Chinese employers might not favor U.S. university graduates

Inside Higher Ed reports that companies in China — even foreign companies in China — prefer local university graduates for entry-level positions.

• Applicants who had graduated from U.S. universities “were 18 percent less likely to get a call back than applicants who had attended Chinese universities,” according to research by Mingyu Chen, a Ph.D. student at Princeton University.

• Going to a good school doesn’t help much: “Even applicants from the most selective U.S. universities…were 7 percent less likely to get a call back than applicants from the Chinese universities he categorized as least selective.”

• But it could be about employee retention rather  than an evaluation of skills: “Employers believe, correctly or not, that  applicants from U.S. institutions have better options, making them  harder to attract and retain than those educated in China,” Chen  comments.

• Also, the study only measured call-back rates for entry-level positions. Measuring career-long effects of overseas education would require a new study.

This study is contrary to the widespread perception of five or more years ago, when an American university degree, especially from an Ivy League school, was often seen as a golden ticket for landing a top job in China. But in the last couple of years, there have been more reports of Chinese students struggling to find employment when they come back home. This is part of the explanation for why colleges such as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Arizona State are seeing declining Chinese student enrollment. There’s also the fact that in recent years, many more Chinese students have been returning to China, as the country has grown to support more jobs requiring higher education.

More than 510,000 overseas students returned to China

The number of returnees increased by 8% from that in 2017, while the total number of returnees reached about 5.86 million from 1979 to 2018. Handout.

More than 510,000 overseas educated Chinese students chose to return to their home country in 2018, representing a record high over three decades.

The number increased by 8% from that in 2017, while the total number of returnees reached about 5.86 million from 1979 to 2018, official data shows. The career “glass ceiling” is a frequently cited reason by the returnees, 21st Century Business Herald reported.

According to research by job hunter service provider Liepin, more than 36% of the returnees selected Shanghai and Beijing as their destination, while about 10% chose Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Factors included weather, social networking, industry preference and price index as influences the returnees considered in their selection of which city to live in.

For example, Shanghai is a favourite choice for finance graduates as it’s one of the major international financial centres. Also, having a working culture relatively closer to New York and London was a plus, an Ivy league school graduate was quoted as saying.

Hukou, or household registration, is another major consideration for the returnees, as it’s almost impossible to make new Hukou registration in Beijing. As a result, many returnees have been turning to other cities with a more favourable Hukou policy.

In Shenzhen, most of the overseas educated students can easily register for Shenzhen residency and even get a cash subsidy.

Source: https://supchina.com, by Lucas Niewenhuis; https://www.asiatimes.com, By Asia Times staff

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