Op-Ed Contributors

Steer clear of popular subjects of trouble

By Xue Yong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-08 10:37

Beijing Graduates Employment Report 2009 shows law and business administration majors are first and second on the college graduate unemployment list. In fact, majors in the five most popular subjects top the list.

This makes what I have been saying for years all the more important: We should promote liberal education in colleges and students should stop chasing so-called popular subjects.

Since higher education in China is becoming market-oriented, pragmatic majors have become more popular. Such is the demand for law, business administration and information management that only students with high scores in the National College Entrance Exam get the chance to major in them.

A student should choose a field of study that would really benefit him/her. But people today seem to have forgotten that college education is about improving the overall quality of a person, not just helping him/her find a (good) job.

An undergraduate course lasts four years. But in today's fast-changing world, the knowledge a student acquires in college could become less suited - or even obsolete - for jobs in four years.

A famous CEO who studied liberal arts at Yale University once said companies would have to be reconstructed almost every five years in this ever-changing world, because majors in specific subjects may not be able to adapt to the continuous change.

On the other hand, people with systematic liberal arts training can develop a broader vision and better understand and integrate information. They are more likely to be able to take on unexpected challenges. The Yale alumnus said the key to successful education is teaching students how to cope with any change. But the knowledge our students acquire while studying some specialty subjects like law and management is far from satisfactory.

For years I've been saying law be made a post-graduate subject, because as a social science it helps settle disputes - and to do that a person needs to understand reality. Since most of our law graduates can't meet the requirements of practical work, it is not surprising to see them struggle to get a job. So rather than blaming the subjects they chose, they should do some self introspection.

Many students decide to study a subject not because they are interested in it but because they think it will help them get a good job. This utilitarian approach forces them to sacrifice the most valuable trait of higher education: idealism.To become a successful person or leader, youngsters should get rid of trivialities. Instead, they should think about the future of the world and the human race. Idealism in today's materialistic world may seem like an over-ambitious trait, but actually it's a quality essential to successful people. Idealist people will always think how to serve society better, their contributions to society are likely to be greater and they are more likely to gain social recognition. Such people have good leadership qualities and farsightedness, and think about society beyond their personal interest.

Unfortunately, China's higher education system does not encourage students to develop such qualities. It is somewhat pathetic to see almost all students who shine at the National College Entrance Exam make a beeline for colleges that specialize in management.

Every year we see youths abandon their ideals and choose popular majors only to get a good job. It may be ironic that graduates who excel in popular subjects suffer the most when the job market shrinks, but then such people face the real risk of unemployment in times of financial crisis. To solve this problem, we have to change our concept of higher education and our expectations from it.