Excessive pressure and unclear standards!How to tear off the "negative label" when you go or go?

Text ｜ "China Science News" reporter Chen Bin

"Which schools are you talking about? Am I still have the opportunity to" change jobs'? "

Not long ago, many universities including Nanjing Information Engineering University, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Tianmu Lake Campus, Zhejiang University of Technology, and other universities. 'System. After learning about this, Zhang Jie (pseudonym), assistant professor of a domestic university, subconsciously asked the question of the reporter of the China Science News.

"Non -rising or going", also known as the "pre -hiring -long -term hire" system, refers to colleges and universities to give new teachers for several annual trial periods, and sign a short -term "pre -employment" contract. The sequence of long hiring "sequence, obtaining lifelong teaching positions, otherwise, must leave.

As a screening system adopted by a university to promote the academic output of teachers, the "non -rising or rising" was introduced from the West at the beginning of this century. It has now "blooming everywhere" in domestic universities. According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 100 "double first -class" universities that have been implemented or partially implemented.

However, many universities have recently emphasized not to implement "non -rising or going". What is the reason behind it? Why do these universities that say "no" to the system make some teachers "bearing"?

It has become a "competitive advantage" without the need to go to "go or go"?

A noteworthy phenomenon is that in the recruitment of colleges and universities that are difficult to count in China, there are only a few who indicate that they do not implement "non -rising or leaving", but many of them have prominently handled the relevant terms.

For example, in its "2022 High -level Talent Recruitment Book", Chongqing Post and Telecommunications University uses the content of "adopting 'advanced stations and re -editing' talents, and does not adopt the recruitment mode such as" non -promotion and walking "." "Important Tips" was marked with bold fonts; Nanjing Information Engineering University not only changed the relevant content, but even the color was replaced with more eye -catching red.

Obviously, the use of "non -rising or walking" has become a "highlight" that the above universities will attract the attention of outstanding talents when recruiting.

In this regard, the reporter of the China Science News tried to contact some colleges and universities, but they were declined. However, some college staff revealed to reporters that the reason why their colleges and universities made such a decision is just because some of the schools of the school have just established, hoping to increase their attractiveness to certain talents. When the time is mature in the future, the school will still implement "non -rising or going."

From the perspective of Liu Jin, an associate researcher at the School of Humanities of Beijing Institute of Technology who has been paying attention to college teachers for a long time, the above statement represents the mentality of many colleges and universities.

"It must be clear that several schools '" written rejection' of the 'non -rising or going "system does not mean that this system has ushered in the so -called' inflection point '. This system is still the general trend of the reform of the teachers' system of domestic universities." Liu Jin said that the main reason for the above phenomenon can be summarized as the following two points.

The first is that the internal mechanism of some universities has not been rare. Liu Jin bluntly stated that if you want to implement it smoothly, you need a strong condition guarantee. After all, it is a difficult process to change the original institutional inertia and break the teacher's "iron rice bowl" thinking. Need the cooperation of various systems in the school. "Many universities are not ready to prepare."

Secondly, for some teachers' dissatisfaction with domestic "non -rising or rising", some colleges and universities hope to "do the opposite" in the academic labor market and form their own "competitive advantages".

"Even if the" non -rising or going ", the above universities will definitely have the assessment and diversion of teachers, but this expression can make the candidate a sense of guarantee. In a sense, this is actually a kind of one. 'Marketing method'. "Liu Jin said.

In this regard, Cheng Lin (pseudonym), an associate professor of a domestic key university who has just passed the pre -appraisal assessment, also admits that in an increasingly "inner volume" competitive environment, if the school level can still be promised to be prepared, the attractiveness to young teachers is very big.

"As a system that has been mature abroad for many years and has been widely implemented in China, although it is not considered to be outdated at the university level, in the hearts of some teachers, this system has been beaten on some teachers. 'Negative tags'. "In the interview, some scholars concluded.

"Non -rising or going" should be "stressful"?

At present, Zhang Jie is still in the pre -hiring stage. Talking about her working state, she admits that "the pressure is too great."

"Soon after I just joined the job, there were many colleges' services to do it. In addition, it was almost impossible to apply for projects and prepare new classes." Zhang Jie was already in his 30s. She wanted to be in The best childcare children are also "unlikely". "Because of this, your job may not be able to keep it."

"It's like a sword hanging on his head at all times," she said.

When Cheng Lin joined the job, the contract stipulated that she had to evaluate the associate professor within 4 years. In the third year after her entry, this goal was achieved. However, after becoming an associate professor, she still couldn't relax, and even sitting in front of the computer was a day, "just like a continuous operating machine, she couldn't stop at all."

A friend once persuaded her that since she has been commented on the associate professor, there is no need to be so tired. Cheng Lin himself also hopes to relieve the rhythm of work. "But just can't do it, just like inertia." Until half a year later, her state was slowly relieved.

The reason for this is because in the previous three years, she had too tired to live -in front of the computer for more than ten hours a day, often working until 11:2 or two in the evening. There is almost no weekend time. It is considered "luxury", and even working during the Chinese New Year ... The experience of the two above is not alone. He Liu, an assistant researcher at the Shanghai Global Safety Governance Research Institute of Shanghai Political Science and Law, once bluntly stated in the investigation that under the pressure of the reform of the personnel system of "non -rising or not,", in order to meet the requirements of the job duties of pre -employed contracts, there was almost no rest time. , I work 7 days a week and work for 10 hours a day. Long -term high -pressure work makes the physical health and mental health of young teachers worry.

Because of this, Cheng Lin bluntly said to reporters that young teachers, especially young female teachers, should not try to "go away" easily.

However, should the real "non -rising or going" be so stressful to the teacher?

Jiang Xiaohua, a teacher of the School of International Education of Shanghai University of Foreign Languages, told the "China Science News" that the "non -rising or going" system was originally only implemented in North America, but in recent years, many countries in Europe and East Asia have successively introduced the system. There are losers, but there are successful cases. She has paid attention to a successful representative -the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.

According to her, the school had previously implemented the traditional European lecturer system. Twenty years ago, after the then principal Patrick Ebishe introduced the "non -promotion" system into the school, the Lausanne Federal Institute of Technology quickly developed from an ordinary engineering school to a world -renowned higher education institution. From 194 in 2004, it rose to 91 in 2021. The development speed even made the "Big Brother" Zurich Federal Institute of Technology.

"One of the reason for this is that for the assistant professor who entered the orbit of the lifelong faculty, the most given the school is not the pressure of quantitative assessment, but institutional funding support and academic freedom." Jiang Xiaohua said that the school will be a young teacher every young teacher. Establish an independent laboratory and give them a considerable scientific research funding every year. At the same time, they do not limit their scientific research autonomy and academic freedom, and young teachers do not have to work for other professors. The criteria for assessment are the innovative nature of academic achievements rather than the number of publications ...

"When talking about the" non -rise and walking "system, the school leader of the Lausanne Federal Institute of Technology has stated that it has given young teachers to fully support and stimulate their academic enthusiasm, which is more valuable than concentrated resources on a few senior professors. In their opinion, the core of this system is not 'pressure', but the 'support' for young teachers. "Jiang Xiaohua bluntly stated that many domestic universities only see the appearance of the system, that is," if you fail to meet the requirements, you will not meet the requirements. Leaving ", but did not penetrate the core of the system -what necessary support to be provided for young teachers before the assessment.

The reporter of "China Science News" also asked Cheng Lin if he was supported by the school or college in the years after he joined the company. She thought about it for a while: "My salary needs to be half out of the school, and the college or department is all over the other half. The latter part can only be borne by the department if the college is unwilling to leave it, and the department is usually lacking related funds. In this case, the latter part of my salary is from the college, and basically not owe it. Is this a "support '?"

"Quota bottleneck" leads to fuzzy standard

In addition to the pressure of young teachers in the domestic "non -rising or rising" system, there is also an uncertainty about the future.

However, from the source, the original intention of the birth of "non -rising or going" is to meet the teachers' needs for certainty. As Liu Jin said in the interview, the essence of "'non -rising is to go' is a 'safe house' built by the school for teachers. One of its long -term guarantees. "

To achieve this purpose, two points need to be achieved at the institutional level -first, the proportion of elimination should not be too high. For example, American universities generally do not set up a number of teachers' promotion, as long as the teachers meet the conditions, they can be promoted; the second is that the basis of promotion decision -making is full and reasonable to ensure the legitimacy and stability of the "non -promotion" standard.

Unfortunately, the above two points of domestic universities did not do it. The former can be seen from the news events caused by several universities in recent years. As for the latter, although the latter is relatively hidden, the teacher's personal feelings are deeper.

Taking Cheng Lin as an example, at the beginning of the employment, the school stipulated that the minimum "threshold" promoted by associate professors was to publish three social science quotes (SSCI) papers. But only one year later, based on the number of previous papers, the "threshold" of project projects above the provincial level or above. In the third year of her work, some adjustments have been made. In other words, in the first three years after their entry, the standards of promoted associate professors changed twice.

It is worth mentioning that, according to the contract, even if Cheng Lin crossed the above "threshold" as an associate professor, he only entered the "quasi -employment" sequence rather than "long -term employment" sequence. Dangerous. Therefore, she still can't relax now.

There is also confusion in personal development paths. However, compared with the changes in Cheng Lin's rules, Zhang Jie has not figured out what the specific standards and procedures for entering the long -term sequence from the beginning.

"I know how many papers to be published during the two hire periods, but this does not mean that I will definitely get 'long hire', because I still have to face other assessments, but I don’t know the specific situation." Zhang Jie heard It is to send her materials to foreign universities to find peer reviews, but "just heard." Zhang Jie is also unclear. If you can't get "long hire" in the end, what should he do.

At the beginning of the application, she asked the school, but did not get a clear answer, "But can I not come to school because of this matter? This is a very realistic question."

In this regard, Liu Jin said that under the relatively mature "non -promotion" system in the United States, because universities have no quota restrictions on teachers' promotion, they can guarantee classification and evaluation according to the discipline. In contrast, the number of teachers in colleges and universities and the number of job title are restricted by planning. Each college needs to push candidates first and then participate in school competition. This directly leads to the lack of horizontal comparability in different colleges, disciplines, and even research fields. Some colleges occupy all unfair phenomena such as all places and tight places in the college.

"The result of the" quota bottleneck "is that in most cases, promotion is the competition of quota rather than academic competition, which is" on the ranking "instead of" everyone is equal in the face of academic "." Liu Jin said, this also led to the school only only Only by continuously improving the standards of "elimination" of the standards can meet the quantity requirements, but even so, some teachers will not be promoted in accordance with conditions.

"As a result, the assessment standard has lost its original rigor and existence." Liu Jin said.

"Non -rising or going" is yet to be planned by the system

In response to the various problems existing in domestic "non -rising or rising", there are many discussions in the domestic academic community. Some scholars have proposed that the system still has many incompatibility with the relevant domestic system and even the cultural environment, so domestic universities need to maintain a certain patience.

In this regard, Liu Jin has his own opinion.

"The system and cultural differences between China and the West exist objectively. Of course, we can't deny this. But it is also undeniable that 'Fei Risheng is going to take a slightly embarrassing situation in China. Some colleges and universities have a certain 'selfishness' at the level of the system. "He said.

For a simple example, in the "non -rising or going" system, the assessment of teachers is often completed through peer evaluation. Some universities will use "unable to find a good peer review expert" as an important reason for the incomparable implementation of "non -rising or rising".

However, according to Liu Jin's understanding, there are already very mature institutions in China that can provide the school with services to find and contact colleagues to review experts, and even this service is "personalized". "For example, you can meet the requirements of the review experts in terms of academic level and strict judgment."

Liu Jin admits that when domestic colleges and universities are implementing "non -rising or leaving", they often only target young teachers who have entered the school, the so -called "old man old methods, new methods for newcomers".

However, due to the lack of relevant incentive mechanisms under some traditional systems, innovation ability and willingness to innovate are not enough. In order to improve the overall scientific research results, some universities can only choose to enlarge the "plate" of young teachers through a large number of recruitment, and use the "non -rise or walk" system to squeeze as much as possible their scientific research capacity. However, due to the limited number of promotion, the school must be eliminated by various means before these teachers converted into "long employment".

"This process is very similar to that we use dry batteries. When the battery is exhausted, it is directly discarded." In the interview, some scholars were so metaphorical.

It should be noted that in the above phenomenon, my country has noticed at the national level and has taken some measures. For example, through the method of "breaking the five only", change the scientific and evaluation orientation of colleges and universities, thereby reducing the requirements of colleges and universities on the number of young teachers in the publication of the dissertation.

However, in Jiang Xiaohua's view, whether it is to follow up at the national level, it is also a question whether colleges and universities can follow up in time.

According to the triangular coordination model theory of American scholar Bolton Clark, the power of a national higher education can be divided into three types -academic forces, government forces, and market forces. Jiang Xiaohua said that unlike the market forces dominated by US higher education, in my country's higher education, government forces play a more important role, and the development direction of colleges and universities is consistent with the direction of the government.

"Previously, the Chinese government had higher requirements for the scientific output of higher education, which caused the standards of college evaluation to be more quantified. The root of the university's 'selfishness' is here." Jiang Xiaohua said. However, the proposal of "Breaking the Five Wei" indicates that the government has begun to shift in the direction of "quality" in the formulation of relevant standards. However, because the universities have been immersed in the original development logic for decades, the huge inertia has caused it to be difficult to adjust in the short term. This has caused a lot of problems.

"Because of this, in the face of some dilemma of 'non -rise or walking', what we need is not to ban it, but to think about how to adjust it through institutional adjustments and make it in line with the development trend of higher education in my country in the future. . This is what we should do most now. "Jiang Xiaohua said.

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