STEM tide: China’s youth put faith in science studies as job market wavers

Evon Wang, a high school graduate from Dongguan, grew up dreaming of becoming an English teacher. But when she began to apply for universities and majors late last month, she eventually chose to take her mother’s more pragmatically minded advice.

“An engineering major,” the 18-year-old said, “means a higher rate of employment and better pay.”

In China, getting into a sought-after programme of study is considered a prerequisite to advance up the career ladder. Subjects at the country’s top institutions which tend to correlate with better prospects – finance, law, medicine or computer science, to name a few – are thought to be well worth the gruelling hours of study and high exam scores necessary to secure a spot.

“Education and employment [choices] must keep up closely with government policies,” Wang’s mother said. “Now, the [national] strategy is ‘invigorating China through science and education’, so engineering is the mainstream option.”

According to a survey conducted by Zhaopin, a leading online recruitment platform, varieties of engineering occupy 41 slots in the platform’s ranking of the 50 best-paid majors for those with three years of work experience. The remaining places were taken by subjects in science and management, with no arts degrees to be found.

Additionally, the higher education research firm MyCos has released its annual ranking of university majors after calculating their employment rates, salaries and levels of career satisfaction. The highest-scoring majors for upward mobility – those it deems “Green Card” programmes – were all related to engineering.

Another survey, released by consultancy iiMedia, found similar results. Engineering, science and economics were the top three subjects of preference for those taking the college entrance exam, while arts, agriculture and philosophy were among the least popular fields.

Both education policies and the job market are driving more young Chinese to choose engineering and science majors, making the highest achievers also the most tech-savvy, said David Wen, a middle school principal in Guangdong whose own son is studying nuclear engineering.

The country’s plan to cultivate talents in basic academic disciplines, particularly the sciences, has prompted a number of parents to invest heavily in extracurricular classes in mathematics, physics and biology.

Training institutions nationwide have launched their own courses on these subjects, with parents like Wen eagerly signing up – in his case for his second child, who is still in junior school.

“My good friend, a master’s degree holder in stomatology from a prestigious university, couldn’t get an offer from a public hospital in a big city,” said Li Ying, a 23-year-old in Guangzhou. “But she doesn’t want to work at a small clinic, so she plans to go to Japan for a Ph.D.”

Li, a recent graduate hired as a labour dispatcher for a state-owned company, makes 5,000 yuan (US$689) a month after tax and social security payments. Despite winning competitions and scholarships as she earned her degree in mass communication, these honours did not give Li a competitive edge in the job market.

Policies surrounding education and industry have profound social impact, but public discussion is far from sufficient, said Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the Shanghai-based 21st Century Education Research Institute.

“When choosing a major, many factors should be considered, not just employment rate and salary. Many Chinese students lack a clear plan, which reflects a deficiency of basic education in cultivating interest,” Xiong said.

This will make it difficult for the country to cultivate world-class talent in the long run, he added, because those who have made the greatest achievements in their disciplines are those with a firm interest and a desire to explore their fields further.