On November 26, at the east gate of Shuguang School in Anyang City, Henan Province, candidates who participated in the written examination of the 2024 annual examination for civil servants recruited by ** organs and their directly affiliated institutions walked out of the examination room. Courtesy of Visual China.
On November 24, Wuhan, 30 days before the countdown to the postgraduate entrance examination, in the library of Hubei University of Commerce and Trade, college students carefully prepared for the exam. Courtesy of Visual China.
On November 18, Fuyang, Anhui Province, the West Lake Campus of Fuyang Normal University, students who were going to graduate school were nervously preparing for the exam. Courtesy of Visual China.
The first degree' is my scar. ”
When Lynch was looking for a job, he listed all the job information he wanted to submit on a **, and in the recruitment requirements column, some positions were clearly marked: "The schools at all academic levels are 'double first-class' construction universities." ”
These positions have nothing to do with Lynch. He studied in a "double non" college in the province as an undergraduate, and "worked hard" to be admitted to "985" on the other side of the city. Lynch thought that he got the script of "counterattack", but he was a little discouraged when he saw these recruitment requirements, "High school shouldn't be 'mixed', and I don't know the importance of a first degree when I look for a job." He reluctantly told reporters, "I feel like I can't make a wrong step." ”
But what puzzled Lynch was that human development is dynamic, and judging the candidate's ability from the "first degree" alone is biased. "Why can't I prove my ability if I succeed in graduate school in a university environment with a more relaxed Xi atmosphere?"”
In 2020, the Communist Party of China issued the "Overall Plan for Deepening the Reform of Educational Evaluation in the New Era", which clearly stated that it is necessary to establish a correct employment orientation. Party and government organs, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises should take the lead in reversing the orientation of employing people from "prestigious schools only" and "academic qualifications only," establish a mechanism for the use of qualified personnel that is guided by moral character and ability and aimed at job needs, change the situation of "high consumption" of qualified personnel, and form a good situation of "reducing talented people without sticking to one pattern."
However, in a survey of 1,000 people released by the Social Research Center of China Youth Daily not long ago, more than eighty percent of the respondents still believed that the importance of "first degree" was excessively exaggerated. The interactive analysis found that the proportion of respondents who agreed with the "first degree" was higher (88).6%, followed by respondents from two universities, accounting for 834%。
Needless to say, the current "first degree" still plays an important role in all kinds of recruitment. In order to get rid of the stigma of "first degree", these students who studied in "double non" colleges and universities began to "save themselves".
Help yourself
To get rid of the shackles of "first degree", the first choice of many "double non" students is to improve their academic qualifications, and they enter higher evaluation institutions through postgraduate examinations, hoping to use the "highest degree" to close the gap.
Lynch studied an engineering major, and most of the seniors in his undergraduate colleges chose to enter factories after graduation, "saying that they are technical jobs, but in fact they are manual jobs." Students from the "double first-class" universities who also study in this major have more diverse choices after graduation, "most of them will go on to higher education, and some of the better ones can directly enter the graduate school to work."
Some scholars believe that students studying in prestigious universities enjoy better teachers and richer scientific research resources from the beginning of their undergraduate studies, which can help students obtain more social capital, improve the quality of talent training, and thus obtain higher social recognition.
Lynch remembers that it was difficult for him to find practical Xi during his undergraduate years, and almost every time an interviewer would ask him this question: "Your school may be weak compared to other students, so what do you think are your outstanding strengths that can make up for your shortcomings?"”
Although Lynch assesses that his professional ability is not weak, the objective recruitment requirements indicate that his only choice to get a "decent" good job is to go to graduate school.
Li Wei, a doctoral student at Northeast Normal University, and Wu Zhihui, a professor at Northeast Normal University, conducted an online ethnographic investigation on the academic dilemma and "self-help" practice of "Erben students", and they found that the word "postgraduate entrance examination" occupies the top of the high-frequency word list of the group posts of the "Erben Student Self-help Association" on Douban.com. "By being admitted to the graduate school of elite universities, the dual improvement of the academic level and the school level has become the primary way for the 'second student' to get rid of the 'original sin' of academic qualifications. However, they also pointed out that as the number of graduate students increases year by year, it is significantly more difficult to get into graduate students at prestigious universities.
For Lynch, the most difficult part of the graduate school entrance examination is to fight against the loose Xi atmosphere in the school, "the classroom is very watery, the teacher is reading PPT most of the time, the students below are playing with their mobile phones, and not many people are studying Xi", during college, most of Lynch's professional courses need to rely on online classes to make up classes, and he will go to the "985" university in the same city every week to "rub lectures". Except for late at night, there is no quiet moment in the dormitory, but there is no need to grab the location of the library. In his opinion, compared with the college entrance examination where thousands of troops crossed a single-plank bridge, the graduate school entrance examination is more like walking alone in a dark tunnel, and there are no comrades-in-arms who fight side by side.
In order to calm down and study Xi, Lynch lived in a graduate dormitory and established a strict schedule of work and rest. The major he wants to take the exam has previously expanded a group of students who are guaranteed to graduate school, and there are not many "pits" left for graduate students, "last year's admission score line increased by 20 points compared with previous years", at that time, he was flipping through the ** and notes of the "double non" seniors on the social ** on the postgraduate entrance examination, looking for experience and encouragement, and looking forward to his success in the counterattack after half a year.
Even if you are admitted to graduate school, it is not known whether your job search will be affected by the first degree, and relatively speaking, the requirements for the first degree are not so strict. This is another "self-help" exam, and Zhang Weixin, a financial management major, regards working in the system as a sign of his success on the shore.
As long as the resume is screened, basically no one will ask about academic qualifications in the follow-up process, and the "structured interview" of the examination gives Zhang Weixin a "sense of security".
Zhang Weixin remembered that he participated in a practical Xi interview, and when the interviewer asked him what he thought of his "second book" identity, he was speechless for a while, and then began to list the certificates he had obtained in college and the practical Xi he had attended. "In fact, there are not many people who really enter the second college because of the abnormal performance of the college entrance examination, and I did go to college before I began to awaken to be responsible for my own life. ”
Li Wei and Wu Zhihui found in their research that in order to stand out in the graduate school entrance examination, examination and job search competition, many "Erben" students accumulate experience by participating in various extracurricular activities and corporate Xi. By obtaining various certificates (including CET-4 or CET-6, teacher qualification certificates, Putonghua certificates, etc.), the ability is "symbolized". One interviewee said: "In this way, when you are going to graduate school, taking the editing exam, studying abroad or looking for a job, you can leave the impression that 'although you are a second book, you are very self-motivated'." ”
Grading
As a computer science student with an undergraduate degree and a master's degree at a "211" university, Qin Yang didn't feel that he had encountered discrimination in recruitment at first. Currently, he works in a major Internet company in China.
As long as you have the highest academic qualifications, you will pass the threshold of the initial screening of resumes, and then you will look at the technology. Qin Yang had a very prominent feeling when looking for a job interview, "They need someone who can 'get started' immediately." "Therefore, Xi experience is a more important screening criterion than academic qualifications.
During his graduate studies, Qin Yang entered the Xi of a leading Internet company under the introduction of his seniors, and in his opinion, this practical Xi experience carries much more weight on his resume than the "first degree".
But soon, Qin Yang noticed something different. Through the difference in salary of the same position, the applicants of Internet companies divide the level of the offer letter from low to high on the social platform into "cabbage (ordinary recruitment), SP (special offer) and SSP (super special offer)", with the salary of "cabbage" being the lowest and the salary of "SSP" being the highest, "In some large factories, the gap between the monthly salary of the two is 4,000 yuan." Qin Yang took the "cabbage price", and his classmates who graduated from the same university as him as a graduate student but also studied in this institution got "SP", and their monthly salary was 2,000 yuan more than his. Qin Yang said helplessly: "Maybe I don't think I have enough potential." ”
At present, an HR working in the factory told reporters that for the recruitment of technical positions, the first consideration is personal ability, "we will not recruit a person who has no education but can't do the job", but if both parties have the same technical level, "the 'first degree' and 'highest education' will indeed become a reference for the company to evaluate the salary."
For non-technical positions in school recruitment, the hierarchical division of "first degree" is more stringent. "Compared with technical positions, personnel, operations and other positions will pay more attention to the gold content of the applicant's academic qualifications at all levels." The HR observed that the vast majority of the fresh graduates recruited by the human resources department this year are studying in "985" universities, and some are graduates of famous overseas universities.
Wang Qin, a journalism and communication major, learned when she first entered the undergraduate program that the pattern of "the People's Congress in the north, Fudan in the south, and the Chinese Communication" has been around for a long time. She entered one of these universities through graduate school, and during her master's degree, she "desperately" participated in various professional Xi, hoping to find a good job when she graduated.
When she graduated with a master's degree, she already had practical Xi experience in finance and economics**, Internet companies and film festivals, and felt that she had done her best, but when she recruited in the fall, many of her classmates could pass the initial screening of resumes from Internet companies, but she couldn't pass, which made her feel a little frustrated.
The above-mentioned HR admits that candidates have the psychological feeling that "the company excessively amplifies the importance of 'first degree'" in the recruitment process, mainly because of the limited release of positions in recent years, and the competitive pressure of candidates has increased. "In the case of similar personal ability and job adaptability, the 'first degree' must be referenced. ”
This phenomenon of grading pre-qualifications not only occurs in corporate recruitment, but also often faces discrimination against pre-qualifications of "gold, silver and master, and bronze doctorate" when applying for university teachers. Even if both master's and doctoral degrees are studied in top universities, they may still face the problem of "bachelor's degree stuck", that is, they cannot get the opportunity to interview for a teaching position in a prestigious university because they graduated from a local ordinary university.
This year, an empirical study by the Institute of Educational Economics of Peking University also shows that the differences in academic career acquisition between "Jinben", "Yinshuo" and "Tongbo" reflect the discrimination of pre-academic qualifications to a certain extent. In the case of similar scientific research publication strength during the study period, the probability of "Tongbo" choosing a non-formal teaching position (postdoctoral fellow) is the highest, and the probability of "Jinben" obtaining a formal teaching position in a high-level university is significantly higher. In the humanities and social sciences majors, the chances of obtaining a formal teaching position at a high-level university are significantly higher.
This means that when doctoral graduates seek academic careers, regardless of whether there is a difference in scientific research ability, "copper doctorate" is in a disadvantageous position, and they need to engage in postdoctoral work at graduation to further "gild" to make up for the disadvantage of pre-academic qualifications.
However, some empirical studies focusing on the scientific research ability of university teachers have found that there is no significant correlation between the undergraduate school level of university teachers and their scientific research ability, and the undergraduate school level cannot effectively reflect the scientific research ability of doctors.
Ma Liping, an associate professor at Peking University's School of Education, said: "If we only use the pre-academic qualifications of 'gold book', 'silver master' and 'bronze doctor' to identify scientific research ability, especially in the field of humanities and social sciences, it may create a risk of misuse." ”
Forming the power of the whole society to participate
Zhang Yu graduated from a "double non-non" university with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from a top university in China. Not long ago, due to the adjustment of the company's structure, one of their departments was laid off. Zhang Yu has applied for several companies one after another, and one of them has come to the end, but HR made it clear that "because of the problem of 'first degree', the boss feels that it is not suitable." ”
After experiencing university, graduate school and his first job, the "first degree" 10 years ago is still like a lingering shadow in Zhang Yu's life.
He wrote about his experience and posted it on the Internet, and in the comment area, he found that there were not a few applicants who were rejected because of the "first degree" after the end, and their common question was, if there is a clear requirement for the "first degree", why will they pass the resume screening?
Some HR gave a response, and there were two reasons: "On the one hand, there are internal reasons that are attributed to the outside, and there may be other reasons but it is inconvenient to say, so it comes down to the candidate's 'first education';On the other hand, the "first academic qualification" is used as a screening criterion until the final interview, and in the competition with applicants with similar abilities, the "academic qualifications are hard qualifications". ”
Ma Liang, a professor at the School of Public Administration at Chinese University, said: "'Discrimination in the first degree' can be said to be a kind of 'universal violation' at the social level, which can easily lead to the failure of the law to hold the public accountable and the law not to be prosecuted. Job seekers may complain privately, but there is no way to do so, and there is a lack of strong evidence to support a labor rights lawsuit. The concept of 'first-degree discrimination' is so deeply ingrained that even job seekers themselves may acquiesce and accept it. ”
Zhang Yu believes that for people who already have work experience, they should pay more attention to the comparison of work output, and it is unreasonable to eliminate candidates on the grounds of "first degree", "which means that their criteria for examining me are still 10 years ago, and they have not paid attention to my growth and development in the past 10 years." ”
Some experts believe that excessive emphasis on academic qualifications may form a kind of "class solidification". In Li Wei's view, children from disadvantaged families are limited by the disadvantages of family parenting styles and resource investment levels, and it is more difficult for them to win the college entrance examination competition. Families will also continue to be disadvantaged in economic, social and cultural resources, and will continue to limit their chances of escaping the academic dilemma. "Only by making academic qualifications a phased educational result, rather than dividing people into identity labels, can we truly break down academic discrimination. ”
Ma Liang said that if you want to break the "discrimination of the first degree", the most effective way is to increase the punishment of labor violations, "so that employers do not dare to cross the thunder pool half a step", and if you want to do it, you need to increase the resource tilt and policy support of the labor law enforcement department, so that they dare to "show their swords".
Yang Yayun, a lecturer at the School of Economic Law at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said in an interview that the legislature should interpret the relevant provisions of the Employment Promotion Law, or list the discrimination of academic qualifications when revising the Employment Promotion Law, so as to provide clear legal guidance for the society.
Yao Jinju, a professor at the Law School of Beijing University of Foreign Chinese, proposed that the labor administrative departments at all levels can supervise the recruitment of employers by sending personnel to inspect and spot checkEmployers who do have "discrimination with a first academic degree" in the recruitment process may be given a certain degree of administrative punishment ex officio or upon application, and the punishment situation may be publicized as a typical case, so as to play a guiding and exemplary role.
For those "academic discrimination" of "black-box operation", job seekers should be encouraged to be vigilant and report and complain, and relevant units should strengthen feedback and handling. Employers should also be aware that treating "first education" as the only criterion for selecting talents not only makes it difficult to ensure that they can obtain genuine talents, but also may damage their credibility and reputation.
Ma Liang suggested that a collective force with the participation of the whole society should be formed, and a pluralistic evaluation system for talents should be established and improved.
Lynch doesn't know what he wants to be "truly fair", he just hopes to pass every professional-related resume screening - even if it's just a chance to prove himself with a "audition written test".
In the past, he was secretive, as long as the interviewer didn't ask, he would never take the initiative to talk about his "first degree", but just like a "scar that can't be hidden", if you can't avoid being mentioned again and again, it is better to let it become a witness to your own growth.
Later, Lynch always added to his self-introduction: "I studied at a second-class college as an undergraduate, but even in a loose academic Xi atmosphere, I worked hard to get into graduate school, which proved my Xi ability and perseverance." ”