Work

Curriculum, Political Participation, and Career Choice

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We examine the causal impact of ideological education on students' political participation and career choices by exploiting China's staggered rollout of a high school curriculum reform that emphasized political indoctrination. Using nationally representative survey data on college students that the authors collected, we find that exposure to the new curriculum increases the likelihood of joining the Chinese Communist Party by 14% and raises the probability of securing state-sector jobs after graduation by 15%. These results highlight the powerful role of ideological education in shaping students' political alignments and career trajectories.

Source: The Review of Economics and Statistics

DOI: 10.1162/rest.a.285

Authors: Hongbin Li, Sai Luo, Yang Wang

Institutions: Stanford University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Language: English

Topic: Ideological and Political Education

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W4414158283

FWCI:

Cites: 48

Cited by:

Related to: 10