Amid China’s intensifying youth unemployment crisis, one particularly stark and troubling dimension stands out: the discrimination faced by female graduates entering the workforce.
Yun highlighted that discrimination against young women is deeply rooted in societal and employer attitudes.
“Employers view young women as quote-unquote, less ideal workers in that they believe these women are distracted by family responsibilities,” Yun said.
Chinese women today face contradictory pressures, creating what Yun described as “impossible choices.”
On one hand, society and family pressure them toward marriage and motherhood, defining these roles as integral to their identities. On the other hand, the expectation persists that they remain economically productive.
“We know that women in China still carry the predominant lion’s share of care work and housework. All these different pulls and expectations, contradictory in nature, create this sense of incompatibility as they try to envision what their own place in society can be,” explained Yun.
Friedman also describes this phenomenon as reflective of “contradictory impulses” within government policy itself.
He points out that China’s government has historically championed high female labour market participation. Yet simultaneously, as the demographic crisis deepens, official messaging increasingly pressures women into earlier marriage and motherhood.
“When you have that kind of messaging in a context where there’s very few legal protections for women in the workplace … it puts them in a very difficult position.”
As Friedman noted: “Discrimination against women with respect to childbearing is extremely well-documented … you will see employers still advertising jobs and saying you can only take this job if you’re not going to have a baby.”
For young graduates like Xiao Duo, a 21-year-old Business English major from Hunan Modern Logistics Vocational and Technical College, this reality resonates painfully.
“Women lack a sense of security,” she said, explaining that employers often prefer men due to fears of women taking maternity leave.
Xiao says the discrimination is even more common in rural areas, compounded by traditional attitudes.
“Even though they have received higher education, they are unable to realise their self-worth.”
Yun urged policymakers to prioritise legal protection against gender-based workplace discrimination.
“The protection against various forms of labour discrimination is and should be at the heart, as we think about the labour landscape that young adults face in contemporary China.”
As Friedman remarked, “Women are outperforming men academically. Yet women continue to underperform men in the labour market.”
For Xiao Duo, the struggle is worsened by the stigma surrounding her difficult job search.
“Most (graduates) are forced by circumstances to take jobs that are completely inconsistent with their true value, and they are further derided by traditional views that claim studying is useless.”
Analysts say that without meaningful, rigorously enforced anti-discrimination measures, even well-educated women will remain marginalised, their talents undervalued and potential unrealised.
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