China’s PhD expansion ‘delays’ graduate employment challenges

China’s attempts to grow the number of students taking PhD courses may help the country’s universities to compete globally, but high-paced expansion could mean more graduates struggle to find jobs, according to academics. 

The Chinese government has unveiled new plans to increase the number of doctoral programmes in key disciplines including science, engineering, agriculture and medical sciences. 

Beijing has also announced changes to financial aid at all levels, with double the number of students receiving the National Scholarship – funding awarded to “outstanding” students – at each level this year. This means 20,000 doctoral students have been awarded the scholarship, compared with 10,000 last year. 

According to state media, new government guidelines emphasise the goal of establishing a “world-class” doctoral education system with “Chinese characteristics”. 

The guidelines have not been made publicly available, but state media suggest the focus is on “cultivating strategic talents and urgently needed professionals” to support the development of a “major talent centre and innovation hub” and achieving “high-level self-reliance in science and technology”. 

The number of students taking PhD programmes in China continues to grow. In 2023, 612,500 students were studying for doctoral degrees, 10 per cent more than the previous year. And, at more than 50 leading Chinese universities, postgraduate students now outnumber undergraduates, with PhD graduates from Chinese universities increasing by 14.3 per cent over the past decade. 

“Historically, China’s higher education policies have primarily focused on undergraduate education,” said Wenqin Shen, associate professor of higher education at Peking University. “However, I believe that the quality of doctoral training will increasingly come to the forefront in the future. Enhancing doctoral education will be seen as a critical step in achieving world-class status in higher education.”

This is particularly important when it comes to attracting international researchers and students, Dr Shen said. 

“Only first-class supervisors can produce first-class doctoral students,” he said. “Therefore, how to compete globally for world-class scholars remains a major challenge for Chinese universities.”

Hugo Horta, associate professor in the education faculty at the University of Hong Kong, agreed that as access to higher education has expanded at undergraduate level the “natural” next step was to increase postgraduate education levels. However, he said, “The question will be: what happens after so many people conclude their PhDs?”

China’s labour market has struggled to absorb the increasing number of graduates produced by the country’s universities, leading to high rates of youth unemployment. However, the ageing population means this may only be a short-term trend. 

In the meantime, providing more funding via scholarships and encouraging the population to enrol in postgraduate and PhD programmes can “delay graduate employment” while “nurturing more talents for future,” said Ka Ho Mok, provost at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. 

“We must also note that in the next few years China will experience the peak of the rise of higher education enrolments and it will gradually scale down because of the lower birth rate,” he added. “The proposal may help future planning for sustaining the growth of students enrolling in higher education.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com