Recruiting in China

Studying abroad, pursuing a Master’s Degree, entering the civil service sector and marriage are most common choices of female college graduates in China nowadays. Finding private sector employment is the choice of only a small proportion of female students. The National Women’s Association released the results of a survey which indicated that 90% of female college graduates had sensed gender inequality and discrimination when seeking job opportunities.

Recently, MyCOS, a third-party research agency completed a survey of female students. The survey showed that the employment rate for female college graduates is 21%, which is much lower when compared to the 29.5% for male students.

It is common knowledge that female students have unequal opportunity in the job application process. Because of the physical limitations of female applicators, some employers are more inclined to recruit men. A few employers even put up whiteboards indicating “Positions for men”, “Priority - Boys” or even “We don’t accept girl students”. There is also invisible discrimination against females in the selecting of resumes and even though employers may not have specified a gender requirement in their job descriptions, they do not consider the resumes of girl students after accepting their CVs.

Female students are often asked private gender-related questions such as the status of their relationship, intention to marry and have children. Some are even asked to not get married for five years on being offered the job. Because of the unique business culture in China, questions like “Can you drink?” or “Can you travel a lot for business?” are also not rare.

Apart from the recruitment process, discrimination is also present with regard to the occupations and positions offered to female students on their employment. Compared to men, women are usually employed in service and labor-intensive industries, including education and health care, diet, secretary and performing arts industries. On March 3rd this year, a job fair for female college graduates held by the Beijing Graduates Employment Service Centre attracted more than 3,000 women applicants. However, disappointingly, more than 600 of the job posts were secretarial, accounting and customer service positions. In terms of promotion, priority is also always given to men in some companies. Men do core operational work while women often do civilian work in a company. Besides this, there is also a difference in income between men and women in the same positions requiring similar capabilities.

The reasons for the dilemma of female college graduates are as follows:
The overall employment situation in China is not that satisfactory.
Sexual discrimination against women in the job market and incomplete social assurance for women’s childbirth security has not harnessed women’s employment and development.
There are limitations in the selection of professions among female students themselves. Many are inclined to work in hot sectors like financial and media, and prefer to work in major cities rather than 2nd and 3rd tier cities.
There is gap between the needs of the job market and the existing allocation of majors and research areas in college.
To alleviate some of these concerns for companies and women, the government is expected to pay for maternity leave.

Companies and civil organizations are expected to work with colleges to establish institutions for female undergraduates to offer vocational training and courses on practical business operation. Voluntary service is also a good approach to improve the capacity of female students. Some celebrities are calling for the release of a national regulation on voluntary services to guarantee the rights and interests of volunteers, making voluntary services more complete and using it as a building platform for social practice for female students before their employment.

Companies can consider working with influential and experienced partners on campus. Since 2009, the National Women’s Association has promoted entrepreneurship on campus. The organization organized lectures and tours of women entrepreneurs, conveying a new philosophy of employment and entrepreneurship, encouraging female students to set up their own business by applying for micro-finance loans. It has also promoted the construction of social practice base for female students. Based on a partnership with a number of reputational and responsible enterprises, they offer a great deal of internship opportunities that lasts for 3 months to half a year for female students annually.

by Elyse Chen