硕士毕业生找工作更难

Wang Yuanyuan

cheekywang@hotmail.com

People with postgraduate degrees are finding it more difficult to find jobs than people with bachelor's degrees due to the sharp increase in numbers.

"A growing number of people have taken master's courses over the past 10 years. Some hope to get a higher salary and status, while some just want to stay students for longer," said Li Qinghua, a teacher from the admission office of Shenzhen University.

According to the latest statistics given by the Ministry of Education, the country plans to enroll 517,200 master's students this year. However, the number was only about 260,000 in 2003.

"Due to the sharp increase in demand, an increasing number of universities have started enrolling more postgraduate students. I entered the postgraduate school as a student in 1996 in Beijing. At that time, my university only enrolled 46 postgraduate students, but now there are classes with more students than that," Li said.

With the number of postgraduates growing, it has become harder for them to find suitable jobs after graduation.

According to statistics given by the human resources department in Jiangsu Province, about 90 percent of the undergraduates found jobs after graduation last year, while the percentage for postgraduates was only 85 percent. "If the universities continue to focus on increasing the number of students they enroll instead of improving the quality of education, it will negatively affect future postgraduates," said Li.

Due to the competition, many postgraduates decided that the way to get the job they wanted was to lower their salary demands. "I had no choice. If I want to get into a top company, I will have a much better chance if I lower my salary expectations," said Wu Danrui, a man who recently graduated from the postgraduate school of Shantou University in Guangdong Province.

Wu had worked at a famous foreign company for two years before starting his master's program. "I made 3,000 yuan (US$470) a month and thought it was too little to live in a city like Shenzhen, so I decided to quit the job and gain a master's degree in the hope of getting a higher salary and better career prospects. However, I came back to Shenzhen again in July and found a new job, which was similar to my old one, at another leading foreign company and was paid 3,500 yuan a month. I could get a job at a smaller company with a higher salary, but I'd rather stay at a top one," said Wu.

Many education experts suggested universities slow down their expansion and focus more on quality. "The current postgraduate education system focuses more on teaching and lecturing than research. Many people with postgraduate degrees are not particularly appealing to employers, so they have to lower their salary expectations. Improving teaching quality should be the top priority," said Xiong Bingqi, professor from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.