Why can't students from prestigious universities go to the grassroots? Respect personal choice
Recently, the Civil Service Bureau of Suzhou City, Anhui Province, released a list of candidates for this year's civil service examination. Among them, Su Zhen, a doctoral student from Stanford University, a world-class university, has become the focus of public attention. According to media reports, Su Zhen plans to be hired by the township government of Lingbi County under the jurisdiction of Suzhou City to serve as a grassroots affairs management position. According to the application requirements, after being hired, the personnel need to sign an agreement that they will not leave the township for 5 years.
In the past two years, every news about students from prestigious universities going to the grassroots level always attracts attention. Previously, doctoral students from Peking University and Tsinghua University were admitted to the street civil service system, and graduates from prestigious universities went to primary and secondary school teachers, which had triggered discussions on "whether it is a waste" and "whether it is necessary". In the eyes of many people, graduates from prestigious universities are "chosen ones". After years of hard study, they give up their majors and devote themselves to the grassroots level. Such "high opening and low closing" creates a "gap" with the former halo of prestigious universities and public expectations. However, it is not appropriate for bystanders to make a conclusion on whether it is a waste.
From the current news reports, we have no way of knowing the real reason why Su Zhen chose to work at the grassroots level, but there are two possible reasons for such a choice: one is a choice from the heart. Many years ago, the author interviewed a young man who chose to work as a village official in a rural area of Hunan after graduating from Yale University. As the "first college student to return to China to work as a village official after graduating from a world-renowned university", he had many job options when he graduated, and he also rejected an investment bank job with an annual salary of one million yuan and stayed in the countryside for several years. This once made his family feel unacceptable, but he admitted in the interview that working at the grassroots level made him feel that he could make ordinary people like his parents live a good life through hard work, which gave him a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
The other is based on realistic considerations. With the continuous popularization of higher education, the employment competition for graduates from prestigious universities is also very fierce. In such an employment context, starting from ordinary basic positions, even if it contains the helplessness of "having to do it", is also a pragmatic start, and we should respect such choices. In his early years, Peking University graduate Lu Buxuan sold pork, and was once a very miserable existence in the eyes of everyone. But facts have proved that for Lu Buxuan at the time, selling pork was not only a realistic choice for him to have no worries about food and clothing, but also allowed him to explore first-hand business strategies at the grassroots level, laying the foundation for his future cooperation with Guangzhou Pork King and Peking University alumnus Chen Sheng. Therefore, compared with the students from prestigious universities who "cannot take off their long gowns and cannot get off the high platform", the students from prestigious universities who choose to go to the grassroots are undoubtedly worthy of encouragement and admiration.
Of course, for the public, the feeling that it is not worth it for students from prestigious universities to go to the grassroots level also includes a reflection on current education: If the starting point of the career of a doctoral student from a prestigious university is a grassroots job, is it still necessary for today's children to go to a prestigious university?
Judging from the employment situation in recent years, if we simply use the input-output ratio to evaluate education and employment, it is an indisputable fact that the employment trends of some college students and students from prestigious universities cannot match the education investment of some families. However, how to optimize the talent training function of education and avoid too many young people competing for basic jobs after receiving higher education, resulting in a waste of overall human resources in society, is a topic that individuals, families and society need to think about and face together.
The experience of Jiang Ping, a "math genius" from a technical secondary school who has recently attracted much attention, actually provides some solutions. Jiang Ping, who was diverted to a technical secondary school after the junior high school entrance examination, was seen and praised for her concentration on mathematics. If she can succeed in her career, more individuals and families will let go of their obsession with higher education and believe in the possibility that "all roads lead to Rome."
So no matter what considerations the Stanford PhD had in mind when choosing to work at the grassroots level, his attempt deserves recognition and encouragement. The public's concerns about "whether it is necessary" and "whether it is a waste" have put forward new requirements and expectations for employers.
Grassroots work involves all kinds of details. After students from prestigious universities take up their posts, how local governments can make more reasonable arrangements in terms of work content and job settings to help them get trained and grow in grassroots work, avoid them being overwhelmed by trivial matters that have no technical content, and provide them with more opportunities to display their talents and give back to society is an issue that deserves continued public attention and discussion.
