The "wave of university closures", mainly caused by the decline in the number of students, is taking turns in many parts of the world. Although our higher education field has not yet been affected, the "wave of closure" of university majors has come.
According to the 2018-2022 undergraduate major filing and approval results of the Ministry of Education,A total of 3,030 undergraduate majors were abolished in five years；In 2022, the number of undergraduate majors withdrawn will reach 925.
Previously, it was reported that the "declining birthrate" hit many universities in the Bay were suspended, and many university teachers had to substitute teach in primary and secondary schools with the title of doctor.
So what happens to professional teachers if the profession is revoked?
Little Red Book.
Professional adjustment, increase the intensity
As early as 2012, the Ministry of Education proposed to establish a dynamic adjustment mechanism for disciplines and majors, encouraging colleges and universities to independently adjust and cancel "surplus, low-quality and dislocation" majors.
According to the data of the "Filing and Approval Results of Undergraduate Majors in Ordinary Colleges and Universities" published over the years, a total of 3,030 undergraduate majors were revoked from 2018 to 2022. In the past four years, the number of undergraduate majors withdrawn has soared, from 267** in 2019 to 925 in 2022.
In particular, in 2021 and 2022, 14 and 11 colleges and universities have withdrawn 10 or more majors, respectively.
In the five years from 2018 to 2022, the major with the largest number of cancellations was information management and information systems, with a total of 100 colleges and universities across the country canceling this major; This was followed by public utilities management (97), fashion and apparel design (70), product design (66), and information and computing science (65).
In February 2023, the Ministry of Education and other five departments issued the "Reform Plan for the Adjustment and Optimization of the Discipline and Major Settings of General Higher Education" (hereinafter referred to as the "Reform Plan"), which clarifies "".toyear, optimize and adjust colleges and universitiesLeft and right disciplines and majors，……Eliminate disciplines and majors that are not suitable for economic and social development,......Majors that colleges and universities have not enrolled for five consecutive years shall be revoked
The optimization and adjustment of majors in colleges and universities may be further increased.
"High-risk professions" that can be easily revoked
Which majors are likely to be withdrawn in the next two years?
With the promulgation of the "Reform Plan", Sichuan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Anhui and other places have issued guidance on the optimization and adjustment of the professional structure of colleges and universities in their provinces. It can be seen that the "implementation rate of graduation destination (employment rate)" is a key indicator for the reduction of recruitment, suspension of recruitment, and even the cancellation of professional distribution.
For example, for the reduction of stops, dislocations, excess low-quality majors,Jiangxi ProvinceThe Department of Education issued the "Guiding Measures for the Optimization and Adjustment of the Structure of Undergraduate Majors in Ordinary Colleges and Universities (Trial)".The implementation rate of graduation destinations is continuousyears belowProfessional point,willOrder it to suspend enrollment.
Sichuan ProvinceThe "Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the "Employment-Enrollment-Training" Linkage Mechanism of Colleges and Universities issued by the Department of Education proposedIf the professional point is continuousThe implementation rate of graduation is at the bottom, and it will face the risk of reducing and suspending recruitment
Anhui ProvinceThe "Implementation Plan for Deepening the Reform of the Discipline and Professional Structure of Colleges and Universities and the Innovation and Development of the Service Industry (2022-2025)".ContinuousThe annual employment destination implementation rate is lowerEnrollment is suspended.
Fujian ProvinceThe Guiding Opinions of the Department of Education on the Structural Adjustment and Optimization of Disciplines and Majors in Ordinary Undergraduate Colleges and Universities" mentionsIf professional continuousThe implementation rate of annual graduation destinations is lower than the average implementation rate of similar majors in the province, and the enrollment plan will be reduced.
In addition to the poor implementation rate of graduation destinations,There is a mismatch between the major and the positioning of colleges and universities, and it is out of touch with the needs of economic and social development, and there are many points in the provinceand other factors, but also the main factors to be considered by the local pressure reduction and withdrawal profession, in short,Professional survival is not determined solely by employment rates
When the profession is suspended, what should be done with professional teachers?
In 2023, a ** report - "declining birthrate" hit the news that many universities in the Bay were suspended, and many university teachers went to primary and secondary schools to substitute for teachers with doctoral titles, which caused a lot of discussions.
So if the major is suspended, how will the teacher be placed? With the increase in the optimization and adjustment of majors in colleges and universities, teachers of some "high-risk" majors are particularly concerned about what they should do once the major is reduced, suspended, or even revoked? After all, if there are no students and the class time requirements are not completed, it will directly affect the year-end performance and title promotion.
Some teachers said that although the undergraduate enrollment of their major has been suspended, the master's and doctoral programs are still there, so they have little impact on themselves. You can continue to stay in the program and teach some basic courses and electives for other undergraduate majors at the same time. However, not all teachers can make this smooth transition.
By combing through the relevant information, we found that the flow of teachers in the withdrawn majors can be roughly divided into the following situations:
Divert to similar majors and colleges to teach basic courses in majors
Since there is overlap in the professional knowledge of a subject category, if there are multiple majors under a college, the teachers of the withdrawn majors can transfer to similar majors, colleges to teach professional basic courses, or similar professional courses.
However, if teachers are shunted to a new college or a new major, in addition to their professional titles and research resumes, many jobs have to be restarted. For example, in order to teach a completely new curriculum, some teachers even have to teach students while learning on their own. A netizen said that his teacher was transferred from the withdrawn major, and he had to study hard at home and take online classes during the summer vacation, "It's really sad to be middle-aged."
However, some teachers with a slightly larger professional span after changing faculties may also face the dilemma of not being valued in the new college or new major and being on the edge during the transition stage.
Teach public basic courses
Among the 10 undergraduate majors that have been revoked the most in the past five years, 7 are humanities and social sciences majors. In particular, in 2023, the University of Science and Technology of China announced that it plans to abolish six undergraduate majors such as English, which makes many teachers of English majors and minor language majors feel "like a sword hanging over their heads every day".
If the English major is abolished, professional teachers will teach the common basic course of university English, and theoretically there will be no difficulty in teaching across majors. However, due to the limited actual demand, it is not realistic to let all professional teachers transfer to teach public courses, and there may be contradictions due to the allocation of class time.
Transfer to administrative positions, or teaching and auxiliary positions such as laboratories and libraries
Majors are abolished, and professional teachers are transferred to administrative and teaching affairs, transferred to teaching and auxiliary positions such as laboratories and libraries, or transferred to counselors, which are also a type of choice for teachers.
Of course, the transfer of administrative and teaching assistant posts may mean that teachers have to adjust or even abandon the career development path they originally planned for themselves.
Move to another university
In addition, the personnel relationship between teachers and schools is different, such as whether they are staffed by people or posts, or the "pre-employment-tenure" system that has begun to be implemented by some universities, etc., and the actual problems faced by teachers in the withdrawn majors will also be different.
The rise and fall of university majors is an important embodiment of the changes in the demand for professional talents in social development. With the rapid development of social economy, the withdrawal or addition of majors in universities will become a norm in the future.
For university teachers, the optimization and adjustment of college majors is directly linked to their personal interests. Some netizens said that they were thereThe department leaders have reminded all teachers to "be prepared for danger in times of peace" in the meeting。This means that every teacher, whether they are in charge of the profession or a front-line teacher, needs to pay attention to the high-quality construction of their specialty.
For example, the employment status of graduates, as one of the important results of talent training in higher education, is the overall feedback on the recruitment, student and major settings, education and teaching, and talent training mode. The feedback will be effectively implemented in all aspects of professional talent training through a fixed form, so that the links are related and interact, and ultimately play a role in improving the quality of talent training.
Key references:
1] Zhao Yue. The last place in the university major is eliminated, and the employment rate is determined to be "life and death"? [eb/ol]. 2023-09-10].China News Weekly WeChat***
2] Ministry of Education, Sichuan Provincial Department of Education, Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education, Fujian Provincial Department of Education, Anhui Provincial Department of Education, etc.
3] Xiaohongshu, Zhihu and other platforms.