Recently, it was reported on the Internet that an associate professor in the School of Ecology and Environment of a university in southern China committed suicide by taking medicine because he failed to pass the assessment of the first employment period and was demoted and reduced by the school, which caused heated public opinion.
Source: Weibo
The event is multi-faceted
According to the official WeChat account of the college, the teacher is a master's supervisor and an associate professor of the college. He holds a master's degree from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Peking University, and a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, where he has been working since 2019. After inquiry, there is no resume of the teacher on the school's official website.
The director of the school's environmental engineering department told the reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that the school does not have a policy of "either promotion or leaving", but only conducts normal assessment in accordance with the employment contract, and the teacher fails to pass the assessment and is demoted from associate professor to lecturer. At the same time, he said that ordinary teachers fail to pass the assessment, and there are corresponding measures, depending on the provisions of the employment contract.
According to the Beijing News, the teacher has returned 10,000 yuan of settling-in allowance for failing to meet the school's assessment requirements, which is an agreed clause in the employment contract. In the event of the teacher's death, the school will grant a family pension.
According to the screenshot of the online transmission, the teacher officially joined the school in April 2019 (high-level talent introduction, associate professor), but failed to pass the assessment during the first appointment period (4 years), and lacked a National Natural Science Foundation project.
Source: Little Red Book
In related interviews, relatives of the teacher said that he suffered from depression. For a long time, he was busy with work, writing funds (project applications). This also coincides with the above information.
According to the school's official website, the school will assess the high-level talents introduced after the expiration of the first employment period from nine aspects, including teacher ethics, moral cultivation, teaching work, scientific research work, discipline construction, scientific and technological development and achievement transformation, academic part-time work, foreign exchanges and the use of funds.
The school's initial employment assessment method is clear, and the introduction of high-level talents is managed by agreement, and the initial employment period is generally 3-4 years. The school and the introduced talents sign the "Agreement on the Introduction of Teachers", and the assessment is carried out according to the agreement. The total score of the assessment is 100 points, of which 50 points are for scientific research projects and 50 points for papers. The assessment score is 100 points, and the remaining housing purchase subsidy will be issued at one time; The assessment score of 75 points and above is basically qualified, and the remaining housing purchase subsidy will not be issued, and those who enjoy the treatment will be demoted and appointed. If the assessment score is less than 75 points, it will not be re-employed, or it will be conditionally demoted and appointed by both parties.
Green pepper tangible pressure
It is reported that this associate professor was born in July 1986 and was not yet 38 years old. In the first year of its establishment, he chose to dedicate his heart and soul to the cause of scientific research, but in the end it ended in tragedy, which is really embarrassing.
Behind the incident, there is still the same cliché topic - the tangible pressure faced by college green peppers.
As we all know, there are at least three hurdles for PhDs to gain a firm foothold in colleges and universities.
First, the entry standards for college teachers are strict, and smooth entry is a hurdle;
Second, in the early days, there was a lot of green pepper and little money, and it was a hurdle to maintain a living;
Third, the time constraints for various assessments are high, and the application for funds is also a hurdle.
With the popularization and development of higher education, the demand for university teachers is increasing, and doctoral graduates are far exceeding the demand for university recruitment.
This phenomenon undoubtedly makes the matter of becoming a green pepper like a single-plank bridge crossed by thousands of troops, and the competition has become extremely fierce. Even if you have an excellent academic background and research results, you may not be able to successfully enter the ranks of university teaching.
Among them, age is one of the "hard rules" that are the most headache for fresh doctors, and many colleges and universities require that the age is not more than 35 years old when recruiting, and some head universities have even reached the age of 32. The same is true of the associate professor in the previous article, who joined in 2019 and is already 33 years old, which is not far from the 35-year-old mark.
The second thing to say is that among young teachers teaching in colleges and universities, there is a common phenomenon - "more work and less money". In addition to teaching and scientific research, green peppers often need to undertake a lot of administrative work, school services and other miscellaneous work, which is a great challenge to time and energy. But at the same time, the income they get is not satisfactory, this situation is difficult not to suppress the enthusiasm of green peppers, and it is easy to affect their dedication and enthusiasm for work, and related complaints abound.
Source: Zhihu
However, more pressure is yet to come. The road to promotion in colleges and universities is arduous, and it often needs to go through a professional title evaluation cycle of several years or even longer. This long wait not only tested personal patience and perseverance, but also brought heavy psychological pressure to the green peppers. In the face of "either promotion or departure" and "employment period assessment", promotion or elimination? Anxiety and confusion rushed over the world. The standards and processes for the evaluation of professional titles are cumbersome and complex, which requires a lot of time and energy from Qingjiao, and may even affect personal research and teaching work.
Included in the pressure of assessment is the big problem of applying for fund projects. In the application of scientific research projects, the support of the fund can effectively promote the output of research results and the improvement of academic influence, and more importantly, it can become a KPI in the assessment, which plays a key role, but the application process of the fund is not easy. The challenges of writing the right application materials, finding the right partners, and ensuring the scientific and innovative design of the project make the application a hurdle for young teachers.
How to relieve stress
In any case, the tragedy makes us sigh, and it is worth pondering whether the physical pressure faced by university teachers is the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
So, how can we effectively relieve these pressures before tragedy strikes? Here are some suggestions:
1. Reasonable planning of working hours:
Arrange the time of each task reasonably to avoid overwork and procrastination.
Take regular breaks to ensure your body is fully recovered.
2. Strive to improve teaching skills and work efficiency:
Through continuous learning and summarizing experience, master advanced teaching methods and strategies.
3. Build good interpersonal relationships:
Establish good communication and cooperation with colleagues, students and parents to solve problems together.
4. Adjust your work mentality and lifestyle:
Maintain a positive and optimistic attitude and learn to adjust your mindset to face challenges at work.
Arrange working hours and rest periods reasonably to maintain physical and mental health.
5. Seek external support:
Seek support and advice from family, friends, or professionals to relieve stress.
6. Focus on personal growth and career development:
Focus on your career path and set clear goals and plans.
By participating in training, seminars and other activities, we will continuously improve our professionalism and competitiveness.
For colleges and universities, schools should also establish a scientific and reasonable assessment and evaluation mechanism to objectively evaluate the teaching quality and effect of teachers; To provide a platform for communication and cooperation to facilitate interaction and learning among teachers; provide training and support in teaching skills to enhance teachers' teaching and learning; Most intuitively, psychological counseling services can be set up to provide mental health support for teachers. All of this helps to reduce unnecessary stress on teachers and allows them to focus more on teaching and research.
Source: Academic Bridge Comprehensive from the school's official website, Beijing News, China Youth Daily, China Youth Network, Weibo, Zhihu, Xiaohongshu, etc