Posted on 01/01/2002 11:41:25 AM PST by super175
Overseas degrees may open the door to top jobs, but graduates and employers agree the pressure is on returning mainlanders to match expectations.
Employers - some of whom have foreign degrees - expect returning Chinese to demonstrate the skills for which they are paid a premium.
If they fail to show real ability, they risk undermining the confidence held in foreign education. Already, some doubts have begun to emerge about the value of overseas degrees, and whether all such sought-after documents are legitimate.
Media reports raising allegations that a prominent television executive had risen through the ranks with a fake degree from a US university have prompted increased scrutiny of degree holders.
"When you go back to China, an MBA certificate is just a passport for you to get access to some opportunities. The comprehensive quality of an applicant is what makes you successful in your career," said Colin Dong, who is studying for an MBA in Britain.
"Whether you have a fake diploma, or a real overseas diploma, if you are not so capable, you will appear ridiculous in the eyes of other people. Recent years have witnessed more and more people with overseas diplomas going back to China. Overseas diplomas are not as attractive as they once were," he said.
"I am working very hard now, because I don't want to be seen as being without ability but with an overseas diploma."
This kind of attitude would go over well with the bosses of private or joint-venture companies, where overseas-educated Chinese seek work for relatively high pay. Some of the bosses have also returned from overseas.
"I have encountered applicants with fake domestic degrees. I guess you can buy fake foreign degrees as well. But it's probably harder to fake because you must be able to speak English if you claim you are back from America," said Stanford University-educated Victor Wang, president of the wireless Internet company GWcom in Beijing.
"I know some returnees inflate their degrees. They may have got a master's or did some PhD courses, but they then claim they have a PhD degree."
People returning from overseas also asked for more than they might deserve, said Wang Wei, president of Beijing-based Jingtai Securities Investment. He rejects most returnee applicants.
"It is not so much about whether their degrees are fake or not, it is about their mind-set and attitudes. To a Chinese firm, somehow they showed a hit-and-run style and 'over-qualified' attitudes," Mr Wang said. "Well, I am a comeback too, and I learned and changed a lot, and took 10 years to melt into China."
People returning from overseas must fit into a job market where people with domestic qualifications applied extra pressure on those with foreign degrees, said Qian Hui, who returned from the University of California, Berkeley, to take up a senior position in Shanghai-based Nova Venture E-Venture Technology Co Ltd.
"They don't worship the degree. They really value your knowledge," Mr Qian said.
As for spotting the frauds, it may be other returnees who catch someone with a fake degree, he said. "When you study at a school, other people will say, 'How come I never saw you?'."
A moron with an MBA... is a moron with an MBA...
Our overall university system is a over politicized, money making business venture, with some 'education' thrown in there.
Good grades in that environment doesn't always equal good performance in the real world.
One of my favorite quotes of all time:
"Education is the stuff left over after you have forgotten all the stuff you learned in school."
I would like to thank you for stating the obvious..
Bravo.
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