In China, a college education is a really big deal. Recent years have seen a huge enrollment boom, with university student populations swelling by as much as 30%. But at the same time, there are high levels of unemployment among recent graduates in many industries. In fact, it's estimated that one-third of China's 5.6 million 2008 graduates were unemployed during their first year after school. The culprit? Oversaturated college majors. Many students in China flock to the same ultra-competitive fields of study, hoping to find a lucrative job, but instead find a very difficult employment market. In others, however, there's still plenty of room for growth, allowing for lots of new graduates to find great jobs. Read on as we explore 10 of the hottest areas of study for Chinese students, and discuss which ones are winners for great job opportunities in the country.
1) Information technology
China has become a powerhouse of IT, even surpassing the U.S. with research and development personnel. In fact, just in 2009, China graduated half a million students with IT and other related degrees. In that same year, Chinese researchers also surpassed the U.S. with more published papers in IT. IT is a big deal in China, so it's not hard to understand why so many students flock to the major. Of course, this does mean that there's a lot of competition for IT jobs in the country. Still, there is no shortage of positions for well-qualified IT grads in China, and although some shy away from this densely populated study, many others still consider to be a valuable career.
2) Electrical engineering
China has been long recognized as the world's superpower in electronics manufacturing, creating half of the world's TVs and mobile phones, and most of the world's personal computers and monitors. Overall, 33% of China's graduates are engineers of some sort, many of them in the field of electrical engineering. With an ever-growing electricity sector and continually booming electrical manufacturing industry, this major is a really hot ticket for students in China. There's still plenty of room for growth as well, as relative to population size, the number of research and development personnel in engineering is still low compared to major developed nations like the U.S. and Japan.
3) English
Many students in China major in languages, particularly in English. For many students, it's a smart move, allowing them to participate in global business with America and other English-speaking countries. But similar to English majors in the U.S., job prospects are limited for students with English degrees. Still, for some students, studying English in China is just a stepping-stone to higher education in the United States. In recent years, the number of Chinese undergrads in the U.S. has tripled to make them the largest group of foreign students in U.S. colleges. In fact, many American colleges push to recruit in China, pulling students out of fierce competition in Chinese universities, while bolstering the university's international appeal.
4) Law
Many Chinese students aspire to be lawyers, envisioning a lucrative legal career in their futures. This is an incredibly popular major, but it can be difficult to actually develop a career in this field. Some of the top universities in China have more than 6,000 law students each. But getting through overcrowded law schools isn't the biggest challenge. Many Chinese students find that bar exams are extremely difficult; in fact, there are very low passing rates each year. And among those who do pass the test, there is intense competition, as the graduates of this very popular major go on to compete for the best attorney jobs.
