Pent-up anger

 

Cartoon by Gou Ben; Poem by Long Yuan

 

Pent-up wrath in the mind,
Transformed into angry fist that crossed the line.
Teachers keep their noses to the grindstone
And working their fingers to the bone.
After years, they have nothing to show.
So it is easy to see how resentment grows.
But to affix responsibility of the flap,
Unruly flippancy should be censured for the slap.
Fury needs to be contained.
One needs the power to stay self-restrained.
Still we must reflect on professional evaluation.
Now is the time to rethink the situation.

 

Note: Recently, the face slap incident prompted reflection on the status quo of the Chinese young teachers in higher education, most of whom are burdened by heavy workloads but are denied professionals titles and the social status that comes with them. Their long-term anxiety and pressure has raised questions about the current researchevaluation system.

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Recently, Chinese social media has been abuzz about an incident in which Li Siya, a young teacher, slapped his superior Gan Yang, dean of the Boya College at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Province. Some believe he was compelled to go to extremes out of frustration with the system of prompting faculty.

This incident offers insight into the working environment of young teachers in higher education and related institutions.

 

Psychological imbalance
An anonymous post first made the incident public. In the post titled “Gan Yang stalls promotion of the young teacher,” the anonymous author wrote, “It is a reflection of the difficult conditions of young teachers in higher education.” The statement cannot be verified because both sides refuse to speak to media.
 

Young teachers are compared to worker bees because their hard work often goes unacknowledged. According to the book Worker Bees: Recording Life of Young Teachers in Higher Education authored by the Chinese scholar Lian Si, “They are responsible for the majority of work but are powerless to determine resource allocation.” Huge workloads, great psychological pressure and low pay—the outlook for young teachers in higher education is not optimistic.
 

There are about 900,000 young teachers in China’s higher education system. Most of them were born between 1970 and 1985. They lack the prestige and pay that comewith professional titles.
 

According to statistics released by China Association of Higher Education, nearly 50 percent of young teachers make less than 100,000 RMB annually, and 85.9 percent make less than 150,000 RMB per year. Almost one-fourth are not paid well enough to cover basic expenses, and high rent may account for as much as half of their income. For a long time, young teachers have been drowned in pressure and anxiety by a heavy workload and a lack of money.

 

Defects of evaluation
“Young teachers are doing difficult research, while their research achievements are not subjected to objective evaluations. This problem is more prominent in the liberal arts,” said Fu Zheng, a young teacher from Henan University, pointing out the defects of current evaluation system.
 

Wang Xiaojun, a 35-year-old teacher, spent more than a month filling out forms and submitting materials related to his application to receive a professional title. But again, he failed and was told that his “research achievements are not as outstanding as other candidates” despite his “remarkable teaching achievements.”

Wang has been working in a major university in southern China for five years. In addition to a huge workload teaching undergraduates, Wang has to do research and advise graduates. This failure in the professional title evaluations has brought more stress to his already difficult life.

Among the other factors in their development, the professional title evaluation is one that concerns young teachers the most, said Zheng Xiaoming, a young teacher from Jinan University.
 

“Most of them are devoted to teaching in the first two years, which heavily impacts their academic research,” Zheng said. “It is hard for them to succeed in the professional title evaluation and therefore unlikely that they will receive a raise in pay.”
 

The considerable pressure brought by repeatedly failing professional title evaluations affects the mental health of some young teachers.

 

Solutions
Li Jinquan, a nearly 90-year-old professor of philosophy at Sun Yat-sen University, said he taught for 22 years before attaining his professional title. “Young people in this era are too impulsive. They cannot keep calm and engage in scholarship,” Li said.

Li added that there is also a need for systemic changes. “There are severe defects in the professional title evaluation system. Teachers are required to continue learning, whereas they are only able to be promoted by publishing theses, doing studies and teaching. This is a contradiction.”
 

Recently, the vice-president of Henan University came under fire for breaking rules and promoting a lecturer to associate professor. The teacher “had not published books or theses, and did not apply for a professional title. He had devoted himself to teaching for three decades, and his classrooms were always packed with students.” This move may cause disputes but praise should be given to Henan University.
 

Reforming the professional title evaluation system has become a core issue in higher education. In late 2014, an evaluation system with four classifications—teaching, research, social service and promotion—was put forward in Hubei Province. This system focuses more on real achievements instead of theses. It relaxes the requirement on the number of theses.
 

The teachers in the teaching-oriented category would be evaluated in terms of teaching capabilities and ability to cultivate talent. The teachers devoted to social service and promotion would mainly be evaluated on the economic and social benefits produced by their research projects.
 

The reform in Hubei sparked heated discussion. It is welcomed by those like Wang Xiaojun who excel in teaching but fail in professional title evaluations because they lack research achievements. Though doubts remain about the reform’s classification system and it has to be tested in practice, it is still a bold move toward reshaping China’s professional title evaluation system in higher education. We hope more universities and colleges would join the reform of professional title evaluation system.

 

Li Yongjie is a reporter at the Chinese Social Sciences Today.