(Bloomberg) -- A flurry of Chinese universities are extending the duration of their postgraduate programs as the job market in the world’s second-largest economy remains sluggish.
Starting next year, Guangxi Normal University in China’s south will shift 17 masters programs from a two-year cycle to three years, according to an official statement last week, which said the move is meant to “further improve the quality of the cultivation of post-graduates.” The school has more than 100 such full-time programs this year.
The Graduate School of Inner Mongolia Normal University is also extending the length of some 12 degrees for next year, “based on the needs of cultivating professional post-graduates.” The same situation is playing out in Shenyang Ligong University and Xi’an International Studies University. China’s universities typically offer two-year postgraduate programs.
The news garnered some 96 million views on the X-like Weibo social network, with many internet users linking the move to efforts to reduce pressure on the lackluster job market. Youth unemployment is a sensitive issue for Beijing, since discontent among young people could risk social stability.
“This is probably to help with the jobless rate,” one Weibo user observed. “Why don’t you extend the age at which companies like to hire people?” another commenter said in a popular response. Chinese companies are infamous for discriminating against hiring people over 35.
The jobless rate for those between 16 and 24 years old climbed to a record 21.3% in June last year, before the National Bureau of Statistics temporarily stopped releasing the data. That rate — using a new methodology that excludes students — fell to its lowest level last month, though it’s still more than double the overall unemployment rate.
The appeal of post-graduate programs rose in recent years as Covid-19 and a real estate slump dampened growth, while a sweeping crackdown on the private sector has contributed to large layoffs in tech and education companies, traditionally among the biggest recruiters at universities.
As a result, more young people have opted to pursue graduate school degrees to beef up their qualifications and wait for better economic opportunities. The percentage of university students heading to graduate schools rose four straight years to 20.3% in 2023 from 17.4% in 2019, according to a survey released last month by education consultancy Mycos.
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