Survey sheds light on graduates' futures

On Monday, the Beijing Youth Stress Management Service Center released the report about the stress conditions of Chinese university graduates, and their findings display a changing outlook among China's students.

A student at a job fair.[ File photo ]

The report showed that most participants have downplayed their expected monthly salaries to between RMB 3,000 and 5,000, about RMB 1,000 lower than the previous level.

Graduates from vocational schools expect their salary to be 3,000 yuan; graduates with Bachelor's degrees expect 3,500 yuan; postgraduates expect 5,000 yuan; and those going for their doctorate expect over 7,000 yuan. On the whole, these expectations are much lower than last year.

According to the report, stress levels for graduates living in second tier cities were 55% less than those in first teir cities.

Xiong Hanzhong, head of the center, says that the reason is down to the potential for development and career prospects.

Though their overall stress level is lower, graduates from vocational schools feel more pressure from school, family and society. University graduates are forced to turn to less glamorous jobs nowadays, and this means that vocational graduates are finding it difficult to find desirable jobs.

However, many graduates expressed an interest in grassroots work, with 35.4% participants saying that they are "willing to do" it and 46.3% marking it as "acceptable".

The report also revealed that most graduates value communication skills, technical skills and the ability to adapt. However, basic qualities such as morality and diligence were not valued very highly.