In today's world, the competition in comprehensive national strength is, in the final analysis, a competition for qualified personnel.
Although China has a population of 1.4 billion, it is not as good as the United States, which has a population of only 330 million, in terms of high-end talent accumulation.
Some experts pointed out that China selects talents from 1.4 billion, while the United States selects talents from 7.7 billion.
Why is this? How big is the gap between China and the United States?
«——·The current situation of the talent gap between China and the United States·——»
As the world's most populous country, China has a population base of 1.4 billion, which means that a large number of outstanding talents are produced every year, China's college entrance examination system is known as one of the world's fair and just talent selection mechanisms, every year millions of candidates enter the country's top universities with their own strength, these students are undoubtedly the future pillars of various fields.
However, it is regrettable that among these "top students", many of them choose to study abroad for further study, or even simply stay abroad for development, and the key reason for this is that the United States has a strong advantage in attracting talents.
The United States, with its perfect education system and abundant investment in scientific research, has attracted top talents from all over the world, and among the top 100 universities in the world, the United States occupies 28, which means that the United States can select talents from the world's 7.7 billion people, compared to China, which can only be selected among the 1.4 billion people.
More importantly, the United States has also mastered some effective measures to retain these world's top talents, such as providing preferential remuneration and sufficient research funding for scientific researchers, and building a fair and reasonable promotion mechanism, all of which have greatly enhanced the "talent magnetic field" of the United States, making it difficult for many Chinese students to resist the temptation of the United States even after completing their undergraduate studies in China.
At the same time, there are also some differences between China and the United States in talent training, the United States pays more attention to science and engineering, especially the education of physics and mathematics, which is the foundation of many high-tech fields, while in contrast, Chinese schools pay too much attention to English teaching, resulting in students learning in key courses such as mathematics, physics and chemistry are relatively weak, which also invisibly prompts more Chinese students to choose to study in the United States to study related majors.
Therefore, the United States has relied on its own institutional advantages and scientific and educational advantages to occupy the commanding heights in the global competition for talent, and China has gradually fallen behind in this "battle." The continuous widening of this talent pool gap will undoubtedly pose a severe challenge to China's scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading.
In a sense, the talent gap between China and the United States has become a key variable affecting the comprehensive national strength of the two countries.
An important reason why the United States has been able to occupy the commanding heights of scientific and technological innovation for a long time is its huge international talent pool. The president of Harvard University once said, "Our mission is to bring together the brightest minds in the world to solve the great challenges facing humanity." "
Under the guidance of this concept, American universities and scientific research institutions have gathered a large number of top international talents, who have continuously made breakthroughs in basic science, applied technology and other fields, leading the wave of global scientific and technological revolution.
In contrast, there is still a big gap between China and the United States in terms of the quantity and quality of talent, and although China produces far more science and engineering graduates each year than the United States, there is still a considerable gap between China and the United States in terms of basic research and original innovation.
In the list of winners of the world's top scientific and technological awards such as the Nobel Prize, the Turing Award, and the Fields Medal, the figure of the Chinese is still very rare, and it can be said that China has a long way to go to achieve breakthroughs in key core technologies and occupy an advantage in the talent competition with the United States.
«——·The Root of Brain Drain·——»
What has led to the massive loss of Chinese talent? In this regard, Qiu Zhenhai pointed out that although China is a fertile land for creating wealth, there are shortcomings in retaining talent, which is closely related to the overall social environment.
In contrast, scientific research institutions in the United States can provide researchers with generous remuneration packages, sufficient research funding, fair promotion channels, coupled with a sound intellectual property protection system and an inclusive and open human environment, which naturally makes many scientists flock to it. On the other hand, although China has paid more and more attention to scientific research investment and talent policies in recent years, there are still many constraints in practical implementation.
In addition, China's education in basic disciplines, especially mathematics, physics and chemistry, is still inferior to that of the United States, with too much emphasis on English exams and neglect the cultivation of mathematical and logical abilities, which makes it difficult for students' innovative thinking and practical ability to be fully developed, which also affects the originality and forward-looking nature of China's basic research to a certain extent.
Another problem that cannot be ignored is that there is still a general trend of seniority in Chinese academic circles. Some young people with real talents and real learning, because of their lack of background and qualifications, are not given the importance and play they deserve, and over time they become discouraged and turn to foreign scientific research institutions that pay more attention to strength and performance, thus forming a vicious circle.
In view of this, Qiu Zhenhai, a well-known Chinese expert, once bluntly said: "The key to the gap between China and the United States lies in talent!" Qiu Zhenhai believes that China is far inferior to the United States in terms of talent accumulation, which is mainly reflected in two aspects:
First, China selects talents from 1.4 billion people, while the United States selects talents from 7.7 billion people in the world, which is destined to create a huge gap in terms of "stock".
Second, many of the outstanding talents cultivated by Chinese universities choose to go to the United States for further study, and eventually settle in the United States to work for the United States, while it is difficult for China to retain these talents, and the brain drain is serious.
Qiu Zhenhai's warning has aroused widespread concern, after all, talent is the fundamental driving force for national development, and if China's "blood transfusion" is given to the United States, it will undoubtedly seriously affect the mainland's overall strength, and some experts have even pointed out in depth that Peking University and Tsinghua University have become a "training class" for famous European and American universities.
This phenomenon of brain drain is not only related to the strong attraction of the United States, but also related to some problems in China, such as academic corruption and unhealthy tendencies such as seniority based on seniority, all of which to a certain extent have squeezed out the space for outstanding talents to pursue development and prompted them to choose to leave the motherland.
«——·China's Talent Breakthrough ·——»
Faced with this situation, China must take strong measures to retain and attract talent, and effectively narrow the gap with the United States in terms of talent pool.
First of all, it is necessary to further optimize the domestic scientific research environment, and we must severely punish the problems of academic fraud and seniority, so that the personnel engaged in scientific research can have a stage of fair competition, and at the same time, we must also greatly increase the remuneration of scientific research personnel, so that they can focus on their research work with peace of mind.
Secondly, we should vigorously attract outstanding talents from all over the world to China, on the one hand, we can further optimize the relevant policies for foreign students in China, and provide more scholarships and living subsidies; On the other hand, it is also necessary to learn from the practice of the United States and use a flexible green card policy to attract top talents from all over the world to develop in China.
Furthermore, it is necessary to establish respect and recognition for local talents, such as through large-scale publicity and positive guidance, and constantly enhance the people's sense of identity and pride in independent innovation and independent development, so that more young people can embrace the cause of the motherland while also being fully affirmed by the society.
At the same time, China should make full use of its unique advantages, such as under the "Belt and Road" and other major initiatives, to build more exchange and cooperation platforms for global talents, so that they can truly feel China's growing international influence.
«——·Conclusion·——»
In this era of competition, talent has become the commanding heights of national competition, China, a large country with a population of 1.4 billion, is facing unprecedented challenges, we have huge human resources, but in the competition of high-end talents, but do not have an advantage.
For a long time, China's brain drain has plagued the country's development, and groups of outstanding young people, with a thirst for knowledge and a vision for the future, have gone abroad to study abroad, but when they have achieved success, they are faced with a difficult choice: whether to return to the embrace of the motherland?
It is true that the superior scientific research conditions and perfect social welfare system of developed countries have a strong attraction to them. Some choose to stay in a foreign country and pursue their dreams in life. Others, although full of ambition to serve the country, will inevitably retreat in the face of various practical difficulties at home.
Talent is quietly draining, which is a dangerous signal, which indicates that China may gradually lose its advantage in the future international competition.
In the face of such a situation, we must not sit idly by, but must take resolute and effective measures to curb the trend of brain drain as soon as possible and accumulate strength for the country's long-term development.
If China wants to win the first opportunity in this war for talent, it must take a more open attitude and more pragmatic measures to shape the "strong magnetic field" of talent development in an all-round way.
Only by recruiting talents, making good use of talents, and allowing everyone with dreams to find their own stage here, can China win the initiative in the future competition and achieve higher quality and more sustainable development.
Let us be full of confidence and forge ahead on the road of "talent power", when China's talent advantages are fully released, when China's innovation achievements amaze the world, we can proudly say: it is the talent that has created the dream of rejuvenation of this great nation!
Talent is the foundation of a country's development, and without talent, it is difficult to achieve scientific and technological innovation, and it is even more difficult to maintain the continuous improvement of comprehensive strength. There is a huge gap between China and the United States in terms of talent pools, which will also directly affect the future competition between the two countries.
China must take effective measures to compensate for this disadvantage by retaining and attracting talent, and lay a solid foundation for the country's long-term development. Let us all hope that in this "war for talents", China will finally be able to overtake in the corners and write a more brilliant chapter.