Whether it was because they did not feel they had learned enough or because what they learned did not help them find a job, more than half of the respondents* to a newspaper survey said postgraduate* studies were not as rewarding as they had expected.

The survey, jointly conducted by the Social Research Center of China Youth Daily and the Media Center of sina.com.cn, covered 7,730 respondents, including 4,865 who had obtained or were pursuing master’s degrees.

According to the results of the survey, 52.9 percent of the respondents said it was not worthwhile to pursue a postgraduate degree.

Of the postgraduate respondents, 35.6 percent said they regretted their postgraduate experience because what they had learned was not worth the time and money invested.

“Sometimes I’m not sure what I achieved during my two years of postgraduate study,” a respondent named Zheng Yingying said.

“During the first year I had to earn enough credit hours*, and in the second year I had many interviews with potential employers.”

Meanwhile, 39.2 percent of the respondents said they felt “confused and empty” during their postgraduate studies, 27.1 percent said they felt nervous and 28.5 percent felt disappointed.

And while 45.2 percent said they had undertaken postgraduate studies in the hope of finding a better job, postgraduates’ chances of finding a job seem to be declining* compared to students with bachelor’s degrees.

“I spent half of my time in college for the entrance exam for a master’s degree. When I finally got it from a leading university, finding a job was still a problem,” said a respondent named Zhao Chun.

“People began to question the value of master’s degrees, which might not be a bad thing. At least, it shows critical thinking. Many people used to go blindly for master’s degrees,” one respondent was quoted as saying in the survey report.

The survey quoted reasons respondents had given for postgraduate studies, including: “My girlfriend is still studying in college,” “I can’t leave the abundant* Internet resources and cheap accommodation* on campus,” and “I was fooled by my teacher and parents.”

The survey also showed that 54.7 percent admitted they had no clear career plans before their master’s studies, and 17.9 percent thought their choices were made somewhat blindly.

The situation is apparently reflected in the slower rate of increase of the number of people signing up to take the postgraduate exam this year.

Ministry of Education figures show 1.28 million people applied for the national entrance exam for master’s studies this year, up only 0.55 percent year-on-year.

The annual growth rate averaged 20 percent from 2001 to 2006, or more than 170,000 entrants* each year.

From 2001 to 2004, postgraduate enrollments* rose from 110,000 to 330,000.

(SD-Agencies)