Zhang Xuefeng is embarrassed!The number of graduate students in 2024 will drop for the first time!
Today, the number of applicants for the 2024 National Master's Admission Examination has dropped to 4.38 million, a decrease of 360,000 from 4.74 million in the previous year, which is the first time since 2015 that the number of applicants has shown a downward trend in eight years. This news once again embarrassed Zhang Xuefeng, who was in the focus of attention. Prior to this, the high school entrance examination fever has lasted for many years, especially during the epidemic, the number of high school entrance examinations has grown explosively, jumping directly from 3 million to 4 million, and it will reach a peak of 4.74 million in 2023. Many institutions and individuals** will exceed the 5 million mark in 2024. This year, however, the situation was unexpected: instead of continuing to grow, the number of people taking the exam showed a downward trend.
In analysing the reasons for the decline in the number of applicants, it has been suggested that the continued decline in the cost-effectiveness of postgraduate Xi is one of the main reasons. In fact, the battle for graduate school has been fierce. The growth rate of graduate admissions units has not kept pace with the growth rate of the number of applicants, resulting in a large number of candidates from World War II, World War III, and even World War IV and World War 5. In addition, there are phenomena such as the so-called"Backward exam", that is, choose a level below the degree level of the school. Exams are an unpredictable test for candidates, and success or failure is full of unknowns. In this case, many people would rather work as soon as possible, but now many college students have a relatively high chance of finding a job, and it is more realistic to find a job. In addition, since it takes time and money to go to college, many people have lower expectations for finding a job after graduation.
On the other hand, according to Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Education Sciences, employment is one of the main factors affecting the decline in the number of graduate students. For many college students, if they can find a job, they will definitely prefer to work as soon as possible, which is more realistic than going to graduate school. In addition, more and more people are realizing that the time and financial costs of finding a job after graduate school are relatively high.
At the same time, Hong Hao, president of the Digital Economy Association, expressed his opinion on his personal account that young people have already begun"Awakening"The main purpose of measuring academic qualifications is to find a job. From different perspectives in society, the main purpose of further education is to find a job. In recent years, most of the positions in various places have been recruited and transferred, as well as the open competition of fresh graduates and graduate students. Therefore, in recent years, the phenomenon of pragmatism has also emerged in graduate student fever, just for"Go ashore", do not seek prestigious schools. This also leads to:"Double non"The number of applicants for colleges and universities remains high year after year, and students pass this"Flashy"to obtain a graduate degree and then enter the system. However, the number of graduates has been increasing in recent years, with a mix of old and new graduates, which, combined with the impact of the pandemic, has made young people aware of it"Iron rice bowl"The number of applicants for the civil service examination has further increased. The upcoming 2024 National Public Examination*** will have a record number of 2.94 million applicants. On Little Red Book, with"Graduate students can't find a job"The number of search-related posts reached 3.2 million. Even if I was successfully admitted to graduate school, I still couldn't find a job. If you want to enter the system, considering the current difficulty of public service, it may take several years to prepare for the exam full-time, from the postgraduate entrance examination to the civil service position, there are too many uncertainties during the period, the time cost is too high, and it is not suitable for everyone.
The article emphasizes that academic qualifications are only a means to an end. In the past, people used academic qualifications to get a good job, but nowadays academic qualifications are no longer the only determining factor. However, many people still insist"Education"is the only secret to getting a job. However, some phenomena have also exposed some characteristics, such as in the recruitment of oil, tobacco, and power companies, there are very few graduates from prestigious universities, while there are more graduates from some unknown universities. There are also some returnees from prestigious universities in the traditional sense who have master's or even doctoral degrees, and do not hesitate to work as temporary workers in order to enter the system. This shows that the cold law of the market economy only obeys the distribution mechanism under the objective law, and although academic qualifications are cultural capital, they are no longer scarce monopoly capital.
In this era, talent development and training will come in different forms. However, due to habitual thinking and dependence on social cognition,"Roll up the cover"There are still many people looking for work. However, as the number of job seekers decreases, there are more and more people with pragmatic visions. Finally, the article points out that we should focus on practical work, rather than obsessing over academic qualifications, and explore skills education. As China's economy transforms, it will also enter a society that values skilled labor in the future. Rather than pursuing academic qualifications, it is better to develop practical skills and improve competitiveness. As for the downward trend in the number of exams, we can understand that young people are beginning to think rationally, re-examine their own development paths, and choose the career and education path that suits them, rather than blindly following the trend. This is undoubtedly a positive change and a sign of social progress.