More Chinese women graduate but jobs and equal pay still elude them: women under-represented in Stem subjects at university and afterwards are quizzed about plans to start a family

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By contrast, most of the 20 men on her course — even those with poor grades — found work easily, she said. “While female students in general study harder and score better in exams, they are at a disadvantage in job hunting,” she said.

But even though women outnumber men at university, they are under-represented in science, technology, engineering and maths courses. Some courses, such as navigation and mining, are deemed unsafe or inappropriate and they [women] are discouraged from applying. The courses with the highest female attendance include primary education, home economics, psychology, women’s studies and foreign languages, according to independent data provider Gaokao.

With China’s growth rate slowing, higher education is not a guaranteed ticket to employment, especially with rising joblessness among the young. The rate of unemployment of young people in urban areas was 17.1 per cent in July.