(ECNS) -- Graduates from civil servant families have first job salaries higher than those who are not, while more Chinese students become self-employed immediately after graduation, according to a research report.
The employment trend study by research institutes at Peking University and China's craigslist-like ganji.com, was based on results from 260,000 questionnaires in more than 50 first and second-tier cities from May 4 to June 30.
The report also found that income gaps are related to family backgrounds. Students whose father is a civil servant earn an average monthly salary of 3,614 yuan ($565). If a father works in a state-owned enterprise or public unit, the average salary is 2,938 yuan or 2,942 yuan.
In comparison, students, with their fathers working as farmers, earn an average salary of 2,552 yuan, more than 1,000 yuan lower than those from civil servant families.
The report also found that post-90s graduates mainly work in sales (17.3 percent), start-ups (15.6 percent) or as technicians (9.3 percent).
State-owned enterprises are still the top choice for 36.5 percent of graduating students, while 10.4 percent wish to work in government departments. But in reality, private enterprises have offered jobs to 72.7 percent of new graduates.
Graduates this year generally earned 568 yuan more than last year. Hotel management, telecommunications and e-commerce were the top three sectors with the highest paid jobs, at 3634 yuan, 3489 yuan, and 3305 yuan respectively.
China had an estimated 7.49 million college graduates in 2015, a year-on-year increase of three percent, according to the Ministry of Education.
