China graduates favor further education over job hunting in tough employment market

Some 1.3 million students enrolled in postgraduate programs in China last year, more than doubled the 611,380 seen a decade ago, The Straits Times reported, citing data from China’s Ministry of Education.

This year, around 4.38 million students took the postgraduate entry exams, which were 212 times the number seen in 2014, outpacing the growth of fresh graduates during the same period.

The number of applicants for that exam has been increasing steadily with an average annual rate of 15.8% from 2015 to 2022, according to China Daily newspaper.

Interest in pursuing further education in China has surged amid rising youth unemployment. The youth unemployment rate peaked at a record 21.3% last June, after which the country’s statistics bureau halted the release of this data, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

It then resumed reporting youth unemployment in January using a new method that excludes those still in school. Last month, the adjusted rate stood at 13.2%.

Job opportunities have been shrinking in China amid the prolonged slump in the property market, declining investments, and persistent payment arrears affecting major private firms – the key job creators in the market, the South China Morning Post reported.

The employment challenges are expected to intensify as a record 11.79 million university students are set to graduate this year.

As of mid-April, only 48% of prospective graduates in China had received informal job offers, down 2.4 percentage points from a year ago, according to Nikkei Asia. This figure was as high as 75% before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year, the number of university graduates postponing entering the workforce surged to 38% from 15.9% in 2015.

According to a 2023 survey of over 4,000 university graduates by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics, 84% of them cited pursuing further studies as reason to delay getting a job.

However, experts remarked that shifting to postgraduate courses instead of looking for employment after graduating might not be the best option.

Dr. Alfred Wu, a China expert and an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, warned against enrolling in these programs merely to avoid the stigma of being unemployed.

“What if by the time they finish their graduate studies, the economy becomes worse, not better? It will be even harder to find a job then, and not worth the time and money spent on getting the extra degree.”

Professor Xiong Binggi, director of the Beijing-based 21st Century Education Research Institute, cautioned that many universities are overly focusing on training students to score well in postgraduate entry examinations rather than teaching them the skills needed to enter the job market.

“Schools should not hype up postgraduate studies as the only option for students,” he said, emphasizing that such practices exacerbate students’ exhaustion due to intense competition.

Some students who focused solely on their studies have also expressed regret not looking for a job sooner as they now face rejection due to lack of experience.

Stella Zhang, who graduated from one of China’s most prestigious universities in Beijing last year, admitted she regretted prioritizing academics over internships.

“Employers are looking for fresh graduates with both good academic background and sufficient work experience,” she told SCMP.

Yang Ziru, 22, who had prepared for nearly a year to take the postgraduate studies entrance exam last December, decided to abandon her plan just 20 days before it was due.

She realized that the three-year commitment required for the postgraduate program might not be worthwhile as her internship had demonstrated that gaining experience was more crucial for employment than academic knowledge.

“If employment is the final goal, we need to think about our choices from a different perspective,” she told China Daily. “I believe we should find the path that is suitable for each individual, though none of these goals are easy to achieve, and struggle for our dreams.”