A Chinese professor has raised concerns about China’s status as the world’s largest producer of doctoral and master’s degree holders, fearing that the abundance of highly educated youth could worsen unemployment and pose the greatest challenge to future social stability.
Professor Ju Qiang, who specializes in managerial psychology, highlighted the staggering number of postgraduates set to graduate this year—1,125,900. He questioned whether society could absorb this influx of highly educated individuals, particularly as they were primarily trained for academia rather than practical problem-solving roles.
These postgraduate cohorts are expected to emerge from graduate admissions in 2021 or 2022. In 2022, there were 1.24 million postgraduate admissions, marking a 66,000 increase from the previous year, and 1.18 million admissions in 2021, a 70,000 increase from 2020, according to data from the Chinese Ministry of Education.
According to a report by the Chinese State Council, China had 3.65 million postgraduate students in 2022, the second-highest globally.
Se-Chih Wu, an advisor at the Taiwan-based think tank, Taiwan Brain Trust, echoed concerns about universities neglecting postgraduate programs to prioritize societal needs.
“For the universities, the government’s related subsidies and resources will increase with more master’s or doctoral students,” he said, emphasizing the importance of aligning graduates’ competitiveness with societal demands in the job market.
Finance professor Cheng-Ping Cheng highlighted the overgrowth of Chinese post-graduates, stating that while China once exported top talents worldwide, this trend has encountered obstacles in recent years. Despite some talents entering multinational corporations, these firms’ retreat from the Chinese market has limited career opportunities.
“China does not have many high-end enterprises. China’s high-end industrial R&D capabilities are also weak,” said Mr. Cheng, suggesting a bleak future for the newly graduated high-calibers.
He believes the Chinese manufacturing industry has a major drawback—it is very large but mainly serves the medium and low end of the market. He stressed the reluctance of many young students to pursue technical and vocational roles, which hinders industrial upgrades and leaves high-level talents without suitable opportunities.
China estimated that 11.79 million fresh college graduates will enter the job market in 2024, while the number of unemployed Chinese individuals may have reached 60 million, according to China Digital Times.
The 2023 Bluebook of Employment, published by MyCOS, a higher education consulting firm, highlighted the employment pressures stemming from the over 10 million graduates in China in 2022.
“Multiple unexpected factors have made it difficult for graduating undergraduate students to find employment.
“Although the expansion of master’s and doctoral programs has to some extent alleviated the current employment pressure, the employment pressure for postgraduate students is also gradually becoming evident,” read the Bluebook.
Another MyCOS report indicated more than 2 billion college students prepared for the national civil service exam in 2022, double the number from 2017, reflecting a trend toward stable employment choices.
Mr. Wu believes many young people are encouraged to pursue postgraduate studies in response to the challenging job market but cautioned that such an approach addresses symptoms rather than root causes, emphasizing the need for comprehensive solutions.
Mr. Cheng expressed skepticism about the Communist regime’s ability to address employment issues among high-end graduates.
“With the unemployment rate continuously expanding, these people have nowhere to go. It’s surely a huge destabilizing factor in society,” he said.
