Love and pain of college teachers' profession

At one time, people called the university campus the ivory tower. This seems to be an ethereal space beyond the world. In fact, it has never been an isolated existence. Nowadays, the so-called ivory tower is increasingly coming into the eyes of the media and the public, and both students and well-known professors often become hot topics. However, some people seem to be blocked. They are young teachers in colleges and universities. If there is a tower, they are in the majority at the bottom. They have established the most common foundation and are always eager for upward growth. ...

Choice: the most respected profession

According to statistics, by 2005, the total number of teachers in general colleges and adult colleges nationwide reached 6,543,800+0,500, an increase of 88.8% over 2000. For many highly educated talents, the trend of choosing to be a college teacher is still heating up. Younger age and higher education have become the new trend of college teachers: teachers under 40 account for about 2/3.

At present, most young teachers who teach in colleges and universities have master's or doctor's degrees. From the age of 6, after 65,438+02 basic education, 4-year undergraduate education and 3-6-year postgraduate education, they studied hard for at least 20 years before getting their degree, and they won the "admission ticket" for the post of college teacher in the fierce competition with their peers, but this is the first step of their academic career. If we compare college teachers to a pyramid, the pyramid consists of academicians, doctoral supervisors, professors, associate professors, lecturers and teaching assistants from top to bottom, while a large group of young teachers are teaching assistants and lecturers at the bottom with a solid foundation. Upward is the distant spire, outward, the prosperity of the world always seems to be bedroom. What makes some young people choose this relatively quiet career?

Fu Mingxin, who just graduated from a doctor's degree this year and entered a university in Guangzhou to teach basic mathematics, said: "I chose to teach in a university because I am used to university life. There are high-quality talents here and I am willing to associate with them. "

"Like any profession, choosing a university teacher will gain and lose. To sum up, this is still a very attractive career. I like being with students. Nowadays, college students are very smart and have high requirements for teachers. If you don't do well, they will even record your lectures on MP4 to complain, but their feelings are sincere. Every birthday, I will receive small gifts and blessing messages from my classmates. The sense of accomplishment brought by this profession is unmatched by many other industries. " Zhuo Yousen, a professor of tourism management from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, said with emotion.

Cao Hongru has always liked a quiet and elegant life. In his view, colleges and universities are the most suitable places for him to take root. "Choose the job that best suits your temperament, and you can achieve the happiest life. Chatting with colleagues on weekdays and playing games and football with classmates on campus, in my opinion, such a life is hard to find.

Science is like life, there are many goals waiting for you to strive for, to arrive ahead of time, and there are all kinds of pains and experiences along the way. What's the harm?

Foothold: Is a doctorate a basic indicator?

Time skipped 10 month, and the doctoral enrollment plan for 2007 was introduced one after another. At the age of 29, Chen Na began to hesitate anxiously whether to apply for a doctorate again. In the past two years, she has participated in the exam for two consecutive years. The first time, she missed three points. The second time, she passed the score line and ranked high, but she was still not admitted. "Anyway, I decided to take the exam again this year." Chen Na's key university has strict regulations that only doctoral students are eligible to apply for teachers, except for individual majors. Therefore, after graduating from master's degree, Chen Na first stayed in school as an administrator, and after working for one year, she finally became a teacher. Without a doctorate, even the threshold of "lecturer" is much higher.

Chen Na doesn't have a boyfriend because she is busy with exams. She said with a wry smile, "My ex-boyfriend broke up because she went abroad for graduate school. Later, she was busy preparing for the exam while teaching, so she had no time to think about emotional things. Let's wait until she is admitted. " After a pause, he said, "However, it seems more difficult for a female doctor to find a partner."

During the interview, most of the young teachers interviewed said frankly: In any case, the future universities are really dominated by doctors, and examinations are the general trend. Only by obtaining a doctorate or above can we have greater initiative in college life. In recent years, young university teachers have become the main force in the Kaobo army. "When I was a doctor in 2000, I applied for two majors. One * * * has 12 applicants, 8 of whom are young teachers teaching in colleges and universities. " Cao Hongru recalled: "Doctoral degree is very important in colleges and universities. Whether it is for teaching and research funds, housing distribution, salary increase, and job title evaluation, it has certain advantages. "

According to the leader of the liberal arts department of a university in Guangzhou, the competition among universities is also fierce, so it is inevitable to attach importance to the construction of teaching staff. As early as 1999, the Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Teachers in Colleges and Universities issued by the Ministry of Education required that by 2005, the proportion of teachers with doctoral degrees in teaching and research universities should reach more than 30%. The data shows that among the 940,000 full-time teachers in more than 2,000 colleges and universities across the country, more than two-thirds of them have not yet obtained graduate degrees, and less than 8% have doctoral degrees. That is to say, only more than 70,000 teachers in colleges and universities across the country have doctoral degrees, and among all full-time teachers, young teachers under 45 account for nearly 80%. If there are more than 50,000 doctoral students graduating from colleges and universities in China in the future, it will take more than 15 years to make the academic qualifications of college teachers doctoral, even if all of them stay in school to teach.

Academic: Struggling on the Edge of Love and Pain?

In the career of college teachers, teaching only accounts for a small part, and academics and scientific research are the highlights that reflect their own values. The expansion of enrollment in colleges and universities has brought more arduous teaching tasks and squeezed the time of academic work. Strict quantitative evaluation system has spawned one paper after another. In the interview, many young teachers are ashamed to admit that their papers are "academic": "The papers representing academics have come out, but they feel that they are not very close to academics, but are getting farther and farther away."

Most scholars who stay in universities have a deep love for academic research, but young teachers also have to experience inevitable pain in the process of growing up. The pressure is enormous. Young teachers without scientific research experience and foundation must compete with experienced and well-connected predecessors for scientific research projects and papers at the same level. Even the cost of publishing academic papers is not low. The lowest cost of publishing an SCI paper is 2000 yuan, and foreign periodicals and conferences have to pay foreign exchange. They say this:

To tell the truth, in the first two years of teaching in colleges and universities, I didn't know how to do academic work because the teaching task was too heavy. A class lasts 90 minutes, and the preparation time is 4 times. At other times, I have to deal with the training and exams of various titles, and I have no time to think about doing academic things. 30-year-old lecturer in Xiao Dan

For teachers who do scientific research, it is positive feedback to get funds, produce results, get them again and produce results again. But now many young teachers are facing the dilemma of negative feedback. They don't have enough entrepreneurial resources, seize development opportunities in the first place, and lack financial support, so they can't produce high-level results and enter a vicious circle. Shi, 28, associate professor.

I can't imagine that in today's social environment, I will spend my life doing research for an academic ideal, just like the older generation of scientists. If scientific research has nothing to do with the assessment system, our so-called academic research may not be so eager for quick success and instant benefit. Cao Hongru, aged 34, is an associate researcher.

Young teachers do scientific research, there is no team advantage at all, either behind closed doors or attached to the team of old professors. Without an independent research environment, innovation is too difficult! Ling Yao, a 30-year-old teaching assistant, is not worried about his career.

Income: Still Stick to Poverty?

In September this year, A Yi, a teacher in Peking University, published her salary list on her blog, listing her income and expenses as an associate professor in Peking University. For a time, the "Peking University Associate Professor Crying Poor Incident" caused controversy. In last year's survey in State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China, weren't college teachers listed as high earners in China again? I'm afraid it's not that easy to say whether you are rich or poor.

The allowance of our school has not been paid for three months. With a basic salary of 800 yuan per month, I dare not even attend a friend's party. I really don't know how long it will last. Liu Fei felt sorry and somewhat lucky when she saw her good friend Nini's message on the Internet. As a sister in the same dormitory, Nini returned to her hometown as a teacher in a junior college after graduation, but she was lucky enough to stay in a university in Guangzhou for more than a year. Although her salary is not high at ordinary times, all kinds of subsidies can add up to more than 3000 yuan. "I usually stay at school and live in the single dormitory of the school. There is no big expense, and the parents are in good condition. This money is basically enough for me alone. "For 26-year-old Liu Fei, life is simple and beautiful.

Tu Liang, whose salary is almost the same, feels that his hand is a little tight: "Because the conditions at home are not very good, I completed my undergraduate studies with a loan until I was admitted to a publicly-funded graduate school, during which I helped my tutor to take classes, so that I could support myself. I finally started working. Besides paying off the student loan I owe, I should try my best to help my little sister who is going to college. My parents are old now and often get sick. I also need to send them money. How can I spend enough on my salary? " Tu Liang, 28, is still single. He smiled shyly: "With my conditions, I don't know when I can buy a house and marry."

In universities, the income gap between teachers is gradually widening due to the difference in the popularity of disciplines and the value of market demand. Professor Wang Chuhui from the Department of Sociology of Nankai University made a detailed investigation and study on the income of university teachers, and wrote How much is the income of university teachers? It is pointed out that the basic salary difference between teachers is not obvious, and one of the important reasons for the widening income gap is the "gray income" that teachers get from outside the school. In the interview, the reporter found that except for some subjects such as economic management, foreign languages and computers, young college teachers in most subjects have no interest in these "gray incomes" outside the school, and most of their incomes are still limited to post salaries, salary scales, performance salaries and subsidies. In their words, it is "not poor, but not rich."