Master and doctoral students "waiting for a long time" should establish an all-round exit mechanism as soon as possible
■ Observer
Improving the quality of postgraduate training is a systematic project, and the all-round exit mechanism is an important part.
Recently, the phenomenon of "excessive master's and doctoral degree" in colleges and universities has attracted attention.
In recent years, it is not a new thing to postpone the graduation of master's and doctoral students in colleges and universities. In particular, it is almost normal for doctoral students to postpone their graduation for one to two years.
In a sense, this is the inevitable result of the strict requirements of universities for the training of doctoral students and the raising of the threshold for degree awarding.
But as mentioned in the news, some students stay at school for as long as 8 to 14 years, which is by no means normal.
In fact, it is the result of the accumulation of a series of unreasonable factors in the postgraduate education in colleges and universities in the past few years, from enrollment to training.
On the one hand, the problem is with the mentor.
For a period of time, the scale of postgraduate education in various colleges and universities has expanded too rapidly, and many degree-granting sites have been launched in a hurry.
On the other hand, it is an irrational choice for some students to apply for graduate school.
After students enrolled in the prescribed courses, they devote their time and energy to other matters, delaying academic research.
Of course, there is another situation in which some on-the-job postgraduates are often difficult to graduate under the environment of “strictly improving” the quality of postgraduate education due to factors such as weak academic ability and insufficient energy allocation.
A large number of postgraduates stay over time, causing problems such as crowding out training resources and increasing school management costs.
But the problems brought about by the "overdue master and doctoral degree" are far more than that.
It will also lead to many conflicts between students and teachers, students and schools, and even between teachers and schools, laying hidden dangers for the development of schools and disciplines.
To solve this problem, we must first adhere to the principle of "strict out".
For schools, if the number of students who postpone their graduation is large, it is undoubtedly not desirable to lower the standards to avoid conflicts, and it will easily damage the seriousness of graduate education.
Therefore, colleges and universities should establish a clear all-round exit mechanism as soon as possible in the training of postgraduates.
There can be a variety of opt-out mechanisms for students.
For example, some doctoral students, when it is difficult for them to complete their doctoral studies, can be recommended to pursue a second master's degree; for more academic postgraduates, if they find that the students lack academic research ability, but have strong practical ability, they can be recommended to transfer Professional degree graduate students.
This arrangement can also minimize the cost of trial and error for students, and is truly responsible for students.
Of course, the exit mechanism of postgraduate training should not only be aimed at students, but should also include degree points and postgraduate tutors.
In the past two years, some schools have taken advantage of the policy to set up many second-level disciplines under the first-level discipline doctoral programs, so that some disciplines with extremely weak teachers have also begun to recruit doctoral students in the name of interdisciplinary.
However, under the background of the emphasis on strictness at the national level, if the academic level of the tutor is not in place, the quality of discipline training cannot be guaranteed, and it will either let a large number of low-level doctoral students go to the society by releasing water, or cause new "overscheduled master and doctoral students". Phenomenon.
The improvement of postgraduate training quality is a systematic project, and the all-round exit mechanism is also an important part of this systematic project.
The current society's attention to the phenomenon of "overstaying a master's degree and a doctorate" also provides an opportunity for us to establish this mechanism.
Colleges and universities may wish to take a responsible attitude and make the all-round exit mechanism take root as soon as possible.
□Wang Tianding (scholar)