Supporters: "Over-education" wastes talents, which has something to do with the expansion of college enrollment and employment pressure.
According to Liu Jinju's research, the over-education rate in China rose from 7% in 1990 to 12% in 2000, and then to 28% in 20 10. The growth rate in the past decade has greatly exceeded that in the previous decade. The over-education rate in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai is much higher than that in other regions. This study is mainly measured from an objective point of view, that is, the matching degree between education and occupation. If the education level of the respondents exceeds the average education level, the respondents consider themselves over-educated, and vice versa. It is found that China has far more over-education than the United States, with the highest number of senior high schools and undergraduate courses, and the largest number of foreign enterprises and state-owned enterprises.
The enrollment expansion of colleges and universities has fulfilled many people's college dreams, but it also makes these college students face severe employment problems after graduation. Because the growth rate of jobs is much lower than that of college graduates. Faced with severe employment pressure, many college students can only adopt the strategy of "curve employment", either responding to the government's call to work at the grassroots level, or choosing a job whose job requirements are far below their ability, and choosing a job first. This makes a large part of college graduates "over-educated". (Duane: "The over-education rate of undergraduate education in China exceeds 90%, leading to over-education or severe depression", Guangzhou Daily)
Many employers casually raise the recruitment threshold. Even sanitation workers who dig excrement in cities, some local authorities require undergraduate or even graduate degrees, which also promotes the emergence of over-education to some extent. It is common for undergraduates to find jobs, which forces some people to study hard for graduate students and want to find a good job with a shining high degree, which has become an important motivation for over-education. (Qian Guilin: "Overeducation is not a blessing for the country and the people", Red Net)
Liu Zhenhua, Ph.D. in Education at Beijing Normal University, explained to the reporter of People's Eye: "The so-called' personal education level exceeds the level required by the job' is actually a superficial high degree, but as far as my learning ability is concerned, its actual level is not necessarily high. Some students who can only go to junior college have already been admitted to two or one. " ("Over-education, where is" over-education "?" , People's Network-Literature and History Channel)
Learning is useless, it is difficult for people to do their best, and it is by no means a blessing to the country and individuals. Serious over-education is a waste of talents. A normalized society, a rational society, should not appear. People's livelihood is no small matter. Relevant departments should really pay attention to the phenomenon of over-education in China and put forward countermeasures. (Qian Guilin: "Overeducation is not a blessing for the country and the people", Red Net)
Excessive academic qualifications will not only bring personal troubles, but also mean a waste of educational resources. If this becomes a common phenomenon in society, it is likely to bring about the depreciation of academic qualifications, but it will hurt the development of education. (Yu: "Out of the Dilemma of" Overqualified ",Morning News)
Do the opposite: the problem of education is not "excessive" but "insufficient"
Professor Cheng of China Renmin University objected to Liu Jinju's research conclusion. He thinks that over-education is a false proposition. He said, "It is far-fetched to over-describe the whole educational ecology. At present, the problem of education in China is "insufficient" rather than "excessive". Our innovative talents and high-tech talents are still scarce and should be cultivated vigorously. Excessive feelings often come from individuals, which is a personal response to the difference between hope and reality. In the short term, some individuals may have a large investment in education and a small output, but it is not the mainstream. " (Yao: Overeducation is a False Proposition, Guangming Daily)
In the underdeveloped areas of China, there is a shortage of human resources. Not to mention those national poverty-stricken counties, even many third-and fourth-tier cities, spending a lot of money may not attract satisfactory talents. This situation is obviously a problem of "insufficient education". In recent years, the state and local governments have issued many policies, trying to attract talents from first-tier cities to underdeveloped areas in order to achieve the effect of shifting peaks and filling valleys. However, from the actual situation, this adjustment is still a long way from the ideal goal. Therefore, China's so-called over-education phenomenon is not necessarily the true face of the problem, but just a consequence of the disorder of personnel training, employment and mobility. (Yu: "Out of the Dilemma of" Overqualified ",Morning News)
Over-education or not, we can't just look at the immediate "employment"
Hong, a professor at the Institute of Higher Education of Beijing Normal University, pointed out: "Higher education is complicated, not a pure personal capital. On the one hand, it is input, on the other hand, it is return. If the return is linked to employment again, then the academic qualifications are bound to be narrow: finding a job is not excessive, and vice versa. In this way, higher education has been significantly simplified. " (Yao: "A research result sparked a heated discussion. Is education really excessive? " , Guangming Daily)
Sina netizen "Mosquito-Buzz": There is no so-called over-education. A person who has worked in a post all his life should still be very few. We should look at this problem from the perspective of development. For example, there are two front desk customers, one graduated from undergraduate and the other from high school. At this time, you may say that undergraduate education belongs to over-education, but when the opportunity of promotion to supervisor comes, undergraduate education should have a greater chance than high school. Is it over-education?
In my opinion, whether education is excessive or not, at least six dimensions should be considered: the economic affordability of different families, the educational needs of parents and students, the development trend of education, the current situation of economic development, the demand for national talents and the future employment trend. Simply analyzing some of these factors, the final conclusion may be only one-sided. While studying educational phenomena, every educational researcher should observe and think about educational phenomena from different angles, put forward assumptions with a rigorous attitude, and prove whether the assumptions are established with data and facts, thus enlightening readers and actors. (Liu Huagui: "Excessive or insufficient education is just a matter of perspective", Dandelion Review Network)
The essence of the dispute between "surplus" and "shortage" is to explore how to cultivate talents needed by society.
The dispute between surplus and shortage, seemingly contradictory, is essentially about how to train talents to meet the needs of society, that is, how to adjust the content and structure of talent training. Many times, the "low" employment with high academic qualifications is just a form of over-education. Whether the discussion is over-education in essence depends on the actual content of education, or whether the ability of talents really exceeds the post demand. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust from two aspects: school education and talent market.
Lu, a professor and doctoral supervisor at South China Normal University, believes that in order to completely eradicate the negative impact of "over-education", we must first change the educational structure of our country-open multiple exits in the stages of senior high school entrance examination and college entrance examination, and guide some students to enter vocational education in batches, thus changing the social discrimination and prejudice against vocational education; Secondly, it is necessary to change the assessment system of the education system and guide colleges and universities to take a pragmatic road. The feasible premise of this method is to solve the understanding that "high level" is not equal to "high level", and low-level schools can also run high levels. ("Over-education, where is" over-education "?" , People's Network-Literature and History Channel)
To fundamentally solve the current relationship between higher education and job market, it should not be a single-track system of higher education reform, but a dual-track system of education and market reform. In the past, the education reform only changed the education system itself, ignoring the market demand, making education unable to meet the market demand, and there was an obvious shortage of innovative talents. The reform of the market also needs to be further deepened to further release the potential of the market and provide various outlets for education and talent cultivation. Only by realizing the interaction between education and market can we really solve the employment difficulties and various problems caused by it. Wang: Is it "over-education" or insufficient interaction between education and the market? ",Dandelion Review Network)
The so-called "excessive" or "insufficient" education may specifically refer to higher education. For us in the information age, lifelong learning is a compulsory course. In school education, we need to learn the method of lifelong learning and have the ability of lifelong learning, so that we can constantly update our knowledge in a social university without walls and gain a lot of ability to meet the future world. (Liu Huagui: "Excessive or insufficient education is just a matter of perspective", Dandelion Review Network)
Conclusion Scholars are red-faced with "excessive" or "insufficient" education. It may be difficult to reach a consensus, but the significance lies in reminding or enlightening educational decision makers and people in the industry that school education cannot train people behind closed doors. Of course, it is also a question whether we always stare at the temporary "social needs".