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Through examining the perspectives of students within the Chinese Adult Higher Education sector, this paper investigates their motivation for gaining a degree (that many felt was undervalued) and their perceptions of credentialism in China’s post-massification era. Forty semi-structured interviews were undertaken with adult students studying for degrees in early childhood education. The resultant data is interpreted through the lens of credentialism and illustrates that credentialism in China has depreciated the value of certain degrees and disadvantaged many students. As the only way for working adults to pursue a higher education degree, Chinese Adult Higher Education has become both a ‘opportunity’ for non-degree holders and a ‘trap’ that holds them back as other higher education students enter the job market. These findings offer a unique insight that is likely to be significant for the further development of credentialism theory.

Adult higher education as both an ‘opportunity’ and a ‘trap’: student perceptions on credentialism in China