IT'S A SCORCHING, humid Sunday afternoon on Zaoyang Road, the commercial hub for residents of Shanghai's Changning district. Amid the noise of blaring sirens, squealing brakes and incessant shouting, hundreds of bai tan, or street stalls, are springing into action.
Usually, it's the poorly educated and unskilled of China's workforce who operate them. But lately, a few new faces have appeared that don't quite fit in - such as Summer Zhang, a 20-year-old business administration student from nearby Shanghai University. Zhang has set up a T-shirt stall and her parents aren't happy. 'My father wanted me to find a part-time internship or something,' she says. 'But nowadays that's as easy as me becoming the president of the United States.'
Despite the smell of rotting food, territorial fights for the best spots and the risk of municipal officials confiscating their merchandise (students don't hold bai tan licences), more of Shanghai's university students are turning to the street, due to a lack of opportunities in the 'real world'. Increasingly for students, Zaoyang Road is the real world.
'I consider this to be a bright spot on my resume since I can't find anything else to do while in school,' says Zhang, referring to the stall she set up three months ago, which she runs at weekends and occasionally during the week after classes. 'It gives me some fundamental and practical knowledge of my school major, something I need if I want to find a job.'
When Zhang graduates she'll be among many students facing a similar dilemma - too many applicants, too few jobs. And even for the lucky ones, low salaries often force them into a second job.
A Reuters report estimates that 4.13 million students will graduate from mainland universities this year to enter a job market that can only soak up 1.66 million candidates. And according to China's Labour and Social Security Bureau, those who do find a job are likely to earn less than an uneducated farmer. The bureau estimates that an undergraduate's average monthly income will be 1,000 yuan, while a farmer will take home 1,100 yuan.