China’s Grads / Children of Communist Party officials have a substantial advantage

The China Data Center at Tsinghua University recently published a study revealing that new graduates who happen to be the children of Communist Party officials have a substantial advantage compared to their classmates. Starting salaries for these lucky few are nearly 15 percent higher than those of their peers who have no filial government connections.

Epoch Times reports:

The Tsinghua University study, conducted by surveying over 6,000 new graduates nationwide, also shows that officials’ children are much more likely to land jobs in trendy and lucrative sectors, like finance and government, while those without connections tend to work in less popular industries like mining and construction.

Research leader Li Hongbin, deputy director of the China Data Center at Tsinghua University, told Beijing Evening News that parents’ political status greatly impacts graduates’ starting salary beyond any other factor, even student school performance, and parental income and education level.

This advantage is often unabashedly blatant said web editor and Chongqing resident Xiang Shaowei in an interview with Radio Free Asia:

“If I were the son of official parents, even if I had sat a written test honestly and done my best, by the time I got to interview, I would have had a lot of points added to my final score, to give my parents face.”

“But if I were the son of regular folk who sat the test … I would have been dropped before the interview stage, even if I’d got the highest mark.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor

via Unsurprising study reveals nepotism gives recent graduates a boost in the job market: Shanghaiist.