple regression models analyze data from The National Survey of Social Stratification and Social Psychology in 2015 (SSP 2015) and The National Survey of Social Stratification and Social Mobility in 1995 (SSM 1995). The analysis focuses on the interactional effects of high educational status and age cohorts. The results suggest that the human capital theory is supported in Japan, whereas the alternative theory is not supported. Furthermore, the results find that the effect of high educational status on class identity has been strengthening since the 1990s, despite the fact that the selectivity of higher education has consistently decreased over the past two decades. Underlying these phenomena is the idea that special abilities provided by a college education, such as intelligent flexibility, are more valuable in Japan now than in the past.

Author

• Naoki Sudo, Gakushuin University