China’s liberal arts students still value their expertise in the face of poor employment prospects, low salaries, and societal pressure to switch to STEM subjects
Zheng Xinyue left the job fair disappointed. It was autumn, a traditional time for university students to seek employment after they graduate, and the 22-year-old cultural industry management major had been ignored by almost all the potential employers there.
In the weeks around last year’s fair, she had sent some 30 job applications but only received a handful of interview requests. As a liberal arts student from a lesser-known university (not part of China’s prestigious 985 or 211 groupings of schools), she felt unemployable. “Even though I have taken seven internships, and I am equipped with the necessary skills, HR departments from my ideal companies like Bytedance, Huawei, and Alibaba never give me an interview,” Zheng tells TWOC.
Bottom of the Class: The Woes of China’s Liberal Arts Students is a story from our issue, “Education Nation.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
Shao Yefan is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese. She writes articles about economic and political changes in Chinese society, especially how these affect normal people’s lives. She is particularly interested in the impact of international events like the Olympic Games on Chinese society.
