chongqing outlook｜"undergraduate and postgraduate study are upside down", don't worry too much
2024-09-26
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are graduate students becoming less and less valuable?
this school season, the news that the number of graduate students at many universities exceeds that of undergraduates has sparked heated discussion, with some people calling this phenomenon "undergraduate-graduate inversion."
in this regard, netizens have different opinions: does the fact that there are more postgraduates than undergraduates mean that "degrees are devalued"? will the expansion of postgraduate enrollment in colleges and universities contribute to the "degree bubble"? as the "quantity" of postgraduates increases, how can the "quality" be guaranteed? ...
the value of higher education cannot be simply measured by a diplomathere are many misunderstandings about the "undergraduate-research inversion" that need to be clarified, but the concerns and expectations of the public reflected in it are also worthy of attention and deep thought.
▲graduate students from sichuan fine arts institute discuss environmental design plans with residents. photo by reporter zheng yu/visual chongqing
the topic became popular due to a piece of news. lanzhou university recently announced that the total number of graduate students on campus in 2024 will exceed that of undergraduates for the first time.
in fact, the "upside-down" situation in colleges and universities is not new. last year, the topic of "beijing's master's and doctoral graduates surpassed undergraduates for the first time" was a hot search. data shows that in 2023, beijing's colleges and universities are expected to have about 296,000 full-time graduates, including more than 160,000 postgraduates, 30,000 more than undergraduates.
in addition, according to public information, many universities such as tongji university, shanghai jiaotong university, sun yat-sen university, nanjing university, xi'an jiaotong university, and sichuan university have seen the number of enrolled graduate students or graduate graduates exceed that of undergraduates in recent years.
first of all, it should be clear that the expansion of graduate student scale is an inevitable trend in the development of education.at the first china academic degrees and graduate education conference held last year, yang wei, an academician of the chinese academy of sciences, said: "the era of graduate education in our country has arrived."
by the end of 2023, china will have trained more than 11 million graduate students. however, as of 2022, the proportion of the population with master's and doctoral degrees is less than 1%, far lower than the level of developed countries.
this shows that my country's graduate education still has a lot of room for improvement, and there is no surplus of graduate students, let alone "water injection". in line with the law of educational development, the scale of graduate talent training will continue to expand steadily in the coming period.
in addition, the "undergraduate-research reversed" situation in some universities is also a reflection of finding the right role for themselvesit is not difficult to find that the phenomenon of "undergraduate-research inversion" is mostly found in research universities with outstanding scientific research capabilities. these schools themselves carry more functions of cultivating high-level scientific research talents. in fact, this is also the refinement of the division of roles between different universities.
lanzhou university believes that the total number of graduate students in comprehensive and research-oriented universities exceeds that of undergraduate students, which is an important step in building a high-level research-oriented university. "internet celebrity" education blogger zhang xuefeng also wrote an article to support lanzhou university, saying that it is very common for "985 project" universities, as research-oriented universities, to have more graduate students than undergraduates.
it is worth noting that the basic situation of national education development in 2023 released by the ministry of education shows that the enrollment of undergraduate students is 4.7816 million and the enrollment of graduate students is 1.3017 million. it can be seen that not all universities have the phenomenon of "undergraduate and graduate students inverted", and most universities still focus on undergraduate education.
therefore, the public is not too concerned about the "undergraduate-graduate inversion" in some universities, and the expansion of graduate training cannot be simply equated with the "depreciation of academic qualifications." in the long run, the continued development of higher education will provide more people with opportunities for continuous learning and further study, and will also help to continuously release education and talent dividends to the whole society.
▲the southwest university of political science and law yubei campus, the job fair (legal session) scene. photo by reporter zheng yu/visual chongqing
it is easier to find the real voice of the people in hot topics. the reason why topics such as "education bubble" and "depreciation of academic qualifications" have a certain market is that they objectively reflect some common concerns and expectations of the public, which deserves attention.
for example, the academic anxiety caused by "rolling"at a time when the trend of "chickening up children" is prevalent, many parents and students regard "rolling for a degree" as the best way out. the "undergraduate-graduate inversion" has challenged people's long-standing perception that graduate degrees are "scarce and valuable", and has also touched the sensitive nerves of some parents and students who are anxious about their degrees.
for example, misplaced employment conceptspeople often say that academic qualifications are the "stepping stone" to employment, and more and more candidates believe that postgraduate study will significantly help future employment. therefore, the "postgraduate entrance examination fever" has been high in recent years.
however, if we fail to view the long-term value of the development of graduate education from the perspectives of optimizing the talent structure and improving the level of scientific research, but instead understand the "undergraduate-graduate inversion" from a secular and utilitarian perspective, and regard academic qualifications as a bargaining chip for making money, it will give people an intuitive feeling that academic qualifications are devalued and employment pressure is increasing, which will in turn aggravate the employment anxiety of some young people.
for example, higher expectations for the quality of educationthe continued expansion of graduate education will also cause public concerns about the quality of education. can the teaching staff keep up? have the school facilities been upgraded accordingly? are there any hidden dangers of "scale-only theory"? the doubts raised by public opinion are actually a form of supervision and spur, reflecting the public's high requirements and expectations for graduate education.
these voices not only reflect the public's attention and expectations for higher education, but also remind the relevant departments that there are still many difficulties and bottlenecks that need to be overcome in order to improve the quality of postgraduate education.
▲in april, a job fair was held at chongqing technology and business university, with job requirements covering all disciplines and academic levels of the university. photo by guo xu/visual chongqing
in the face of public concerns, how to balance quantity and quality in graduate education in universities has become a must-answer question, which requires all parties in the education chain to form effective ideas and solutions and answer it together.
the education sector should take the lead in increasing investment in educational resources and promoting both the quantity and quality of postgraduate training.in 2020, the ministry of education and other ministries and commissions issued the "opinions on accelerating the reform and development of postgraduate education in the new era", proposing to "preliminarily build a strong country in postgraduate education with chinese characteristics by 2035".
this requires that while steadily expanding the scale of graduate students, we increase corresponding investment in educational resources, continuously improve the graduate education system and mechanism, concentrate resources to create a better research environment, build more high-level research universities, and allow more young students who are interested in pursuing further studies to not only gain higher academic qualifications, but also learn real skills.
universities should also respect the laws of education and keep a close eye on the entry and exit of graduate education.as for "entry", colleges and universities should ensure that the scale of graduate student enrollment and training matches their own school-running capabilities and academic characteristics. we must restrain the "political performance impulse" of pursuing scale expansion unilaterally, and we must not neglect undergraduate education and squeeze out the "water" and "bubble" in higher education.
in terms of "output", universities need to continuously optimize graduate training programs, innovate training models, strengthen the tutor team, establish a diversified evaluation system, and cultivate and export more innovative talents to society. at the same time, universities should also actively open up employment channels for students, help students clarify their career directions, master job-hunting skills, and use high-quality employment to solve students' employment pressure.
parents and students need to look at the "undergraduate-graduate upside down" rationally and establish a more scientific view of education and employment.for example, undergraduates should develop scientific study and career plans based on their own strengths and objective conditions, and avoid falling into the trap of "academic anxiety". whether it is to continue to study in the "ivory tower" or to accumulate experience through work practice in the "university" of society, the path that suits you is the best path.
students who are interested in further study and improvement should also seize the opportunity of the expansion of graduate enrollment, adhere to their ideals and beliefs on the road to study, and solidly improve their scientific research and practical abilities. only by constantly enhancing their comprehensive competitiveness can the "gold content" of this learning experience be fundamentally improved.
only by reducing the breeding of anxiety and the erosion of utilitarianism, and allowing graduate students to truly calm down and study, can higher education stay true to its original intention and embark on the track of sustainable development.
