China’s youth unemployment fuels rise in postgraduate studies

Taipei, Taiwan — 

Youth unemployment successful China climbed to astir 19% successful August, its highest level truthful acold this year, according to authoritative data. Analysts accidental that the higher level of younker unemployment is driving much assemblage graduates to enroll successful postgraduate schools to flight the occupation hunt arsenic the world’s second-largest system struggles.

According to information released by the National Bureau of Statistics, oregon NBS, precocious past week, the unemployment complaint among 16- to 24-year-olds roseate from 17.1% successful July to 18.8% successful August. One large crushed for the uptick successful joblessness, the NBS said, is that astir 12 cardinal students graduated from Chinese universities this June, heightening contention successful an already pugnacious occupation market.

Postgraduates overtake graduates

“The occupation marketplace has shrunk, and astatine the aforesaid clip determination are inactive truthful galore graduates. Too galore radical are idling each day,” said Lin Chan-Hui, an adjunct prof of the General Education Center astatine Feng Chia University successful Taiwan. “Another mode retired is to instrumentality to schoolhouse to survey further and temporarily flight the competitory workplace.”

Some Chinese universities accidental they are seeing much postgraduate students than undergraduates.

According to the state-backed integer work The Paper, the fig of postgraduate students astatine Lanzhou University exceeded the full fig of undergraduate students for the archetypal time. Lanzhou University is located successful the superior of northwestern China’s Gansu Province.

In eastbound China’s coastal Zhejiang Province, the Zhejiang University of Technology shows 5,382 caller postgraduate students were admitted this year, beating retired the fig of caller undergraduate students by 40.

The inclination was already picking up astatine much celebrated Chinese universities past year.

Last December, Beijing’s Tsinghua University said the fig of undergraduate freshmen successful the erstwhile world twelvemonth was 3,760, portion the fig of master's and doctoral students was 12,069.

Shanghai’s Fudan University successful October 2023 reported 15,000 undergraduate students and astir 37,000 postgraduate students.

China's Ministry of Education said that past twelvemonth determination were much than 47 cardinal radical enrolled successful higher acquisition institutes, 1.3 cardinal were postgraduate students, according to the authoritative Xinhua News Agency.

Lei, a higher acquisition advisor successful Shenzhen, who owed to the sensitivity of the taxable lone gave his surname, told VOA the inclination of higher acquisition is moving toward "college graduates who don’t spell to postgraduate schoolhouse would instantly go unemployed" amid China's economical slowdown.

"On 1 hand, studying successful postgraduate schoolhouse tin truly assistance you find a job. On the different hand, it’s besides an avoidance mentality,” Lei said.

Wandering masters and doctors

Feng Chia University’s Lin said that having an undergraduate grade is not capable successful fields similar technological innovation and technological research, truthful it is inactive indispensable to get a postgraduate grade successful definite fields.

On the different hand, helium said, China has excessively galore radical getting doctorates and master’s degrees and not capable method and vocational acquisition truthful determination volition beryllium "fierce contention for upper-level work, but nary 1 does the lower-level work." Highly educated young radical are not consenting to prosecute successful grassroots work, Lin said, truthful determination volition beryllium much and much "wandering masters and doctors."

Lin said the geopolitical hostility betwixt China and the U.S. has besides made studying overseas for a postgraduate grade harder, truthful much students take a home 1 instead.

Chinese netizens look to hold that waiting for the occupation marketplace to amended is their champion hope.

A Hunan netizen connected China’s Weibo societal media level nether the sanction "Da Ke Ya Tang" said: "The marketplace volition not beryllium capable to supply truthful galore jobs successful the foreseeable future, truthful we person to permission the occupation to the future."

"If colleges and universities cannot accommodate to the country's request for innovative and pioneering talents and betterment the mode students are trained, much employment unit whitethorn accumulate successful nine successful a fewer years," writer Wang Guojin said successful a station connected Weibo.

COVID students coping?

A PhD pupil successful Shanghai who, owed to the sensitivity of the subject, lone gave his surname Zeng, told VOA the summation successful master's and doctoral students is besides due to the fact that galore postgraduate students went to assemblage during the COVID-19 pandemic and are struggling to adapt. Zeng blames distant learning for their struggles with societal enactment and the skills needed to vie successful the occupation market.

"This radical of assemblage students evidently lacks immoderate socialization skills, astatine slightest successful recruitment interviews,” Zeng said. “They can't scope the aforesaid level arsenic the erstwhile students.”

Zeng adds that monthly stipends for master's and doctoral students ranges from astir $143 to $700 and Chinese universities promote entrepreneurship by providing funds to commencement tiny projects done competitions.

“Who wouldn’t privation to proceed their studies and gain wealth astatine the aforesaid time?” she asked.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.