About 18 percent of college graduates in the country said they will accept a job without pay for up to six months, a survey released by the Beijing Youth Stress Management Service Center on Sunday showed.

"College graduates are more realistic toward employment this year," Xiong Hanzhong, the center director, told China Daily on Monday.

"Only 1.3 percent of them made the same decision last year and the change indicates that college graduates are able to cope with pressure better," he said.

The 20-day online and telephone survey polled 4,903 college graduates nationwide from April this year.

"Based on our research, people who will accept jobs without pay display less pressure in their temperament, physical condition and behavior," Xiong said.

"Graduates with college diplomas want higher pay, while those with PhDs will lower their income requirements," he said.

Most male respondents felt pressure from their families and universities, while women polled in the survey suffered more social and personal pressure from job-hunting, the survey showed.

Ma Xiao, a 26-year-old Beijinger, found a job as a marketing assistant for a company in the outskirts of the capital after looking for work for seven months.

"I've no idea how much I'm going to get paid yet, but it will still be good work experience," she said.

"I have adjusted my expectations of getting a higher salary after being upset for seven months. I am relieved now."

Ma completed her studies for a masters degree in chemistry in Germany last year and she chose to return to China for a high-income post, as the economic recession seriously affected the employment market in Europe.

The survey also said monthly salary expectations of graduates with college diplomas, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and doctorates are 2,000 yuan (US$295), 2,500, 3,000-3,500 yuan and 4,500-5,000 yuan, respectively.

Of the 219,000 college graduates in Beijing who will graduate in July, 84,500 have already found jobs as of May 14, official figures showed earlier this month.