Text | Lin Yanqing Wang Yitao (Researcher, Soochow Think Tank, Soochow University)
In recent years, in a large number of application-oriented undergraduate universities, private undergraduate universities and higher vocational colleges in mainland China, in-service teachers and some fresh graduates have gone to Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and other neighboring countries to study for doctoral degrees. The quality of doctoral training in some universities in these countries is relatively high, but the quality of doctoral training in some universities is much lower than that in the mainland, which has the characteristics of "rapid development". This phenomenon requires urgent attention.
There is a trend of expansion and flooding
Overall, the so-called "Dr. Crash" has the following characteristics.
First, the entry threshold is low and the graduation requirements are low. His school has no rigid requirements for the language and scientific research foundation of doctoral candidates, and almost anyone who wants to read it can read it, and there are often no or low requirements for publishing papers when they graduate.
Second, the learning time is short. Overseas universities are allowed to study for a doctorate on a full-time basis, and study for 2~3 months during the winter and summer vacations every year, and doctoral programs in some universities can be graduated in 2~2.5 years. During the new crown epidemic, in-service teachers in some universities in China even only need to take online classes to obtain a doctorate.
Third, most of the doctoral supervisors are university teachers in mainland China or Taiwan, and some overseas universities have very low requirements for doctoral supervisors, and domestic university teachers with doctoral degrees can become doctoral supervisors of these projects.
Fourth, most of the majors studied are philosophy, management, education and other humanities and social sciences related majors. Due to the small number of doctoral enrollment targets allocated to the humanities and social sciences in China, teachers in related fields have few opportunities to study for PhDs, so they will look for PhD opportunities in neighboring countries.
Based on the above characteristics, the training quality of "Doctor Crash" can be imagined. However, in recent years, such doctorates are becoming more and more proliferating in countries around the mainland. The author's survey in some provinces in China found that in each of the surveyed provinces, there are university teachers who go to neighboring countries to study for PhDs. For example, a university in Guangxi has introduced a total of 20 doctors in the past two years, of which 19 are doctors from neighboring countries. In 2023 alone, 20 in-service teachers from a private university in Guangdong will go to a university in Malaysia to study for a doctorate. It is estimated that the total number of university teachers in Guangdong Province studying for PhDs in neighboring countries in 2023 will be more than 2,000.
At the same time, the number of Chinese university teachers going to neighboring countries to pursue doctoral studies continues to expand. According to the Ministry of Education, as of 2022, the number of Chinese students pursuing doctoral degrees in South Korea was 10,711, compared with 3,636 in 2018. Most of these people are in-service teachers in domestic universities.
In addition, before 2022, many colleges and universities will "form groups" for their teachers to go to neighboring countries to study for "accelerated doctorates". For fear of triggering public opinion, few universities do this again, but they tacitly acquiesce in or encourage individual teachers to go to neighboring countries to study for PhDs, and many universities also provide subsidies or reimbursements for teachers.
Multiple negative effects
The reason for the existence of "accelerated doctorate" is that various assessments and incentives in domestic universities require teachers to have a doctorate, but many teachers have no way to study for a doctorate in China, so they can only choose to study for a doctorate in neighboring countries.
On the one hand, many existing policies require the proportion of doctoral degree teachers in universities. For example, the Basic Conditions for the Review of Applications for Degree Authorization (2020) stipulates that, in addition to arts and sports colleges, the proportion of full-time teachers with doctoral degrees shall not be less than 40% of the basic conditions for the application of new master's degree-granting institutions. Another example is the Interim Regulations on the Establishment of Ordinary Undergraduate Schools promulgated in 2006, which clearly states that the proportion of full-time teachers with doctoral degrees in universities should generally reach more than 20% of the total number of full-time teachers.
In addition, the conformity assessment and audit evaluation of undergraduate colleges and universities also put forward requirements for the number and proportion of teachers with doctoral degrees. Since it is difficult for application-oriented universities, private undergraduate universities and vocational colleges to attract excellent doctors, it is a better choice to encourage in-service teachers to pursue doctoral degrees.
On the other hand, the current policy of the mainland has relatively strict control over the doctoral enrollment index. When colleges and universities allocate enrollment indicators to doctoral supervisors, they should also consider them comprehensively according to the supervisor's vertical and horizontal projects, scientific research funds, training quality, etc., which leads to the situation of "more doctoral supervisors and fewer doctoral indicators" in reality, and the ratio of doctoral enrollment in many universities is far more than 10:1. As a result, many university teachers have no way to study for PhDs in China.
Despite the above reasons, the industrialization and mass production of "quick doctors" will still bring multiple negative impacts. In this regard, we have learned from the past.
For example, in February 2022, a college in Hebei selected 13 doctors from South Korean universities, and in July of the same year, a college in Hunan spent a huge amount of money to introduce 23 doctors from a Philippine university, but these doctors were all in-service teachers of these two universities, which caused an uproar. Under this public opinion, teachers who are studying for doctoral degrees in neighboring countries are also "restless", worried that the final doctorate will not be recognized.
At present, in order to meet the development needs of upgrading, degree application, internationalization and other development needs, some universities in mainland China urgently need to introduce doctors, and often lack serious review of such "accelerated doctors". A large number of "accelerated doctors" have entered the teaching team, which will inevitably affect the construction of the teaching staff of mainland colleges and universities.
At the same time, the tuition fee for doctoral degrees in overseas universities is generally about 100,000 yuan, but many teachers often spend more than 500,000 yuan to obtain relevant doctoral degrees, including intermediary consulting fees, application fees, international student registration fees, etc., which undoubtedly wastes valuable education funds and nourishes the gray industry chain of overseas doctoral training.
In addition, most of the "customers" of the "Crash Doctor" program carried out by neighboring countries on the mainland are domestic university teachers. In July 2023, Thailand announced that the number of international students pursuing doctoral studies in Thailand in the first semester of the 2022 academic year was 7,639. Among them, 5,948 Chinese students, accounting for 77.86%. A large number of university teachers have gone to neighboring countries to study for "accelerated doctorates", which not only damages the image of mainland university teachers, but also seriously affects the status of mainland higher education in the world.
We will take multiple measures to promote the reform of the education system
In order to curb the proliferation of "accelerated doctors", it is necessary to take multiple measures to promote the optimization and reform of the doctoral education system in the mainland.
First of all, we should implement the policy requirements of "breaking the five only and setting new standards", promote the classification and evaluation of colleges and universities, focus on guiding colleges and universities to focus on their own development positioning, condense the characteristics of running schools, improve the quality of teaching, and embark on a unique new path of running a school. In all kinds of evaluation, evaluation documents or policy formulation, dilute or reduce the proportion structure of doctoral teachers, do not put forward higher requirements for the number, and can focus on the proportion of professional titles.
Continue to explore the establishment of evaluation standards for new undergraduate universities, dilute quantitative indicators such as the number of papers included, citation rate, and number of awards, and highlight the cultivation of corresponding professional ability and practical application ability. Let the evaluation of teachers return to the value of ability, adhere to the ability-based, academic qualifications first, highlight the actual performance of education and teaching, not only pay attention to academic achievements, but also pay attention to academic contributions, social influence and support for talent training.
Secondly, the evaluation standards for the quality of transnational education should be optimized, and the management of academic certification of overseas doctoral degrees should be strengthened.
Domestic universities and overseas students should make good use of the Catalogue of Disciplines of Overseas Universities (Humanities and Social Sciences), the mainland's first transnational higher education quality assessment framework promulgated in August 2023, to fully understand the education quality, level and strength of relevant disciplines of overseas universities when introducing talents or upgrading academic qualifications.
It is suggested to further strengthen the management of academic certification for overseas doctors. On the one hand, in cooperation with academic certification institutions in other countries, an information sharing platform should be established to realize the linkage and cooperation in the management of overseas doctoral degree certification; on the other hand, for some overseas universities, in addition to the regular application and certification materials, detailed materials such as language proficiency, transcripts, proof of learning experience, teaching mode, graduation thesis, defense process and certificate of passage should also be submitted if necessary to strengthen the certification review.
Thirdly, we should improve the layout of doctoral degree authorization points, and focus on increasing the number of professional doctoral degree students. Appropriately lower the entry threshold, appropriately increase the number of doctoral authorization points, and increase the enrollment index of doctoral students.
In November 2023, the "Opinions of the Ministry of Education on Further Promoting the Development of the Classification of Graduate Education for Academic Degrees and Professional Degrees" pointed out that in the future, it is necessary to "significantly increase the number of doctoral degree students". Relevant departments should implement the relevant spirit in the selection of doctoral degree authorization points in 2024, and significantly increase the number of professional doctoral degree authorization points and enrollment. A more scientific, standardized and fair mode and method of doctoral enrollment plan allocation should be adopted to further optimize the allocation of higher education resources, stimulate the enthusiasm of doctoral supervisors for scientific research, and improve the quality of doctoral training.
Finally, it is necessary to strengthen the quality of doctoral education and maintain the international reputation of doctoral education in mainland China. It is necessary to solve the problem of the source of doctoral students and attract more outstanding master's students to stay in China for doctoral studies. When recruiting students, they should not simply be admitted based on test scores, but should focus on evaluating candidates' academic interests and innovation potential. Strengthen the construction of the supervisor team, pay attention to the academic vitality of teachers and the frontier of research work, and let more outstanding teachers participate in doctoral education. Promote the exchange and cooperation of doctoral students, break through the boundaries of disciplines, build an interdisciplinary platform, and actively sponsor doctoral students to carry out exchanges and cooperative research in world-class universities. In terms of doctoral degree evaluation, the power should be further decentralized, and academic judgment should be the responsibility of scholars in various fields. The second-level academic units of the department should have more power and responsibility in evaluating the level of doctoral dissertations.