BEIJING: Ma, who hails from Xinjiang, soon learned that studying Hungarian at university was difficult not only academically, but also financially - two factors that would weigh on her chances of finding work in China's increasingly competitive job market .

Ma, 21, was unfamiliar with the Central European language when she made the decision in 2018 from her home in a small county in China's northwest before attending a university in Beijing.

The other students in my class, with the exception of me, spent their third year studying abroad. I couldn't afford the trip, and my grades didn't meet the scholarship's standards to pay for the trip, said Ma, now 24. Ma initially took out a loan to attend Beijing Normal University.

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When she graduates in June with about 11.58 million other students in China, her lack of international experience could make her less competitive in the job market as coronavirus controls and the economic downturn shrink employment opportunities And has made it more difficult for rural students. Income families move forward in the society.

According to research, Chinese students from rural areas often have difficulty paying for extracurricular activities such as extracurricular activities and international travel while they are in school. As a result, they may not move as far or earn the same starting salaries as their urban counterparts.

She is currently unable to return to Beijing to complete her studies and possibly accept an internship after returning home in the summer due to coronavirus prevention measures.

Due to the delicate nature of the situation, Ma asked that her full name not be used. "Even though I wanted to do an off-campus internship, I really couldn't afford the rent and my family couldn't help," she continued.

We have a saying that says, "The children of farmers can only be farmers." I thought this was absurd as a child, but now I think it sums up the difficulty of class mobility succinctly and rudely.

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I have no preferences; I just need a job to support me. I'm sure as long as I lower my expectations, there will be a job that doesn't even require a degree.

Eli Shea, an expert on rural education and social mobility, found that although most students from rural backgrounds find employment, they do not advance at the same level or start at the same salary as their urban counterparts and are less stable in their roles. Let's feel

According to Xie, an associate professor at Guangzhou University, "Students from rural backgrounds are less familiar with the employment culture of elite universities, they usually prepare for jobs late, and they also lack clear employment goals and systematic planning Is."

Across several research projects, Zee has found that rural students are less socially engaged in school than their urban counterparts, which negatively impacts their human capital skills, such as leadership, collaboration, and communication—all of which drive employment. time is necessary.

China's official youth unemployment rate stood at 17.9% for the 16-24 age group in October, compared to a 5.5% overall unemployment rate last month.

However, the survey generally focused on urban areas, so students living in or relocating to rural areas are likely to be missed by the youth unemployment data.

Despite the absence of reliable official data, prior studies have suggested that rural student unemployment is high.
According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Social Blue Book, which was published in late 2013, the unemployment rate for rural students was 30.5%, compared to 12.28% for urban students.

Another graduate employment blue paper published by CASS states that as of 2019, 23.8% of graduates with bachelor's degrees from rural households had found employment in disadvantaged areas, and 21.1% of graduates with rural vocational degrees had employment.

Wu Chengye, a native of Gansu province, is one of the lucky rural students who, despite stiff competition, was able to land a job after graduating from a prestigious university in Shanghai last year.

He submitted several resumes, but got no response. He then sought a recommendation from a professor and finally sought security provided by a state-owned company.

Since this would at least take away many of our worries, Wu said, "For me, when choosing a job, the first consideration is whether the company can provide free food and accommodation."

After graduating from Fudan University in Shanghai, Zhang Hao, a 24-year-old from rural Sichuan, did one better and obtained a local hukou household registration document, which provides stronger social security and better educational opportunities.

As someone who joined a top internet company in Beijing last year, Zhang said, "I think there are a lot of ways for rural students to make the class leap, including college entrance exams, that can help raise social status and wealth."

According to Zhang, a college education can significantly alter the course of an entire family's life, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas.

However, rural students are currently seeing a decline in their chances of enrolling in a prestigious university.

According to a study written by researchers Kun Yan and Lingli Wu from the Institute of Education at Tsinghua University, 50% of first-year students at prestigious universities came from rural areas in the 1970s, but that percentage fell to around 14% by 2011.

Another CASS study revealed that rather than attending elite universities, rural students from underprivileged areas have a higher likelihood of enrolling in vocational schools, which provide more practical or technical training but are less preferred due to their lower average salaries.

"Families of rural students are rarely able to make these systematic investments in their children's education, whereas urban middle-class families are investing more in their children's education in terms of cultural and social capital," Xie continued.

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After conducting research for almost ten years, Xie discovered that as social inequality rises globally, it is now more difficult for rural students to advance in class.

According to the World Economy Forum's "The Global Social Mobility Report 2020," only a small number of economies have the right frameworks in place to encourage social mobility, and as a result, income disparities have become entrenched on a global scale.

China still ranks 45th out of 82 countries in the social mobility index, despite having high educational standards in urban areas. This is largely due to China's stark regional disparities in educational standards, according to the World Economic Forum.

According to Xie, while urban students prefer to work in cities, rural students are more likely to choose to stay in county, town, and rural areas for their first job after graduating.