Economy

Grads face job-hunt discrimination

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-28 15:27

A recent survey shows that more than 50 percent of college graduates have been discriminated against in different ways, while about 60 percent of employers have specific requirements for an employee's hukou or home origin, according to Mirror Evening Newspaper.

The Research Report of Discrimination among the Employment of College Graduates, which was released on Monday by the constitutionalism research institute of the China University of Political Science and Law, revealed that more than 40 percent of college graduates were the victims of discrimination when interviewed by government institutions and 60 percent in company interviews.

Only 3.45 percent of the interviewees felt they had not been discriminated against in interviews.

The survey was conducted at 11 universities in Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and other cities, with a total of 2,086 respondents.

Job-hunting discrimination mainly fell into the categories of gender discrimination, hukou discrimination and appearance and height discrimination.

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Almost 70 percent of employers have specific gender requirements, while 17 percent require employees to be neither married nor have babies, according to the survey.

"Gender discrimination is a more and more obvious problem in recent years, especially for female employees," said Liu Xiaonan, associate professor with the constitutionalism research institute of China University of Political Science and Law.

"Some employers also prefer female employees because a beautiful face, high academic degree and public relations ability are key factors for the position," Liu added.

The survey reveals that 59.14 percent of employers have specific requirements for hukou or hometown region for their employees.

"The hukou discrimination is more often found in municipal institutions and companies. If they recruit graduates with no local hukou, it costs a lot to get hukou quotas," said Cai Dingjian, dean of the constitutionalism research institute of China University of Political Science and Law.

The survey also shows that 45.96 percent of employers have clear appearance and height preferences and believe that better looking and taller employees bring more economic benefits.

"The ultimate solution to discrimination in job-hunting relies on improving the legal system and strengthening supervision. The government should perfect related laws and regulations," Wei Zhimin, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Talents Society, which is an affiliate of Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, told Mirror Evening Newspaper.