China employment solution: Eliminate degrees

As is the case in a number of countries around the world, China is facing a new, growing problem – too few jobs for too many grads. The country’s solution to the problem? To phase out those majors producing the most unemployable grads.

According to last week’s announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Education, the government will soon begin evaluating college majors by their employment rates. Any programs from which 60% of graduates spend at least two consecutive post-degree years looking for jobs will be downsized or cut out completely.

The plan is meant to solve the problems caused by the country’s recent surge in college grads – a number which jumped nearly 150% since 2000, according the national 2010 census. While this growth is a great accomplishment for the country, it has resulted in a growing number of workers who don’t quite fit into the country’s export-led, manufacturing-based economy.

Yet this new decision is meeting its fair share of resistance – especially among university professors, who fear it will shrink the talent pool needed for various subjects, including biology (ie: subjects currently lacking demand, but which are critical if the country is to succeed in its vision to become a leader in science and technology). On a related note, a recent op-ed in the Beijing News also criticized the approach, saying that it will only encourage schools to falsify employment rates in order to hang on to their more diverse programs (and autonomy).

Although it has not yet been announced which majors will be cut, some universities are already taking steps toward decreasing the size of their programs which result in fewer paid positions. Enrollment in a Russian program at China’s Shenyang Normal University, for example, was reportedly cut to just 25 students this year, down from 50 last year.

As restrictions continue to be tightened and education becomes an increasingly heated topic in China, more and more students are choosing to flee overseas for their higher studies. According to a 2010 report from the Institute of International Education, last year, around 128,000 Chinese students attended universities in the US alone.

Source: “China to Cancel College Majors That Don’t Pay”. China Real Time Report – Wall Street Journal, November 23, 2011. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/11/23/china-to-cancel-college-majors-that-dont-pay/