1、What Is a College Degree Worth in China? Why many Chinese graduates are unable to capitalize on their education, while wages for low-skill workers rise. What the Graduates Go Through Updated December 10, 2010, 05:42 PM We received numerous stories from employers, educators and students on their expe
2、riences with the Chinese education system and its graduates. Here are excerpts of their comments. Chinese vs. Western Graduates My observation from hiring both Chinese and Western graduates is that with Chinese graduates, you get a much better guarantee of someone who will actually work hard at thei
3、r task for 8 hours a day, but, you will need to supervise them and give them a great deal of guidance. With Western graduates, about 75 percent of them are completely useless because they are so undisciplined and lacking in basic knowledge. The remaining 25 percent, however, and pure gold. They atta
4、ck problems creatively, are eager to show you their best and rapidly take to new tasks and challenges. I hope this can point out some of the flaws in the Western education system that challenges the best, but leaves the average students coddled and overly confident in their abilities. J; Beijing Whe
5、n Schools Officials Drive BMWs For seven out of the past ten years Ive taught English and history in China, so I have had a firsthand view of the pros and cons of Chinas education system. Heres a few points I wanted to bring up: 1. Perhaps most important is the huge difference between how Chinese an
6、d Americans value an university education. In China, high school and the gaokao exam scores are the apex of many students education. While the prestige of the university is very important for parents and students, the quality of education that a student receives at university is not always of the gr
7、eatest concern. 2. Many private universities are simply diploma mills. There is little reason to study if you know you will receive your degree regardless of your class performance. In turn, faculty and administrators lack incentive to improve their programs because parents and students often are mo
8、re concerned about receiving a degree than receiving a quality education. 3. There is a degree of economic mismanagement in high schools and universities that would not be tolerated in a developed Western nation. I have heard stories about families bribing teachers and administrators so that their c
9、hildren can receive passing scores. Money is spent on projects beautifying school grounds and for administrators travels, rather than on salaries for the faculty. Also, top school administrators all drive very fancy cars, yet its widely known that their salaries could not possibly permit them to buy
10、 such vehicles. David Straub; Hangzhou, China Poor Academic Records? Just Buy One Many talented Chinese student have had their records stolen and sold to Communist party members, so that the party members children could attend college. So, it doesnt surprise me that the value of the education attain
11、ed doesnt mean much economically. From my experiences working with the Chinese, they dont see any problems taking someones achievement and giving it to someone else. You cant have your cake and eat it, too. Not that the U.S. system is particularly clean and uncorrupted. Its just that it is more diff
12、icult to directly take someones records and sell them since there isnt one test and one set of records that determines everything. Robin; Columbia, Mo Theyre Smart, and They Work Hard I am a chemistry professor at a liberal arts college here in the U.S. I lived in Beijing for 13 months while doing r
13、esearch in nanoscience at one of the institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I worked closely with faculty and graduate students. The students and young college graduates that I came to know work much harder than any of my students here. Their math skills are much higher. Their English readin
14、g comprehension is comparable to that of my students here. And their drive to succeed is much higher than that of my students. Of course, this was in Beijing, and not representative of the entire country. But it is no surprise that U.S. graduate programs are heavily populated with students from Chin
15、a. I love working with these students. The Great Recession struck while I was in Beijing. The students there had more job opportunities than new Ph.D.s here in the U.S. This is still the case. While U.S. companies were downsizing or folding, their intellectual property and scientific equipment was b
16、eing bought up by Chinese capital. Within ten years, the center of the worlds drug industry will not be in the U.S., but in the Pearl River delta. So will the worlds center of green technology, supercomputing, high speed rail, nanotechnology and chemical manufacturing. Where should a new Ph.D. be lo
17、oking for a job now? In ten years time, we will know the answer to that question will be somewhere in China. Jiminoregon; Oregon Bureaucratic and Rigged Teachers are government employees who are paid next to nothing, similar to what nurses, police officers and postal workers are paid. Consequently,
18、except for the blessed few who are committed to education, the other 95 percent of educators in China are just scraping by and have no interest in the job. The curriculum are mandated by bureaucrats, equally lacking in dedication. The system of entrance exams is rigged against the poor, and the rote
19、 memory methodology rewards good memory and cheating. Thinking is not required, memorization is required. A fake degree can be bought on the street corner, and most people lie on their resume about their degrees anyway, further depreciating the value. Having the piece of paper - not the degree - is
20、what employers require. The Human Resources profession is a joke in China, so interview skills on the employer side are a joke as well, and since getting ahead is a function of who you suck up to, not what you are capable of, why should it be a surprise that a degree is worthless? Sinoman; Shenzhen,
21、 China Delayed Adolescence When I studied abroad in China, I had tutors who were startlingly good at what they did, offering tips on how to memorize vocabulary or study for tests. When we went out for drinks though, it was really startling how insulated they were from how the actual world works. Man
22、y middle-class Chinese kids from the city have never worked or held a job until after they finish college. At the Chinese engineering firm I interned at, the engineers acted more like children than serious professionals. Video Games, dating drama and binge drinking have severe effects on their work
23、habits and work ethic.These things affect Western workers too, of course, but honestly, most of us learned how to deal with rejection, getting dumped, getting wasted or playing too many video games in our teenage years. Chinese kids have had no such luxury, and that behavior comes out when they star
24、t working. Starvosk; New York City Why a Degree Is Worth Having I have lived in Shenzhen, the Special Economic Zone north of Hong Kong, for the last ten years. Here, tens of thousands of white-collar jobs at multinationals and big state-run firms are open SOLELY to college/university degree holders.
25、 If you havent got a degree, you cant get an appointment with Human Resources. Period. Entry- level jobs often mean a salary of 500-3,000 yuan ($375-$450), including medical insurance, paid (albeit short!) annual vacation and a 5-6 day workweek. With 3-5 years of work, a lucky white-collar employee
26、can hold a middle-level management job that pays anywhere from 5,000-15,000 yuan ($750-$2,250) a month, plus benefits like kickbacks for favoring a given vendor, etc. I personally know dozens of white-collar workers who now have a mortgage in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, and most of them are unde
27、r 30. A taxi driver in Shenzhen earns around 3,000 yuan ($375) and works 7 days a week. I have spoken with thousands of taxi drivers during my 28-year stay in China, and a good portion of those in Shenzhen have enough money to build a house in their hometown in Hunan, Sichuan or Hubei after 5-7 year
28、s of work. (Of course, 5-7 years of driving a taxi without rest can result in all sorts of long-term illnesses and disability.) A migrant worker in a Shenzhen factory earns 1,000-1,200 yuan a month and works 6-7 days a week. She may well perform the same motions every minute and hour throughout the
29、working day. There are only two ways up in a factory for a female, since almost all management jobs are held by Hong Kong and Taiwanese males: earn a posting in the QA/QC department, or sleep with your manager, a common occurrence in the factories surrounding Shenzhen where there are 7 females (aged
30、 18-22) for every male on the site. Hopefully, this helps explain why the Chinese want to get an university education. Bruce; Shenzhen, China Topics: China, Education, colleges Chinese vs. Western Graduates My observation from hiring both Chinese and Western graduates is that with Chinese graduates,
31、 you get a much better guarantee of someone who will actually work hard at their task for 8 hours a day, but, you will need to supervise them and give them a great deal of guidance. With Western graduates, about 75 percent of them are completely useless because they are so undisciplined and lacking
32、in basic knowledge. The remaining 25 percent, however, and pure gold. They attack problems creatively, are eager to show you their best and rapidly take to new tasks and challenges. I hope this can point out some of the flaws in the Western education system that challenges the best, but leaves the a
33、verage students coddled and overly confident in their abilities. J; Beijing 我非常同意这样一个观察结果。中国学生和年轻职工，在完成一项具体事情上时很能干，可是缺少自我管 理能力，缺少长远眼光。换句话说，中国学生总体上，缺少在 Vision, Mission, and Values 三个方面的真正 思考和训练，而这正是西方所倡导的 Liberal Education 的真正意义。我的个人浅见是，中国的人文教育被 非常庸俗地归 结为一句话：做事先做人。又曰：听话、出活。 “. Perhaps most important
34、is the huge difference between how Chinese and Americans value an university education. In China, high school and the gaokao exam scores are the apex of many students education. While the prestige of the university is very important for parents and students, the quality of education that a student r
35、eceives at university is not always of the greatest concern.“ 这句话说得太对了。中国普通家庭，大体上在子女考上大学后长嘘一口气，自己的孩子在大学里学得什么， 再也很少过问了。直到哪一天，孩子被要求劝退了，家长们又辞工到学校附近来蜗居陪读。 “. There is little reason to study if you know you will receive your degree regardless of your class performance. In turn, faculty and administrators
36、 lack incentive to improve their programs because parents and students often are more concerned about receiving a degree than receiving a quality education.“ 宽进严出在中国几乎成为一个禁忌词，讨论了多少年，还没有见到一个学校真正实施。按道理，从经济的 角度，中国的大学最有可能实现宽进严出，因为财政拨款似乎不会直接与毕业率挂钩，不像北美私立学校， 退掉一个学生，学费马上就没有了。但是优秀的大学仍然知道质量取胜的道理。 “. the othe
37、r 95 percent of educators in China are just scraping by and have no interest in the job. / The curriculum are mandated by bureaucrats, equally lacking in dedication. The system of entrance exams is rigged against the poor, and the rote memory methodology rewards good memory and cheating. Thinking is
38、 not required, memorization is required.“ 教师不敬业；教学大纲受官僚控制，粗编滥造。 “. Having the piece of paper - not the degree - is what employers require. The Human Resources profession is a joke in China highlighted by the blogger, so interview skills on the employer side are a joke as well, and since getting ahead is a function of who you suck up to, not what you are capable of, why should it be a surprise that a degree is worthless?“ 只要你认识人，你就能进去，才不管你有没有能力！ Delayed Adolescence “Many middle-class Chinese kids from the city have never worked or held a job until after they finish college.“ 迟熟品种
