Dissolution of Subjectivity Behind College Students’ “Landing Fever” and Paths to Reconstruction

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of “landing fever” among Chinese university graduates—a growing preference for public-sector employment—as a symptomatic expression of eroded student subjectivity. Anchored in Bourdieu’s theory of practice, the study identifies three interconnected mechanisms driving this trend: the suppression of agency by institutional field rules, herd conformity shaped by habitus, and the invisible disciplinary force of intergenerational and algorithm-driven social expectations. Rather than viewing the issue as an individual career dilemma, the paper positions it as a structural challenge within the education–employment nexus. To address this, the study proposes a multidimensional intervention framework aimed at restoring subjectivity, including dismantling symbolic violence, reshaping the temporal logic of habitus, disrupting inherited risk aversion, and strengthening institutional safeguards. These pathways offer both theoretical clarity and actionable strategies for rebalancing career imagination and labor-market dynamics in contemporary China.