Graphic Insect Creativity Map
The Information System for American Students and Exchange Visitors shows that the number of new students enrolled in American universities has declined by 72% in the past year. Among them, the decline in the number of Chinese students is the most obvious.
In addition to related restrictions implemented by the United States, after the outbreak of the epidemic, some Chinese young people who intended to study in the United States have also changed their direction, choosing to go to other countries or domestic employment.
In recent years, more and more Chinese overseas students feel that their background of studying abroad is not as good as before, and they still have to face the helpless reality of rising tuition fees, the epidemic that will not end until when, and the fierce domestic competition environment——
"After studying abroad for several years, I found that housing prices rose sharply after returning home."
"After studying abroad for several years, I couldn't find a suitable target after returning home."
"After studying abroad for several years, I found my major was no longer popular."
This makes many people wonder, is it still "fragrant" to study abroad?
One school aura?
The past year has been full of frustrations for Chen Xiaoke: holding a diploma from a world famous university, but finding a job has repeatedly met with difficulties. Although she has lowered her expectations to a very low level and does not expect a high paying job, unexpectedly, even suitable jobs are so difficult to find.
At the beginning of 2020, Chen Xiaoke was also studying for a master's degree in public health at the University of Sydney. After the outbreak of the epidemic, she returned home, first avoiding the most serious period of the epidemic in her hometown until midsummer, and then went to Shanghai for internship. In October last year, the University of Sydney sent her a degree certificate. It was calculated that she had been studying in Australia for less than a year.
Looking at Chen Xiaoke's resume, it can be said that it is very excellent: 985 undergraduate degree in China, master's degree in Sydney University, and internship in head securities companies. In the year of looking for a job in Shanghai, Chen Xiaoke tried all the channels: taking an examination of civil servants, applying for university administrative posts, state-owned enterprises and foreign enterprise management trainees, or being introduced by acquaintances, and sending her resume to fellow executives in enterprises. The reply was that the conditions were very good, but the specialty was not right.
What made her feel most uncomfortable was that in an exchange with her peers, the other side said frankly, "What can the students of famous schools do? It's not that they want to go back to China."
Ma Wenjing, a post-70s student, currently works in a German funded enterprise in Shanghai. In the mid-1990s, there was a nationwide craze for international economics and international trade majors. She was admitted to Xi'an Jiaotong University with high scores in international economics. After graduation, Ma Wenjing worked for several years and decided to study for a master's degree in business in the United States in 2002.
"Our generation just went out to study, more to broaden their horizons." Ma Wenjing said that the biggest pain point of studying abroad at that time was that they could not apply for scholarships and visas. In order to save money for their families, many international students will try their best to apply for teaching assistant positions.
In 2005, Ma Wenjing returned to China for employment, and she preferred Shanghai. At that time, her monthly salary was more than 10000 yuan. "As a post-70s generation, I don't think I'm very lucky, nor do I think people of any age are particularly unlucky. Every generation has its own opportunities and pain points." "But if you go out at the time when the house price is rising fastest, and the house price is already at a high point after you come back, the sunk cost will be a little big.".
In the last two years, when recruiting new people for the company, Ma Wenjing found that many foreign students had delivered basic jobs, and there were also graduates with college or undergraduate degrees competing for this job. She said frankly that if she had encountered this employment situation at that time, "it was too hard to imagine".
2 Competition intensifies
At the end of the 1980s, Zhao Fengji was one of the first group of public overseas students sent by the State Education Commission (now the Ministry of Education). From a unique historical standpoint, he told reporters that one of the reasons why overseas students are not popular at present is that the threshold for going abroad has been greatly reduced, and the students' abilities and levels are uneven.
Ma Wenjing also said that the days of looking forward to studying abroad as "gold plating" to find a good job have passed.
Liu Youlou, a post-2000 student, is now focusing on education entrepreneurship projects. She found that the threshold for international students to find jobs in the market and sales categories is very low, while in terms of technical talents, students with professional counterparts and strong academic ability are more needed.
Ding Ding (not his real name), a recruiter of a well-known human resources consulting company in China, told the reporter that since 2020, the "painting style" of the resumes he received has changed greatly. "Most of the students who used to send their resumes back from Australia and Canada. There are not many first-line schools, such as Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and rattan schools in the United States. This kind of graduates prefer to go to places like finance and investment banks.".
Now, DingDing can receive many job applications from front-line schools. One resume that impressed her was that the boy graduated from MIT and applied for the position of company analyst. Ding Ding said that analysts are the most basic work in consulting companies.
Ding Ding analyzed that after the outbreak of the epidemic, many foreign students obtained their degrees through online teaching, which also devalued their certificates. Although online classes can also help students learn real skills, students cannot really experience setbacks and growth. What recruiters value is the experience reflected behind their study abroad life.
Moreover, DingDing clearly feels that the level of graduates from famous domestic schools is no less than that of foreign students. Her company has set up offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and the proportion of international students and domestic students is basically 1:1. In terms of salary, both levels are the same.
At the same time, some real estate agents and insurance companies began to raise the recruitment threshold. Wang Meng, the sales director of Shanghai Zhonghong Insurance Company, showed the academic background of the team members to the reporter: all famous domestic 985 and European and American schools.
Wang Meng said that the insurance industry does not attach importance to professional background, but pays more attention to personal ability, and the high salary also attracts overseas returnees.
Once she had a dinner party with her peers. The other party graduated from a first-class university abroad. When her mobile phone rang, she took the initiative to show you the monthly salary information: more than 50000 yuan. This also made Wang Meng more convinced that it was the right choice for him to switch from banking to insurance.
3 Moving to Europe
According to a research released by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) of Georgetown University in February this year, about 3000 to 5000 of the 19000 Chinese students will terminate their studies every year under the tightening policy for Chinese students. The US embassy and consulate in China resumed normal visa applications on May 4 this year, but from May to mid June, more than 500 visa applications were rejected.
Liu Youlou, a business undergraduate at the University of Manchester in the UK, found that since the end of last year, many people who planned to study in the United States have switched to Europe. People regard the epidemic as different from studying. Famous universities in Europe, especially in the UK, still attract foreign students.
Liu Youlou said that he had not lived a normal high school life for a few days. Because his parents were very busy with their work, they took care of all the chores before and after studying abroad. From school selection, application to buying air tickets, their parents didn't ask for details except for money. They fully trusted Liu Youlou's ability. Over the years, both sides have been accustomed to this parent-child relationship.
"I am particularly partial to the subject. I can get a high score in Chinese and English, but I often fail in mathematics. If I work hard for three years in domestic high schools, I may end up with an ordinary 985, and I spend all my energy on the test." Liu Youlou believes that this input-output ratio is not cost-effective.
"But if I study abroad, I can go to a good school, and at the same time, I can do many things I want to do, and have more time to broaden my horizon," Liu Youlou said. In fact, what she said was "what she wanted to do" had already been involved in high school, that is, helping high school students improve their educational background (similar to the application agency for studying abroad).
In July last year, Liu Youlou applied for suspension from school and returned to China to start her own business. In her eyes, a diploma does not hold much weight. Her WeChat name is YOLO, that is, "you only live once" (only once in life). Liu Youlou believes that when she was young, she could get in touch with more things than her diploma.
Chen Zhuo, who was born in 1995, has a more "pure" purpose of going abroad. He values the horizon and breadth of life, and his personal development is not necessary for high salary and first-line cities. Because of this relaxed attitude, he chose to go abroad to study for a PhD at the age of 26.
Chen Zhuo, an engineering student, has both bachelor's degree and master's degree in China's top two universities. At the end of 2019, he applied for going abroad to study for a doctoral degree and arrived in Paris in early July this year. The reason why he chose to study in France is that among the schools he applied for, the French tutor replied the most enthusiastic email.
This friendliness and enthusiasm must also be the result of differences in educational systems. Relatively speaking, the competition among French doctoral circles will not be great. Chen Zhuo said that he also really felt the "Buddhist" atmosphere in the French scientific research circle. Every afternoon after lunch, security guards came to the laboratory to "kick out" people, which is unimaginable in the domestic scientific research circle.
Chen Zhuo has absolutely no idea of staying in France after graduation. The starting salary of French new graduates is about 3000 to 4000 euros per month, while the monthly rent of a 20 square meter rental house in Paris is 950 euros, just enough to cope with life.
Chen Zhuo also found that the French can buy a house with zero down payment. As long as the applicant has a formal job, the bank is willing to lend. "If you are a person who has nothing, perhaps it is a good choice to stay in Paris", but most foreign students have no such intention.
"Now the domestic development is very fast, and overseas returnees are not necessarily needed, but screws are absolutely needed, so I am in a screw mentality now, and I don't think that I can do anything after reading a doctoral degree," said Chen Zhuo.
4. I can't help myself
"Usually only parents will consider the return rate of studying abroad, but students don't think much about it." Zhou Yu works in a public institution, nearly 50 years old. A few years ago, she gritted her teeth and sent her son, Xiao Zhang, to study abroad. Xiao Zhang just graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada this year, and finally joined Huawei this summer after experiencing cruel enrollment.
Zhou Yu has lived in a small city in the southwest all her life. She had the opportunity to go to Beijing to go to university, but because her father blocked her, she finally had to study Chinese in a university near her home. This is a lifelong regret for her.
Naturally, Zhou Yu's expectation of education shifted to the next generation. Xiao Zhang never rebelled and was also filial. However hard he tried, his academic performance could only rank among the middle class, and he was finally admitted to the English major of three universities in the provincial capital.
Knowing the "chicken ribs" of his major, Xiao Zhang's family felt nervous less than a year after he entered the school. "If he doesn't take action, it will be a problem for him to want to enter ordinary institutions in the future." As a last resort, they have taken a fancy to the overseas program of the undergraduate school. They have studied in our school for two years, and studied abroad for two years. Both sides can get a degree, which is a cost-effective choice in studying abroad.
"I never linked the money I sent him out to the investment cost, and I also despised the argument that the cost could be recovered," Zhou Yu said.
The outbreak of the global epidemic interrupted Xiao Zhang's plan to continue his postgraduate study, and he resolutely returned home. "Very good, I have gained a lot of experience and feel that the people around me are excellent." In an interview with the International Finance Daily, Xiao Zhang was attending Huawei's induction training in Dongguan, facing more intense adult social competition.
"Look at the former undergraduate students, most of the employment situation is not good." Considering this, Xiao Zhang thinks that no matter how much money was spent at the beginning, this trip is worth it, or there is no way to go.
Chen Xiaoke also has a deep understanding of the "involuntary". Many of her undergraduate students are holding the idea of "changing their major to clinical". Only in this way can they turn the path of life to become doctors. If not, they can only find employment in community health centers, health committees and other units. "Not that such units are bad, but that the scope of employment choices is too narrow".
Chen Xiaoke said that the public health major was no different from medical students in terms of educational system and training program. Many students did not prepare themselves after entering the school. When it was their turn to dissect and test, they dared not come to the stage. Because they can't change their majors, many students' life paths have changed, which is the real "involuntary".
Compared with them, Chen Xiaoke's "antagonism" is not strong.
"I don't have any complicated ideas, but I think it's OK to go to school and then have a job after graduation." Chen Xiaoke claims to be a plain person, and his pursuit of life is also. She was a "forced student bully" when she was young, and she had to be forced. The college entrance examination was the highlight of her life.
The major is also optional - public health. She still remembers that Sheng Xia, who had finished the college entrance examination, sat with her parents at the table with a school selection guide book spread out on the table. They first locked down the better universities according to their scores, and then picked and chose among those universities. Finally, they made such a choice. This is also the same as the logic of most college candidates: universities are ranked better than majors.
"At that time, my father said that it was OK. I could change my major when I went in. But I didn't expect it. Our class just met the reform, and I couldn't change my major." After going to school, seeing that there was no hope of changing my major, Chen Xiao could simply live a happy life for two years. She either went shopping with her roommates or went traveling. One day in her junior year, she suddenly came back to her senses, and more than half of her college life had passed, But she is still confused about the future.
"Since I don't know what I want to do, I'd better go abroad to get some gold." Chen Xiaoke didn't like this major, but he didn't hate it. In order to save time, he continued to apply for a master's degree in the same major. As for why he didn't go to British and American universities, the reason was to save time, and Australia's language requirements were not high.
"Australia has always been at the bottom of the disdain chain for studying abroad. To put it bluntly, everyone is here to get a degree.". "International students like us are also welcomed locally, which can not only improve the internationalization index of the school, but also expand the local finance." According to Chen Xiaoke, in fact, people around, including themselves, think very clearly about studying abroad.
5 Gratitude
"People like to watch the story that it cost 1.6 million yuan to study abroad and returned with a monthly salary of 4500 yuan," said Chen Jason, who was born in 1995, and he usually distinguishes himself from those who say that. He majored in computer science in a three university undergraduate program, and later went to the University of Pittsburgh to study for a master's degree in information science.
This experience of studying abroad made him leave his hometown in Zhejiang and settle down in Shanghai. Chen Jason thinks that his current life is "quite comfortable". The reason why he is so successful is that he has a clear goal, chooses the right major, and saves himself too much time cost in the future.
In the summer of 2019, Huawei held a job fair in Pittsburgh. Chen Jiesen remembered that at that time, the venue was crowded, just like the domestic job fairs, and many Indian faces could be seen. His interview experience is not very good. "It seems that the interviewer will brush your resume first, and then give you a salary grade according to the ranking of your school, that's all.".
Driven by the first impression, Chen Jiesen passed Huawei by. Then he got an offer from a "big factory" in Shanghai with the recommendation of a domestic headhunter. This job was compared to Huawei, with an annual salary of more than 300000 yuan.
When thinking about the undergraduate students at that time, Chen Jiesen would feel extremely lucky - their work was very ordinary. Looking at them, Jason Chen would think, if he had not gone to the United States to study, where would he be?
Chen Zhuo, who came back from his blog in France, often remembered his parents' words: "It's good to go out to play for a few years, and we don't need you to provide for the elderly." Chen Zhuo sometimes thought that the reason why he dared to choose to study abroad at the age of 26 might be from his parents. Compared with those foreign students who still need to repay their student loans after graduation, Chinese children are really happy.
"After all, most Chinese parents go abroad to study and buy a house. There are no such good parents in the world." Chen Zhuo sighed.
(At the request of the interviewees, Ma Wenjing, Chen Jason, Chen Xiaoke, Zhou Yu, Xiao Zhang and Liu Youlou were pseudonyms. Interns Chen Junwu, Mei Jiabin and Jiang Lili also contributed to the report.)
