Doctoral graduation is difficult, “green pepper “promotion is difficult, the task of scientific research is large, the job market does not see, a considerable part of the “green pepper “caught in the” go also difficult, stay also difficult ” in the dilemma. Some young teachers even said that the school’s new performance system “emphasizes administration over research ” “examination time and examination time overlap Some young teachers even said that the new performance system of the university “emphasizes administration over research” and “exam time overlaps with research time”, resulting in teachers’ salaries being much lower than those of administrative positions.
Li Cheng, a young lecturer at China University of Political Science and Law, took a cab back to school. When the driver saw his young appearance, he casually asked him whether he was a student or a teacher. Li Cheng only had to confess that he was a teacher, and the driver got excited: “University teachers, very profitable, right? “
Li Cheng smiled bitterly: “Not much money, less than 10,000 a month. “
The driver did not believe, “I’m a driver, do you earn two or three times more than you the university professor? “
Li Cheng cried and laughed, and finally took the initiative to show each other his salary record, which shows a monthly salary of more than 7,000 after taxes.
Li Cheng is currently the school’s “teacher postdoctoral “, can also be understood as a lecturer, lecturers are divided into ten levels, more than 6 levels can be promoted to associate professor, Li Cheng “into the industry Li Cheng has been “in the profession” for one and a half years and is currently at the 9th level.
In most people see the appearance and imagination, the university teacher is undoubtedly topped with a halo of occupation, in the “ivory tower “social elite”, with free and flexible time, the pursuit of lofty academic ideals, being “highly respected” “elite class” They are surrounded by “fame and fortune” and other reputations.
However, young teachers who are new to the university are an anomaly among them.
Since 1999, colleges and universities have been undergoing a seven-year expansion, and the size of the teaching force has been expanding rapidly. According to the Ministry of Education, from 1998 to 2003, the number of full-time teachers in ordinary colleges and universities nationwide increased from 407,000 to 725,000.
In recent years, as the tenure system of university teachers gradually replaced the tenure system and other institutional reforms, the scientific research targets and subject tasks of a school fell more on young teachers, intensifying the pressure on the survival of this group.
At present, according to the public data of the Ministry of Education, there are 39 985 universities and 115 211 universities in China, while the number of university teachers reaches more than 1 million, of which young teachers under 40 years old occupy the main part.
The teachers in the stage of teaching and research development mock themselves as “green pepper In 2019, National Governance Weekly conducted a survey on the group of young teachers in colleges and universities, among more than 3,000 respondents, more than half (57.16%) of the young teachers thought their working status basically reached “996”, 12.22% of them 12.22% of them said their work status has been more than “996 The majority (57.16%) of the respondents believe that their work status has basically reached “996”, and 12.22% said that their work status is more than “996”.
It seems that the traditional model of studying for a doctorate, obtaining a teaching position and gradually rising in title may no longer be a smooth path to the end.
On January 22, the Graduate School of Hohai University issued a notice saying that the university had decided to withdraw 125 doctoral students at a special meeting, but because it was difficult to contact these 125 students, the withdrawal decision could not be delivered directly, so it could only be served by announcement.
On January 22, the Graduate School of Hohai University issued a notice saying that according to the Regulations on the Management of Students in General Higher Education Institutions and the Regulations on the Management of Postgraduate Studies of Hohai University, 125 doctoral students were withdrawn from the university on January 14 after a special meeting.
Doctoral graduation is difficult, “green pepper “promotion is difficult, scientific research tasks, the job market does not see, a considerable part of the “green pepper “caught in the “go also difficult, stay also difficult “the dilemma of the situation.
The reporter interviewed a few “green pepper “Almost all of them reached a certain consensus on a feeling: even if you get a university teaching position, or become a symbol of the teaching pass of the “postdoctoral faculty “, rather than meaning the so-called “on shore”, rather than just touching the shore, in the struggle of nearly exhausted breath a little upward, the slightest carelessness may fall into the water, most people still can not swim. .
“Listen to the university teacher lecture, 45 minutes 50 cents “
In August 2020, a scene unheard of in the history of China’s research community emerged: the collective resignation of 90 researchers from the Hefei Institute of Materials Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dissenting arguments and protests were dominated by dissatisfaction with treatment and pay.
In early 2021, dozens of teachers from the Southwest University for Nationalities protested in front of the university against low year-end bonuses and unfair performance, with one professor stating that his final year-end bonus was only $8.
Some young teachers even said that the school’s new performance system “emphasizes administration over research “, “exam time and exam time overlap ” and other drawbacks, resulting in much lower teacher pay than employees in administrative positions.
In 2016, McKeith Research conducted a survey on the salaries of university teachers, who earned an average monthly salary of 5,478 yuan and an annual salary of less than 70,000 yuan. And another survey in 2018 showed that over 30% of teachers had 0 raises in three years, and over 80% of teachers were dissatisfied with their monthly income.
In many people’s imagination, university teachers earn a lot of money for their class time, but in reality, in most schools, young teachers do not have a separate class fee for their classes, and due to their young age and shallow qualifications, they will not have a high status in the whole academic field, and they do not have much opportunity to exchange interviews, hold academic forums and other activities besides teaching salary, so they can only honestly get a meager class time salary.
In addition to studying and preparing for classes, the important work of young professors includes all kinds of school chores, such as managing all the graduate students in the department, serving as academic advisors, attending school meetings, undergraduate course activities, and administrative tasks that crowd out the time used for academics. “But as a young teacher, you have to attend. ” says Dapeng, a 30-year-old young teacher in the information management department of a 985 university in Xi’an.
Dapeng’s daily salary is mainly composed of three major parts: base salary, stipend and performance incentive, and the class fee is counted in the “performance incentive The classroom fee is included in the “performance bonus”. He converted a 45-minute class, he can get 35 yuan, an average of 60-70 people in a class, which is equivalent to only 50 cents per person, you can listen to 45 minutes of class.
“Usually watching people sell their art on the street may pay 5 yuan, listen (I so) a post-doctoral lecture in class for 45 minutes, only 50 cents. “Dapeng bitter laugh.
Zhejiang a second professional college teacher Mu Jie’s monthly income of about 9,000 yuan, six years ago, he bought a house in the city, the monthly payment of 4,000 yuan. In recent years also got married and had a child, childcare items, early childhood classes and family living expenses together, every month “a little carelessness will not be able to make ends meet “.
From 1991 to start school, all the way to post-doctoral, counting, Mu Jie 32 years of life in a total of 18 years of schooling. “There are several 18 years in life? How much is the cost of time in it compared to other jobs? If I go to make money right out of college, how much opportunity cost is there in it? “
He was torn and confused, but finally found that “very often, you can’t count too clearly “. Reading, teaching, work and other options, originally can not be directly compared, when reading becomes the only way, seeking knowledge means only seeking knowledge? Even if you get a glamorous university teaching position, what does the future mean?
What does it mean to be promoted or to leave?
In 2003, Peking University reformed its faculty appointment and promotion system, formally introducing a graded elimination mechanism for faculty members that originated in American colleges and universities, i.e., the “greenhorn The “promotion-or-go” mechanism was introduced in 2003. The “promotion or leave” system: new faculty members no longer have an establishment, but sign a three- or six-year pre-appointment contract with the university, at the end of which the academic committee of the university votes on whether to stay or go. The university’s academic committee will vote on whether to promote those who stay to associate professor, while those who are eliminated will have to leave.
The company’s main goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers. The system of “promotion or leave” has been implemented in at least 34 of the 39 985 universities in China. In fact, the background of the birth and development of this system is the basic situation of excess doctoral students in China, and its purpose is to select the best of the best and pull up the school’s running index.
Behind the harsh hiring system surges pressure and competition that very few people can endure.
When the establishment no longer provides decent and absolute security for university teachers, when the assessment period comes, the winner will win, and if they are eliminated, they face the loss of age, income and many other aspects.
At first, the new system was actually practiced slightly differently in each university. For example, CSU’s “3+3+3+3 ” system: three years as a postdoctoral fellow, three years as a special associate fellow, and then as a special fellow “3+3 “. But even so, the number of young scholars who end up staying on this path is still very small.
“Promote or leave “Another serious consequence of the system is the dilemma of teaching and research and the distance between advancement and retreat.
In the system to form a competitive post atmosphere, the “green pepper “whether they can promote their titles, pass the examination, and ultimately stay in school, the key is no longer the ability to teach, but the number of scientific research results and papers published.
Even if it is the first-class young teachers who have the blueprint of real for governance and professor as the ideal, they may also face the ninth-rate treatment, which further aggravates the survival dilemma of young teachers.
In order to survive, and to retain and screen talents, many college teachers choose to work part-time, and the school explicitly allows or even encourages part-time work.
Compared with science disciplines, the employment options for PhD in liberal arts are narrower and the field channels are more homogeneous. In this regard, Li Cheng considers himself more fortunate, as his major is highly compatible with the market, and it is not difficult to find part-time jobs related to law, and the side business is good to earn.
But other professions such as political economy, history and other fields of doctoral peers, there are not so many options. Either read, or read hard until you get on board. For example, Li Cheng’s peer Shen Fan.
Shen Fan’s major is political economy, which is not very compatible in the job market, except for the academic path, there are almost no direct counterpart part-time and side-job opportunities.
In most cases, it is only a minus rather than a plus in the market. Companies dislike the age of doctoral students and the high salary expectation.
In the whole society in the so-called “35 years old career threshold The invisible pressure of age does not only appear in the workplace when the whole society becomes overwhelmed with anxiety under the baking of the so-called “35 years old career threshold”. “Ivory tower ” within the “ivory tower”, many academic projects for “young teachers ” academic subject projects even directly specify the age, for example, 38 for men and 40 for women.
However, whether it is scientific research or teaching, to excel and to go up a step, many times need time to settle, need depth, breadth or even to wait for some kind of opportunity to come.
“The carp jumped the dragon door, jumped or door “
After graduating with a doctorate, Shen Fan joined a northern university as a lecturer, before that, the school had not yet established a teacher specializing in political economy, so the school hoped that Shen Fan could “fill up” this missing field. Therefore, the school wanted Shen Fan to “fill in” this missing area.
So Shen Fan had to read a lot of original thesis materials every day, including English and Japanese, and it was the norm to soak in books for more than 10 hours a day. “It’s not all about learning for ourselves, more often than not, we do what the school needs us to do. “
In Shen Fan’s opinion, “green peppers ” is also a worker, engineering is academic, engineering is the school, “inside the volume ” the essence of the competition between factory and factory, is the vicious competition of the whole academic education market.
He compared the process from post-doctoral to “green pepper ” process is likened to “carp jumping the dragon gate Before jumping over the dragon gate, doctoral students are fish struggling in the flood, confused about the future, under pressure from peers, and constantly encountering self-doubt and denial on the way to academic pursuit…
However, even after breaking through the barriers and jumping through the “Dragon Gate “, “young teachers are also the weakest group in the teaching force However, even after breaking through the “dragon gate”, “young teachers are the weakest group in the faculty”.
Shen Fan lamented, ” The word ‘research’ is like a sword of Damocles hanging over one’s head, so one cannot take a breath. “The project, funding together, the combined force of the three pressed on the The “green pepper” is a big mountain over their heads.
Some of the topics even indicate the title level of the teachers who can apply when accepting applications, turning away young teachers. This has further caused the “Matthew effect” in the academic circle. This has further created a “Matthew effect” in the academic circle: teachers with high titles can easily apply for high-quality projects, while young teachers who need high-quality projects the most have a hard time getting access to them.
Recently, Dajun, who studied in Japan, was ready to apply for a teaching position at a domestic university, but in his resume, almost only the quality and quantity of C-journal publications could be used as a reference for the university’s evaluation, while other aspects of academic achievements and teaching experience were all erased. “Because the ability to teach is difficult to assess straightforward, especially in the liberal arts, most of the so-called research ability can only be judged based on papers. “
Dajun, who studied at a teacher training school, has been tutoring and working part-time at a training institution since his freshman year, and gradually found himself enjoying the process of teaching. But now, one foot has not yet entered the dragon’s gate, almost to fall on the road with the thesis deadlock.
Dajun was “pretty fast” at writing papers as an undergraduate “But when he studied for his doctorate, he often couldn’t hold a few words all day, and he had more and more complicated criteria in mind, more and more concerns, more and more stumbling, and the pressure was invariably multiplied.
Can a purely academic ideal give him the ability to survive independently in a university? Even if I succeeded in securing a teaching position in a domestic university, would I be able to adapt to a series of reverse elimination rules and enjoy the pure joy of being a teacher?
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