Leng: There are only three people, which is the total number of undergraduate graduates from the philosophy department of Zhejiang University this year;
Popular: 20 10, more than 60,000 people applied for China Academy of Fine Arts, and the admission rate was less than 3%; This year, the school opened online registration, and the number of applicants was about 654.38+million, reaching a new peak.
The weather for enrollment, as the saying goes, is sunrise in the east and rain in the west. The art major here is thriving, the weather is warm and sunny, and it is a prosperous scene. In that carriage, the cold wind of philosophy specialty is rustling, and the autumn rain is falling, adding a bit of chill.
The temperature difference between hot and cold in university majors is accelerating today with more and more freedom of choice. Will the unpopular major keep cold, or turn cold into hot; Is the popularity of hot majors unable to drop, or is it difficult to get rid of deficiency heat? What kind of social mentality is reflected behind cold and hot? What kind of warning does the contrast between cold and hot give to higher education in China?
cold
"Although there are only three people, this is a victory for the philosophy department!" Professor Dong Ping, head of the philosophy department of Zhejiang University, said.
Of the more than 5,000 undergraduate graduates from Zhejiang University this year, only three are from the philosophy department, only110 in previous years. For a time, the philosophy major was like a dead branch in the autumn wind (Weibo), and the chill was pressing.
As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused a lot of discussion. There are sighers: philosophy has no practical use and is no longer popular; There are some questioners: Have we developed too fast and lost our philosophy? There are some suggestions: we must change the brand of "weak discipline" in philosophy. ...
Philosophy, is it really in deep trouble?
Choose your own major, and the "Big Three Philosophy" will stay.
"They are all students who volunteer to study philosophy, and there is no' philosophy' component." Dong Ping said that there were about 30 undergraduate graduates from Zhejiang University's philosophy department before, but most of them were transferred to the philosophy department because of "obedience to distribution". This "matchmaking" often leads to students' dissatisfaction and poor teaching quality.
Since 2007, Zhejiang University has enrolled students according to departments such as humanities, social sciences, science, engineering, information technology, agriculture and medicine. After more than a year's general education, students in the humanities college can choose their own professional direction, such as journalism, history, philosophy and so on, and three of them have applied for the philosophy department.
Hui Chunshou, the first student who enrolled in the philosophy department at that time, said: "When I first entered the university, I didn't have a clear professional intention. When I was in general education philosophy, I found that I was very interested in philosophy, so I firmly believed that I should study philosophy. "
"Philosophy Big Three" has since become a proper term to describe them in the school forum. After graduation, among the Big Three, 1 was recommended to graduate students in philosophy department of our university, and the other two were recommended to graduate students in philosophy departments of other universities.
"Except for 2007, the number of students in the next four sessions will remain at around 10, which tends to be stable, truly reflecting the current enrollment situation of philosophy department." Dong Ping told reporters that with the increasing utilitarianism of college students' job hunting, humanities and social sciences represented by philosophy are called "unpopular majors", and the number of students enrolled has been limited.
It is not easy to choose philosophy, because interest is subordinate to employment.
Choose the ideal or the way out? This problem puzzles many students and parents.
"It is not easy to find a job for an undergraduate, but it will be better after finishing graduate school." Sheng Ning, a graduate student in the philosophy department of Zhejiang University, said that the usual development path of philosophy students is: after graduating from undergraduate courses, they will continue their studies, study and study again, and finally become college teachers or enter social science research units.
In 2009, Zhejiang Gongshang University planned to build a comprehensive university and build a new philosophy department, becoming the second university in Zhejiang with a philosophy department. Most of the first batch of 18 students are transferred, and their professional employment prospects are not optimistic.
Song Daofa, head of the philosophy department of Zhejiang Gongshang University, is somewhat helpless: "There is almost no direct counterpart in the philosophy department, and it can only compete with Chinese, journalism and other majors."
Comparatively speaking, the employment advantages of engineering students are more obvious. According to "20 1 1 China University Student Employment Report" released in early June this year, the major with the highest employment rate after half a year of graduation of class 20 10 is engineering (93.3%), and the lowest is law (86.7%). The monthly income of engineering graduates reached 2953 yuan after half a year's graduation, second only to economics.
"Now the employment pressure is so great that it is easy to find a job when studying engineering." Aunt Li, who lives in Hangzhou Middle School, said that when he volunteered this summer, his son who loved philosophy since childhood finally entered the engineering class of Zhejiang University.
Interest is subordinate to employment, and students and parents finally vote for popular majors such as finance and architecture. Dong Ping believes that the proliferation of utilitarianism has affected the professional orientation, and the phenomenon of hot and cold majors is getting worse.
Find the right position, philosophy can also become "hot"
Will people really stay away from philosophy and give up philosophy? That was not the case.
"What you really like can be learned and used." Li Fengze, a philosophy student in Wenzhou, said that although his family was in business, they didn't force themselves to study economics and management. Li Fengze, on the other hand, saw the characteristics of "hard work" in China's modern philosophical figures, which stimulated his interest in business.
He said that many families in Wenzhou are now "rich and polite" and send their children who have just reached school age to Taihu University Hall founded by scholar Nan for enlightenment education.
Another interesting phenomenon is that many graduate students in the humanities are now from science and engineering majors, and the number is relatively sufficient, which is in contrast to the number of undergraduate students. After mature thinking and independent will, there will still be many people who are willing to choose to "look up at the stars and examine their hearts." Humanities and science and engineering complement each other and can cultivate more excellent comprehensive talents.
Universities are also trying to explore. Nankai University began to explore the enrollment mode of philosophy department in 2009, held a philosophy summer camp to eliminate middle school students' misunderstanding of philosophy, and arranged a series of simple lectures on aesthetics and logic to let students feel the wisdom and beauty of philosophy.
In order to encourage students to choose majors according to their interests, Zhejiang University plans to further promote the teaching reform of large-scale enrollment. Jin Chen, Executive Dean of the Undergraduate College of Zhejiang University, said: "The school protects literature, history, philosophy, mechanics, geography, geology and other majors, and even if there is only one candidate, classes will still be held."
Professor Xiong Bingqi of Shanghai Jiaotong University said: "At present, the fundamental reason for the hot and cold of this major is the administrative management of the school, and many colleges and universities do not follow the educational laws. Some popular majors are not really' hot' in employment. The so-called hot majors are hastily set up, which leads to the imbalance of employment structure, or the blind expansion of discipline construction, which leads to the unqualified professional ability of students and makes a large number of graduates unable to find jobs. Colleges and universities still need to find their own position, each with its own emphasis, and make basic disciplines such as philosophy a unique' hot spot'. "
hot
"In 20 10, we planned to enroll 1600 students, but the number of applicants exceeded 60,000, and the admission rate was less than 3%. The art test should be registered rationally. " Talking about the growing "art test fever" in recent years, Professor Li, director of the Admissions Office of China Academy of Fine Arts, reminded candidates.
The art test began to be "hot" around 2000, and reached its peak in Zhejiang in 2007 and 2008. It is understood that the enrollment scale of art majors in some comprehensive universities has stabilized. Nevertheless, 20 1 1, the number of art candidates in Zhejiang Province still exceeds 30,000.
Do so many people really like art? Does the art industry need so many graduates?
Reading art, one college at the third line.
The enrollment staff of China Academy of Fine Arts still remember the fiery enrollment scene of that year: as early as 2004, the number of candidates in the Academy of Fine Arts soared from about 1 10,000 in previous years to more than 40,000. At that time, the staff of the Admissions Office originally planned to register for three days. As a result, at the end of the first day, all the registration materials were swept away.
Teacher Cai, who has been engaged in college enrollment for a long time, said: "In addition to interest, some candidates take the art professional exam as a springboard for the college entrance examination and get three scores to go to a school."
It is understood that this year, the score of Zhejiang University of Technology's radio and television art is 43 1, and the score of ordinary candidates is 58 1. Many candidates and parents value the "welfare" of the difference.
Wang is a junior majoring in landscape design at Zhejiang Gongshang University. Recalling the experience of the art test in that year, he said: "I didn't get good grades in English, so I definitely couldn't get two." I had to become a monk halfway and finally got one. "
"There are also some parents and students who think that the design major is practical and good for employment." Wang Fuqiang, secretary of the Party Committee of Art College of Zhejiang Gongshang University, said that a famous student must study environmental art design, because his parents heard that the employment rate of environmental art design was 1 1,000% for three consecutive years, and they were not worried about finding a job.
In addition, the popularity of some TV talent shows, including the rising income of stars, has also prompted some candidates to dream of becoming stars and embark on the road of art examination.
Professor Peng, who offers broadcasting and hosting courses at Zhejiang University of Technology, said, "The reason why candidates are keen on broadcasting, performance and other majors is that hosting and other professions are dazzling and glamorous; Second, there is no need to have a deep professional foundation like pure art majors such as art and music, and' jump to it'. "
Looking for a job, many art majors were given red cards.
For Art Candidates, it has become a universal law to attend various "crash training courses". "If you sharpen your knife, you have to shine.".
However, it is difficult for trained students to get high marks. What we want to train is the future host, and we value the potential, not the simple skills. Peng said that even if candidates muddle through, their professional ability is still difficult when they graduate because of their weak foundation, which will affect their long-term development.
This kind of blind application, learning without proficiency, is also obvious in other art majors. According to "20 1 1 China University Student Employment Report", animation major ranks as one of the undergraduate employment red card warning majors. According to the enterprises surveyed, there is a big talent gap in the animation industry, but recent graduates of animation major are often incompetent in practical ability.
According to "20 1 1 Employment Report for College Students" and "201Blue Book on Employment", the major with the highest unemployment rate after graduation of the 20th10 for half a year is fine arts (15.6%), followed by music (. These two "beautiful-looking" majors have been oversupplied in recent years.
"At first, everyone in our class was looking for a job with the ideal of making music, and as a result, they hit a wall everywhere." Xiao Zhang, who graduated from the Music Department of a vocational college in Hangzhou, said that after four or five months of searching for a job, there was no result, so he had to give up his music dream and work as a secretary in a company.
Because the fees of art majors are twice as high as other majors on average, some colleges and universities blindly expand their enrollment in order to generate income, and teachers and other teaching resources can't keep up. The cultivation process of "cutting corners" has also contributed to the employment difficulties of art students on the other hand.
"Especially in the second-class colleges such as local colleges and normal colleges, art majors are over-enrolled, and graduates can't find jobs." Peng said to him.
Under the appearance of the great prosperity of art majors, some art departments are "unpopular", which leads to another kind of thinking. This year, there are more than 20,000 design candidates in China Academy of Fine Arts, while the Department of Traditional Chinese Painting has only 100. "Due to the high basic requirements of traditional pure art majors such as Chinese painting and sculpture, the employment direction is single, and the number and quality of students are declining year by year. How to solve the enrollment dilemma of pure art is a professional enrollment dilemma that professional art colleges must face up to. "