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<p>Existing research on students’ choices of higher education majors often emphasizes factors such as salary expectations, family background, and personal interests. However, studies exploring the impact of public crises, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, on students’ academic preferences remain limited and inconclusive. This study aims to examine how the exogenous shock of the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced Chinese high school students’ preferences for public health and preventive medicine majors. We analyze admissions panel data from 128 universities across 22 provinces (2017–2021) using a high‑dimensional fixed effects (HDFE) model. The findings reveal that the pandemic significantly reduced the competitiveness of admissions into public health majors. Heterogeneity emerges across university types: “Double First‑Class” institutions show limited sensitivity to pandemic‑related risk, whereas general undergraduate universities experience a marked decline in applications. Salary premium, government transparency, and social altruism exert distinct moderating effects. Specifically, salary competitiveness and altruistic support mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19, whereas greater government transparency amplifies risk perceptions and further discourages applications. Overall, the results underscore the need for targeted education policies to enhance the attractiveness of public health professions—strengthening system resilience—and offer practical guidance for strategic enrollment management and program design in the face of crisis‑driven demand shocks.</p>

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Crisis and career choice: how the pandemic shaped Chinese students’ preferences for public health majors

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月19日

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  • Jingjing Zeng,
  • Yunyan Cao

摘要

Existing research on students’ choices of higher education majors often emphasizes factors such as salary expectations, family background, and personal interests. However, studies exploring the impact of public crises, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, on students’ academic preferences remain limited and inconclusive. This study aims to examine how the exogenous shock of the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced Chinese high school students’ preferences for public health and preventive medicine majors. We analyze admissions panel data from 128 universities across 22 provinces (2017–2021) using a high‑dimensional fixed effects (HDFE) model. The findings reveal that the pandemic significantly reduced the competitiveness of admissions into public health majors. Heterogeneity emerges across university types: “Double First‑Class” institutions show limited sensitivity to pandemic‑related risk, whereas general undergraduate universities experience a marked decline in applications. Salary premium, government transparency, and social altruism exert distinct moderating effects. Specifically, salary competitiveness and altruistic support mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19, whereas greater government transparency amplifies risk perceptions and further discourages applications. Overall, the results underscore the need for targeted education policies to enhance the attractiveness of public health professions—strengthening system resilience—and offer practical guidance for strategic enrollment management and program design in the face of crisis‑driven demand shocks.