In the more than 40 years since the resumption of the college entrance examination, with the changes in the economy and society, the "explosive" majors of each era have also undergone interesting changes.
Some majors are sought-after and popular at a certain time, and then gradually become cold; and some majors that were not popular in the past have become today's "fragrant food"; and some unheard of new majors represent the general trend of future development.
In fact, personal development has always been closely linked to the progress of the times. How should personal choices touch the pulse of the times? Si Kejun takes you back to the ups and downs of these popular majors, which may give you some inspiration.
In 1977, the State Council approved and forwarded the Ministry of Education's "Opinions on the Enrollment of Colleges and Universities in 1977" to formally restore the unified examination system for admissions to colleges and universities, and this examination gave countless people the opportunity to rewrite their fate.
For college students who resume the early stage of the college entrance examination, the "explosive" major is a basic discipline major such as literature, history and philosophy.
At that time, most of the applicants were former students or self-learners from factories and rural areas. For them, holding the pen with rough hands is not an easy task in itself. In the era of lack of knowledge, the knowledge that everyone can think of is some traditional subjects, and literature, history and philosophy are familiar and good choices.
Qiu Shi, vice president of the Xinjiang Academic Life Planning Society and an expert on volunteering to fill in the college entrance examination in Xinjiang, said that when the college entrance examination was resumed in 1977, there was a serious talent gap in China, and the intellectuals at that time were thinking about a question - where is China going? At that time, philosophy became a popular candidate to compete for the exam.
In addition, under the influence of famous scientists such as Chen Jingrun, basic disciplines such as mathematics and physics are also very popular.
Some media have reported that when the college entrance examination was resumed in 1977, the highest average score for liberal arts admissions at Xiamen University was the Department of Chinese, followed by the Department of History, and the highest score of science admission was the Department of Mathematics.
Zhu Suli, former dean of Peking University Law School, also wrote in his blog: "The students who entered the university's department of literature, history and philosophy in the late 1970s and early 1980s were generally the best liberal arts candidates at that time. ”
In the mid-1980s, China's "four modernization construction" was in the ascendant, but there was a shortage of economic talents. At that time, the distribution of finance and economics graduates was very good, and most of them went to departments with favorable treatment such as banks and audits.
Many financial colleges are higher than the undergraduate score range for enrollment, and many candidates rush to work after graduation, preferring to give up their undergraduate degrees in other majors to choose financial and economics specialties.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, foreign trade, international trade and other names that were related to "international" quickly replaced the finance and economics majors and became one of the most popular majors.
From the retreat of literature, history and philosophy to the popularity of majors such as foreign trade and economic cooperation, some people say that people have completed the transformation from idealism to pragmatism in their choice of professions. In fact, this is inseparable from the background of the era when China was carrying out a series of reforms in the foreign trade system, reforming the foreign exchange system, and launching WTO accession negotiations.
Speaking of the popularity of the foreign trade and economic cooperation profession in that year, some people used the term "not on peking university to go to foreign trade and economic cooperation" to describe. International trade, international relations and other majors are even regarded as "crown jewels".
The admission scores of these popular majors that are related to "international" have repeatedly reached new highs, and the distribution direction is also "eye-catching". Most of the graduates of these majors enter fields related to foreign-related economies, such as large state-owned economic and trade enterprises, foreign banks or large multinational companies.
From "blockbusters" to "red cards": the rise and fall of the legal profession
In the 1990s, with the acceleration of China's process of governing the country according to law, the legal profession became a major hit for liberal arts majors. Law firms, public security and law departments and other units all need a large number of legal talents.
Social demand has inverted the popularity of law majors, many colleges and universities have opened law majors, and the admission scores of law majors are much higher than the minimum pitch line.
As the popularity continues to rise, almost all liberal arts universities have opened law majors, and the number of law graduates continues to soar, which directly leads to employment difficulties.
According to media reports, only 13% of the 2006 law graduates of China University of Political Science and Law have engaged in the bank after graduation. Among the 104 law graduates of Beijing Jiaotong University in 2006, only 3 are engaged in political science and law work.
According to the employment status of different majors, the "2018 Employment Report of Chinese College Students" lists those "red card majors" with large unemployment and low employment rate, salary and employment satisfaction, and law is listed among them.
It can be said that thirty years of Hedong and thirty years of Hexi, from "blockbusters" to "red cards", the legal profession has only fallen to the altar for a few years.
Computer Major: The "Hot" in the Internet Wave
Almost at the same time, a number of Internet giants such as Sohu, Baidu, Ali, and Tencent have risen one after another, the Internet wave has sprung up, and the computer profession has been highly sought after. At its peak, the number of students majoring in information technology and computer science accounted for one-third of all science and engineering students in the country.
Many of these big names who pioneered China's Internet giants have chosen majors related to information science.
For example: Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, was admitted to the Department of Computer Science of Wuhan University in 1987;
Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi Mobile Phone, was admitted to the Department of Computer Science of Wuhan University at that time.
In the same year, Baidu head Robin Li was admitted to Peking University majoring in information management;
Robin Li graduated from Peking University in 1991 with a degree in information management, and then went to the State University of New York in Buffalo to complete a master's degree in computer science.
In 1989, Ding Lei, a "big pig farmer" of NetEase, was admitted to the Department of Electromagnetic Field Microwave Technology of Chengdu Electronic Technology.
The picture shows that on September 29, 2016, Ding Lei, an alumnus of the class of 1989 and founder of NetEase, attended the summary of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and the "double first-class" construction mobilization conference.
Ma Huateng of Shenzhen's "Goose Factory" chose a computer science major at Shenzhen University, which is "close to home".
Interestingly, not all of these Internet giants study computer-related majors, such as Jack Ma and Liu Qiangdong, but from their personal interests and campus experiences, they strongly reflect their enthusiasm for the Internet, which also reflects the characteristics of the Internet era entering China.
No matter what the choice of major, these big guys can touch the pulse of the times one step ahead of others and find opportunities for the development of the Internet era.
Ma Yun, who experienced the college entrance examination in three wars, was finally admitted to the English major of the Department of Foreign Chinese of Hangzhou Normal University in 1984. The picture shows that in the early days of Alibaba's entrepreneurship, Ma Yun led the team to a meeting.
In 1992, Liu Qiangdong scored 680 points in the Suqian College Entrance Examination in Jiangsu Province and entered the Department of Sociology of Chinese Min University.
Now, some "explosive" majors are highly sought after, such as robot engineering related to artificial intelligence, data science and technology, Internet of Things engineering, intelligent science engineering and other new engineering, chip technology and optoelectronic communication engineering in the "5G" era, new media in the digital age and small languages related to the "Belt and Road" and other majors have attracted much attention, of which the most popular non-intelligent robots are the most popular.
The reason why these new majors have become popular is related to the strategic planning of the state to vigorously develop high-tech and occupy the world's new technology highlands on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is also closely related to the actual needs of national industrial transformation and technological upgrading. The "popularity" of these professions not only represents the development direction of future science and technology, but also means that the market demand for human resources in the future will also change accordingly.
Closely following the development trend of technology and market, these majors are of course also good choices.
On May 18, 2018, at the Industrial Robot Training Base of Rizhao Science and Technology Secondary Professional School, students tested the robots that had just been assembled.
In The view of Si Kejun, the change of hot and cold majors in universities is closely related to the continuous adjustment of the country's industrial structure, which reflects the actual needs of social and scientific and technological development, and also foresees the trend of future talent demand.
Many times, people attribute their success to their own factors and greatly underestimate the important role played by the dividends of the times. In fact, personal development has always been closely related to the course of the times.
How to listen to the pulse of the development of the times in the continuous choice may make the personal struggle and effort more directional.
Finally, Si Kejun would like to ask you: What major did you study back then, what kind of work do you do now, and how is your life?
(Some of the content refer to Xinhua Net, China Youth Net, etc. Editor: Xue Bili)