中国学生: Great Expectations

UIBE, 28ºC, hazy

China is a populous country. Everyone knows it. It is China’s booming population that the rest of the world fears. However, beneath the surface, there are some not so happy truths about how the average student gets by. In this very revealing article, the most surprising elements of graduate life my language partner has shared with me are corroborated on a scale I could hardly have imagined before arriving in Beijing just two weeks ago.

Rapid economic growth opens up opportunities, encourages innovation and increases expectations. The upcoming generation of educated Chinese face rising living costs and low salaries, the product of a surge in graduate students. This, in turn, is dashing high expectations. This have given rise to the “ant tribe”, a term for the hordes of students who have flocked to the city hoping to obtain top degrees and so on to top jobs. More often than not, these students are cooped up like hens in a pen, between three and five sharing a single room. After graduating, these students are now accustomed to their cramped living conditions. The job market is so saturated, unemployment is common. As a result, employers can maintain artificially low salaries. The graduates can do very little. Imagine a tadpole fending for itself in the middle of Lake Superior.

One must logically ask where this excess supply goes. Qualified people who are willing and able will follow the jobs they seek. There are already more than 40 million 华侨 overseas Chinese dotted around the globe – expect more to come.