Many colleges and universities have stopped recruiting masters, and masters have gradually become the main force of enrollment - "bigger and stronger" masters need to optimize the training system

◎ Sun Mingyuan, reporter of this newspaper

In addition to extending the training time, it is also necessary to optimize the teachers, training mode, process management and process evaluation of the master's degree, so that the master's training can be truly connected with the industry and cultivate high-quality talents required by the society.

Chu Zhaohui is a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences

Recently, the news that many schools have stopped recruiting academic master's degrees has sparked heated discussions. A few days ago, the School of Economics and Management of Southwest University, the University of Science and Technology of China, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Northeast Forestry University and many other universities have announced that they will no longer recruit academic degree and master's students in some majors. These majors cover engineering, management, agriculture and other disciplines.

In recent years, it has been very common for academic masters to be contracted or suspended. Many majors have reduced the number of unified masters, or even only accept exemption or direct doctoral admissions. At the same time, the proportion of professional master's and master's students has been expanding, and it has gradually become the main force in the enrollment of master's students.

The scale of enrollment continues to expand

The "Professional Degree Graduate Education Development Plan (2020-2025)" issued by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education proposes that by 2025, focusing on major national strategies, key fields and major social needs, a number of master's and doctoral professional degree categories will be added, the enrollment scale of master's degree graduate students will be expanded to about two-thirds of the total enrollment scale of master's degree students, and the number of doctoral degree graduate students will be greatly increased.

In September 2022, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Education mentioned at a press conference that the enrollment rate of professional degree master's students in China has exceeded 9%. According to statistics from the China Graduate Admissions Information Network, in the preliminary examination of the national master's degree admission examination held at the end of 60, a total of 2022.474 million candidates across the country registered, of which more than 6% applied for the master's degree examination.

Chang Dong (pseudonym), who works for a postgraduate examination counseling institution in Changping District, Beijing, said based on his observations of candidates over the years that the "trade-off" of master's and master's degrees is not only the result of policy requirements, but also the actual needs of candidates have become an important factor in promoting the enrollment ratio of college and masters.

"A significant percentage of candidates who want to pursue a master's degree are motivated by employment-oriented, i.e. to improve their competitiveness in the job market by obtaining a master's degree, rather than engaging in academic research. For them, a shorter academic period, more practical teaching content, and a less difficult master's degree is an ideal choice than a master's degree. Chang Dong said.

Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Education Sciences, believes that the expansion of master's enrollment reflects social demand. There is an urgent need for high-level talents in various professional fields, and theoretical research no longer needs to be stacked with "human sea tactics". In the process of expanding the enrollment of graduate students, this demand is reflected in the shrinkage of masters and masters' "bigger".

Improve the quality of cultivation in many aspects

Although the enrollment scale of specialized masters is expanding, there are still many problems in the training of specialized masters.

"There are often different evaluations and expectations for master's and master's degrees in society, just as the public still prefers general education between 'general education' and 'vocational education'. This issue still needs to be resolved by all parties. Chu Zhaohui said.

Chang Dong said that at present, there is still no standardization and consensus on the training of masters in various universities and majors. For example, some tutors "treat masters as masters", and the other extreme is "do not care about masters". And the candidates' cognition of master's degree and master's degree cannot be unified.

"Some students want to study for a Ph.D. to engage in academic research, but they are worried that they will not be able to get a master's degree, so they ask me if I can take the master's degree, which will not affect my PhD. The more common question is whether a master's degree will be less competitive in the job market than a master's degree. Chang Dong said that these questions are asked many times a year, but they cannot give a definitive answer.

Chu Zhaohui pointed out that the allocation of faculty or the transformation of teaching models in some universities may not be able to keep up with the expansion of graduate students, which is one of the practical problems that need to be solved urgently.

Professional degree master's enrollment has been expanded, mainly focusing on engineering majors. "Especially for the popular computer science majors, the proportion of masters has increased significantly in recent years." Chang Dong told reporters.

"Although we often refer to science and engineering as science and engineering, in fact, there is a big difference between the two. Highly theoretical disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and theoretical mathematics do not have direct correspondence with master's majors, and the academic orientation of these majors is very obvious. Mechanical, chemical, statistical and other application-oriented majors are divided into master's and specialized, and most of the candidates who are confused are concentrated in these majors. Chang Dong said.

Chu Zhaohui said that in addition to extending the training time, in the future, it is necessary to optimize the teachers, training mode, process management and process evaluation of specialized masters, so that the master's training can truly connect with the industry and cultivate high-quality talents needed by society.