Survey Finds Only 51% of Chinese Scientists Satisfied With Jobs

Chinese scientists dissatisfied with jobs but optimistic about future, survey says

A survey published this month in the British scientific journal Nature found that only 51 per cent of 157 respondents from China said they were satisfied with their jobs.

That placed Chinese scientists below researchers in any other major country covered by the survey on job satisfaction.

The findings also showed a contrasting view of their professional future. Despite their frustrations, Chinese scholars were confident about having more successful careers than their counterparts in the United States and Britain.

The survey said the proportion of satisfied respondents from China was down 24 per cent from 2018.

The wider survey drew 3,882 respondents from 133 countries. Participants came from a variety of disciplines and worked in both academia and industry.

The China responses therefore combined dissatisfaction with current jobs and confidence about future careers.

However, the survey cautioned that its results could not be taken as representative of all Chinese scientists.

That limitation applied because respondents chose to take part in the survey. The findings may therefore not reflect scientists working across all disciplines, regions and types of institutions in China.

The survey’s comparison with the United States and Britain concerned confidence about having more successful careers, while its job-satisfaction finding concerned respondents’ current work.

Source: South China Morning Post