China to Eliminate College Majors That Produce Unemployable Grads

Got a college degree but couldn't find a job? Not going to be a problem in China!

The ever practical China's Ministry of Education has the perfect solution to college graduates that can't find jobs: eliminate the college majors producing unemployable people. Problem solved!

Much like the U.S., China is aiming to address a problematic demographic that has recently emerged: a generation of jobless graduates. China’s solution to that problem, however, has some in the country scratching their heads.

China’s Ministry of Education announced this week plans to phase out majors producing unemployable graduates, according to state-run media Xinhua. The government will soon start evaluating college majors by their employment rates, downsizing or cutting those studies in which the employment rate for graduates falls below 60% for two consecutive years.

Link (Photo: Zhu Difeng/Shutterstock)


How many friends went to history, geography, arts, or worse history of arts, because they really liked it, just to find out that there was only very few jobs, or highly competitive governments jobs, or subsidized and thus temporary positions...
My cousin with a high degree in History of Arts is currently an associate in the equivalent of Dick's sporting goods...

It's ok to do what you want, what you like, but you have to know the statistical consequences and make choices with enlightened knowledge.

And the government choosing for you? Well, it's China....
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Honestly? Careers such as 'art' and 'music' probably shouldn't have degrees attached to them to begin with. You should either learn by doing, or have some means of apprenticing to a master. A degree in art is bad, not only because it's hard to get steady work in artistic fields; it's bad also because it doesn't really teach you the things you need to know to be a professional artist. It's no where near worth the cost, for how little it actually teaches.
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Let's face it: The whole system is weighed down by these programs, and their adherents are weighed down by the fraudulent idea that any college degree guarantees them a job! Not only is a highly specialized degree not necessary to become a great activist or artist, it is extremely unlikely even WITH a highly specialized degree. Short of cutting these programs out entirely (which I don't think is a terrible idea), students who choose them should at least receive training in skilled labor trades. Don't tell me that an art student couldn't learn to weld, welding is easy.
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I have a BS and MS in Ecology and Botany respectively which many may say are "useless" degrees and my career path has certainly gone in a different direction (I am an industrial hygienist) than I intended but much of what I learned is still applicable in my workday and is still a very large interest for me in my personal life.

We can certainly do away with degrees like theology or philosophy but doing away with the sciences is only going to get them in trouble down the road.
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Why have Universities? Why not just a bunch of trade schools? Education is about more than the degree.

"We can certainly do away with degrees like theology or philosophy but doing away with the sciences is only going to get them in trouble down the road." Wow. Just...wow.
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Ah, the joys of central planning.

I will note that music majors tend to be pretty good programmers. :) It's all about the patterns.

I had an instructor in CS one time - he got a PhD in abstract algebra, then discovered that there were a grand total of two teaching positions in abstract algebra in the US at that time, and they were both filled. So he went back and did a postdoc in CS so he could get a job. He was not the best CS instructor I ever had...
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"We can certainly do away with degrees like theology or philosophy but doing away with the sciences is only going to get them in trouble down the road."

I wonder what universities and colleges ants would have if ants had universities and colleges.

Students need to learn practical stuff, which doesn't necessarily happen in schools, but schools need to make students less insular and more well-rounded.
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