Only 2.6 percent of university students who will graduate this year would run their own businesses, the Nanfang Daily reported, quoting a recent survey.
   
The survey was conducted by the Guangdong provincial employment guidance center for college graduates and a psychological institute after investigating 1,950 graduates and 291 employers at nine job markets.
   
More than 80 percent of the surveyed graduates said they would accept a job even if it was not the one they desired.
   
About half of the surveyed employers said they were satisfied with the graduates they had hired in the past five years while about 40 percent said the graduates were just adequate. Only 4.1 percent said the graduates did not suit the job.
   
Guangzhou and Shenzhen were among the first choices for Guangdong graduates.
   
More than 90 percent said they would not consider other places outside the Pearl River Delta cities.
   
The survey also disclosed an interesting phenomenon about the genders.
   
Female graduates preferred government departments and institutions while male graduates favored private enterprise and State-owned enterprises.
   
More than 62 percent of the graduates said they would consider opening their own business if "all the conditions are mature," but only 2.6 percent said they would try this year.
   
Most undergraduates said their ideal monthly salary was 2,000 (US$240) to 3,000 yuan while those with master's degrees said the salary should range from 4,000 to 6,000 yuan.
   
They survey also suggested the government establish an organization to protect the rights of graduates and set a minimum wage standard.

(Shenzhen Daily March 23, 2005)