One out of every five female college graduates who entered full-time employment last year were turned away on at least one occasion while job-hunting because of their gender, according to a survey released Friday by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

The survey was conducted six months after the women started work.

According to the survey's results, around 20 percent of the women were told at least once by corporate recruiters that only men would be hired for certain jobs -- even though the companies in question were accepting applications from both men and women.