The Dual Economy Policy and the Dilemma of Vocational Education Development in China——From the Perspective of Economic Sociology

Currently, the development of vocational education in China is in a dilemma, where the national demands are incompatible with the demands of enterprises and individuals. According to a comparative analysis of the relationship between the forms of industry, the development of vocational education, and the modes of economic operation in the United States, Germany, Japan and the UK, in the countries which do not choose high-end manufacturing industries as the major forms of industry, there is no necessary connection between the economic growth and the development of vocational education; those countries which choose high-end manufacturing industries as the major forms of industry must be supported by high-level vocational education. These forms of industry and high-level vocational education need support from a corresponding mode of economic operation, namely the mode of market economy, which imposes proper coordination and restrictions on enterprises. In China, the extremely loose mode of the market economy is incompatible with the government-led direction of industrial development, which is called the dual economic policy. As a result, it is difficult to encourage enterprises to upgrade industrial technology; enterprises have no enthusiasm for participation in vocational education, and individuals lack enthusiasm for skill learning, thus creating a dilemma of the development of vocational education. Therefore, it is necessary for China to learn from Germany, Japan and other post-Fordist countries, offer reflections on the mode of market economy, and relocate the roles of enterprises in the market.