Only 500,000 yuan of settlement allowance of 1 million yuan is given and they still have to queue up. Are young college teachers trapped in the "promote or leave" situation? Some people’s first month’s salary is only 2,750 yuan

Recently, the suicide of Song Kai, a young teacher at Nanjing Forestry University, triggered heated discussions among netizens. Some netizens believe that Song Kai's suicide was related to the school's "promote or leave" policy and the refund of housing allowance if he did not pass the assessment period.

On the evening of May 13, the Beijing News published an article saying that according to insiders, Nanjing Forestry University does not have a "promote or leave" policy. Song Kai did not pass the assessment before, but was not demoted and remained an associate professor until his death. According to the previous contract, Song Kai refunded part of the settlement fee, "but the amount is definitely not large", and Song Kai "voluntarily cooperated in the refund." The report also stated that Song Kai suffers from severe depression, has had the disease since high school, and has been taking antidepressant drugs all year round.

However, Song Kai's suicide still caused a stir in the doctoral circle and the circle of young university teachers. This incident once again made the public pay attention to the survival and development of young university teachers.

In recent years, most colleges and universities in my country have implemented a quasi-permanent appointment system for young teachers. This system was originally introduced from the tenure system in the United States. The purpose is to break the traditional lifetime employment system under the university establishment system, promote the flow of talents, and inspire Teacher work vitality.

So, why does the flexible employment mechanism that was originally supposed to be implemented after the reform arouse heated discussions among young university teachers today? What kind of pressure does it mean for them to leave if they are not promoted, to transfer if they are not promoted, to refund the settling-in fee, to set an assessment period, etc.? Dahe Daily·Yu Video "See" reporter talked to many young university teachers who have experienced or are currently experiencing it, and listened to their voices.

Li Wei, who just joined a double first-class university in the central region this year, is quite satisfied with the school's current method of introducing high-level talents.

Li Wei's major is in the humanities and social sciences. According to him, the system in which his school introduces young teachers is the one adopted by most colleges and universities in China - "promote or transfer", which is a flexible policy between fixed staffing and "promote or leave". . This means that if young teachers cannot complete the set tasks during the assessment period, they will face the problem of transfer. If they do not accept the transfer, the school will not renew their employment.

There are three reasons why Li Wei is satisfied with the school's current policies: first, the goals during the assessment period are within his acceptable range; second, the salary package provided by the school is better, including a higher basic salary, a one-time relocation allowance, etc.; third, The remuneration between the "iron rice bowl" old teachers and the new teachers is balanced. That is, as long as the newcomers perform well in scientific research, their salary will even exceed that of the old teachers with a fixed establishment.

Li Wei said frankly that the task requirements during the three-year assessment period are not difficult for teachers in the humanities and social sciences, but the pressure they young teachers have to face is not just in scientific research. “Our pressure is compound. For example, young teachers After joining the company, you have to do some administrative work, participate in teaching work, and are forced to participate in various competitions such as innovation and entrepreneurship, etc. This will shorten your scientific research time and affect the completion of the assessment period. "

In addition, Levi said that the high-level talent introduction policies stipulated by various universities are now different. This has a lot to do with the region where the school is located, the level and popularity of the school, and the management ideas of the school leaders.

Li Wei frankly said that if the university is located in an economically developed area and is a double-first-class prestigious university, its settlement allowance and other benefits will be lower than that of universities in other areas, and the assessment standards will be relatively higher. "Ph.D. students who choose to go to these schools value more As a school platform, famous schools provide a broader scientific research platform, but their scientific research pressure will also be greater.”

On the contrary, ordinary universities in economically underdeveloped areas will use millions of resettlement allowances and lower assessment standards to attract doctoral students.

Wang Bingbing, one of the people attracted by the million-dollar settlement allowance, joined an ordinary university in the southwest a year earlier than Li Wei.

"I fell into a trap with the settlement allowance promised by the school." Wang Bingbing said that when her university introduced high-level talents, it promised a settlement allowance of 1 million yuan, but when she signed the contract, the school stated that the settlement allowance Only 500,000 yuan. Wang Bingbing had no choice but to accept the offer because she wanted to settle in her hometown. However, after joining the job, the school stated that she could only receive the money if she bought a house locally. Subsequently, Wang Bingbing went to the Finance Department with the house purchase contract in accordance with the school's requirements, but was told that the school could not approve the money now and had to wait in line.

In addition, Wang Bingbing said that some of her classmates only learned when they started working that the high settlement allowance promised by the school included the provident fund that the school should pay.

Wang Bingbing said: "Now I have bought a house here and signed a work contract with the school. If I leave my job during the service period, I will have to pay liquidated damages. I am really trapped here."

Wang Bingbing said frankly that she hopes colleges and universities will have fewer routines and be more sincere.

Chen Xia, a young teacher who once worked at a double first-class university in the south, claims to be a rare person who escapes from the routine of universities.

The university where Chen Xia joined at the time had promised to provide young teachers with a settlement allowance of 800,000 yuan, but it had to be paid in ten years. If he resigned within ten years, he would have to return the settlement allowance in full. Chen Xia said that her monthly basic salary is very low, and her first month's salary was only 2,750 yuan.

After working for two years, Chen Xia chose to leave. There were two main reasons for her resignation: one was that the scientific research environment deviated too much from her expectations; the other was that material benefits such as salary and benefits were too poor.

After resigning, Chen Xia returned the settlement allowance he had received for two years and compensated liquidated damages.

Chen Xia later calculated that, excluding the money returned to the university, she had made a net profit of 80,000 yuan in the two years she worked. "When I told my parents about it, they didn't believe it at first, and then they were silent for a moment and said, 'Don't tell anyone.'"

Chen Xia has now resigned and started her own business, but she admitted that 80% of her classmates are still under siege in major universities.

According to Chen Xia and her classmates, the main problem faced by engineering PhD students is that they must produce results within the three-year assessment period. In fact, their professional experimental cycle generally takes two years or more. Write a paper based on the results, submit it to a journal, return it for revision, and wait for publication. Even if this process goes smoothly, it will take at least a year.

To produce results within a short three-year assessment period is a huge pressure for these engineering Ph.D.s.

In addition, in addition to the short assessment period, the heavy tasks during the assessment period are also a big mountain that weighs on these "green peppers". A doctor once publicly complained that during his two years as a young teacher in a university, he needed to publish three core articles and successfully apply for at least two National Natural Science Foundation of China projects. Otherwise, he would face a "promotion or resignation" and a refund of 800,000 yuan to settle down. issues such as fees and partial wages.

Chen Xia said that after she resigned, many classmates and friends came to her for consultation on resignation-related matters. "They also want to get out of the circle of universities, but to be honest, most PhDs now no longer have other skills besides scientific research and writing articles, and they can no longer adapt to other jobs after resigning and returning to society."

Chen Xia later said that even if these teachers want to leave, the school may not let them go easily.

According to Chen Xia and many self-media bloggers on the Internet who talked about the current situation of the resignation of young teachers in colleges and universities through their personal experiences and hearings, many young teachers in colleges and universities are currently "recorded" by the school when they leave. This is an invisible way for some colleges and universities to retain young talents.

"I have a friend who originally planned to change jobs to another employer, but she didn't expect that the school would not return her file for a long time, which made her unable to re-employ normally. In the end, she had no choice but to return to her original employer and continued to work unwillingly."

Chen Xia said that she has seen teachers who abandoned all dignity and went to the principal's office crying and asking for their files back. She has also seen colleagues who worked hard to litigate with the school but got nothing in the end. "It's hard for teachers to win the lawsuit," she said. ”

Experts recommend paying attention to teachers’ right to choose and bargain

Zhang Yang, a doctoral student who graduated from a top 985 university in the north last year and was just admitted to the civil service, said frankly that he really couldn't get involved in the competition for young teachers in colleges and universities, and he also felt that he could not meet the assessment goals set by major universities for young teachers. So I had no choice but to change the track.

Qian Jiang, who will graduate from a finance major at a double first-class university in the central region next June, said that influenced by friends with PhDs who have already joined state-owned enterprises, he plans to focus on finding a job in the second half of this year and devote his main energy to state-owned enterprises, Civil service recruitment.

These doctoral students who had been working in this major for several years had no choice but to give up scientific research.

In fact, in recent years, the quasi-permanent employment system implemented by colleges and universities has been arousing heated discussions. Many young teachers have been dissatisfied with the many rules independently formulated by colleges and universities such as "promote or leave" and "promote or transfer".

To sum up, there are three types of requirements for "green pepper" by colleges and universities: paper publication, project application and teaching hours. In addition, dismissal regulations vary, such as "promotion or transfer", "short-term employment", "low-level employment", etc., which are all compromise methods of "promotion or departure". Some universities have also begun to implement a pre-appointment system for associate professors. For example, for associate professors recruited through social recruitment, when it is difficult to measure the "gold content" of their professional titles, they will sign a pre-appointment associate professor contract. Only those who meet the conditions can participate in the evaluation of permanent associate professors.

According to "Lookout" news weekly, Guo Xiaoan, dean of the School of Journalism at Chongqing University, said that the pre-employment long-term appointment system is a screening mechanism rather than an elimination mechanism. The main purpose of implementing this system is to "retain the majority and divert the very few." , hoping that through the assessment of a certain amount of tasks, more opportunities and space for growth will be given to talented, courageous and capable young talents.

A university staff member engaged in administrative management said: "If the assessment standards are used well, they can maximize the enthusiasm of young teachers for teaching and scientific research and cultivate a group of higher education workers with real talents and practical knowledge. If they are not used well, it may affect The career path planning choices of young teachers and the scientific research atmosphere in the academic field will even affect the student experience. "

However, from relevant social events that have occurred in recent years, such as Taiyuan Normal University’s implementation of “the introduction of high-level talents who do not pass the assessment period will be transferred to logistics, security and other positions”, it can be seen that teachers during the pre-appointment period are under great physical and mental pressure , unreasonable assessment indicators and other problems have surfaced.

Wang Siyi, associate professor at the Institute of Educational Management and Policy at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with The Paper that the current practice of universities unilaterally setting up "overlord treaties" and punitive compensation clauses in employment contracts completely ignores teachers' right to choose and bargain. rights, the legitimacy and rationality of the system itself are also questionable.

Wang Siyi believes that changes can be made from the following aspects: First, improve the internal control mechanism and external supervision mechanism of universities to regulate the exercise of personnel autonomy in universities, and restrict the personnel management departments of universities from unilaterally and compulsorily setting the tenure of teachers. , assessment requirements and employment obligations. The second is to rationally design evaluation standards and assessment cycles, appropriately reduce the frequency of assessments, and establish a reasonable assessment and evaluation cycle based on full consideration of disciplinary differences. The third is to improve the supporting guarantee system and exit transfer mechanism of "either upgrade or leave". For teachers who have failed in promotion and are facing dismissal, colleges and universities should improve the corresponding exit transfer mechanism and compensation system, do a good job in mutual recognition of professional titles and salary integration, promote the re-employment of resigned teachers through employment recommendations and other methods, and provide more opportunities for teachers who have left. Multiple career development opportunities.

In addition, according to "Lookout" news weekly, Chen Yang, associate professor at the School of Journalism at Renmin University of China, believes that it is necessary to create a more relaxed and well-intentioned working environment for young teachers in colleges and universities, so that more young teachers have the confidence and courage to engage in basic research for a long time. , "cold bench" research.

Guo Xiaoan said that when young teachers enter the workplace for the first time, they are also faced with identity changes and psychological adjustments. They must strive to create a workplace environment that allows young teachers to have a greater sense of belonging, security and integration. They must care, love and guide more. Let assessment become the driving force that motivates them to make continuous progress, rather than a sword hanging above their heads.