Chinese “Post―90s” Social Practice Analysis

[a]Changchun University of Science and Technology， Changchun， China.

*Corresponding author.

Received 11 November 2014; accepted 8 January 2015

Published online 26 January 2015

Abstract

“Post-90s” university students in the Chinese mainland begin to enter the university， walk out of campus and start to practice in the society in 2008. However， because the characteristics of Chinese Post-90s college students reflect the lack of social practice which makes them at a disadvantage in career competition. Firstly， the author brings forth the causes of this phenomenon based upon the analysis of their social practice， and finally， provides some suggestions to guide Chinese Post-90s college students how to be engage in social practice better.

Key words： “Post-90s”; University student; Social practice

Liu， H. C. （2015）. Chinese “Post-90s” Social Practice Analysis . Canadian Social Science， 11（1）， <Page>-0. Available from： http：///index.php/css/article/view/5585

DOI： http：///10.3968/5585

INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of Septmber 2008， the first group of Post-90s （Post-90s means the people born in the 1990s in this article） has begun to study in the various universities in China mainland. Post-90s college students encounter the puzzle that they have to graduate and step into the society which implies they need a job to support their daily lives， and this is a regular process of human society for them to experience. However， regarding the social practice， due to insufficient opportunities of social practice provided by the social and economic development， the traditional family culture makes them dependent on their parents financial aid rather than labor by themselves to complete their university studies， as a result the students who have just walk out of campus could be in disadvantaged groups in all aspects， lack of social resources， status and experience， suffer many painful experiences repeatedly in positions application and career development.

1. The introduction of social practice behavior of Chinese “Post-90s” college students

Since the end of 1970s， China initials reform and opening up policies， and the mainland’s economic development achievements have attracted worldwide attention， so now China has become the second largest economic entity ranked below the United States. Along with economic development， higher education in China has undergone tremendous progress： from only enrolling tens of thousands of students each year to nearly 8，000，000 yearly in the present. Faced with such a huge group to be employed year after year， jobs provided by Chinese society are limited， so there are around one million people who can’t find the ideal jobs.

1.1 The Average Higher Education in China Mainland Requires Strengthening Exercises of Social Practices for College Students

When the Gao Kao （college entrance examination） was reopened in 1978 in Chinese mainland， whoever can walk into the college would be able to get an enviable job after his or her graduation as a special privileged person. Today， many of them have become the social elites， the first generation of people in the reopening of Gao Kao have mostly become the mainstay of the construction of the motherland， and the successful fate of the second generation of people relies on the Gao Kao too， and they have achieved social status moving from the lower classes up into the middle and upper classes of society. Of course， the parents of Post-90s own the same expectations to their children. However， with the higher education enrollment in mainland China continues to expand， and students being enrolled from tens of thousands to seven or eight million annually， the fate （such as the city accounts， work assignment， etc.） couldn’t be changed any more depending on the Gao Kao.

In the current stage that Chinese higher education is into the mass population， jobs provided by the Chinese society for college graduates no longer present the characteristics of being the elites， and once the ordinary jobs which have been considered as the general ones， and demand less scientific and cultural knowledge， and even could be handled by the high school graduates in the past， now require candidates to have university degrees， such as recruiting sanitation workers in Harbin in 2013， and many graduate students are eager to join. The stiff job competition prompts the college students who want to be the winners in the competition to gain advantages by strengthening exercises of social practice.

1.2 Chinese Higher Education System Is Not Perfect， and the Social Practice Isn’t Well Integrated With Professional Learning

China has just established the popularization system of higher education， and the educational concepts and systems have not yet fully transformed from elite education phase， and there is a problem that too much attention is paid on the theory and less on the practices， which often reflects that the Chinese students tend to do well on the theory tests， but cut down the chain （means fail） on innovation. Although， the universities at all levels provide opportunities of social practice to the students as more as possible， but the result is that social practice and school teaching often are disjointed.

In the present， the main manifestations of the social practice of college students in China is spending a period of time in the local homes or enterprises during the annual summer holidays without any strong plans and purpose， or just some quick-walkthrough-visiting internships， even worse， just doing something alone with their own specialty unrelated to work， so it is difficult to integrate the social practices with students’ profession tightly， and students in social practice can’t fully apply their professional knowledge， utilize their professional knowledge upon specific social practice. This social practice mode makes the school teaching and social practice activities seriously out of line.

1.3 There Are Lack of Awareness of the Importance of Social Practice for the Students Themselves， and They Participate Passively

Since the implementation of the birth control policy in China which namely is the principle of only one child of a pair of couple， most Post-90s Chinese students are the solo children， so the abnormal family structure creates many families of “Little Emperors” and “Little Princesses”. The upper generation put all the hopes and loves on one child， so most of the students thought subjectively that they just need to learn professions in colleges to complete the preparation of pre-employment. While objectively， due to the confine of economic development， the part-time job opportunities provided by the society for college students are less and there are few college students to complete their college tuitions by earning themselves or getting the student loans， which accounts for a few percent.

Before going to university， students in the primary and secondary school are only filled with the Chinese exam-oriented education-diving in the sea of examinations and they have contacted with the society for a short time with almost zero social experience. Only depending on the mobilization and propaganda of social activities by the school institutions and teachers to push students to participate in social practice， the students wouldn’t experience the true life， and it will waste time to talk about the link between the professions and social practices. In the eyes of some part of the Chinese Post-90s， participating in social practices is the way to complete the tasks assigned by the school teachers and to obtain its’ credits so that they can graduate fluently and just get a job certification in the possible situation to deal with it. Such a mentality， such an action， even though they think they have really participated in meaningful social practices， the effect will be greatly discounted.

2. ANALYSIS OF CAUSES OF THIS PHENOMENON

2.1 Social and Environmental Factors

With the continuous development of society， the requirements of various talents also are changing persistently， and the competition has become a basic feature of society. However， the Chinese supporting social systems for college students’ social practice are imperfect. Due to imperfect market development and legal system， society can’t afford enough jobs for the college students’ social practice. And because of security or other reasons， some parents don’t support their children in participating in social practice independently. Finally， the government’s driving force and supporting efforts are very limited.

2.2 School Education Factors

Social practice is regarded as one of the main practical aspects for college students to be completed， and Chinese universities have formulated the contents of social practice for college students， including social surveys， voluntary labor， technological services， knowledge consulting， culture tutorship and self-supporting through hard work and etc.. In the absence of a stable social practice bases for most colleges and universities， students need to spend a lot of energy to look around for community practice places， some of students have to kill time in their parents’ companies and get a false certification to deal with the school’s inspection.

This shows that the social practice of Chinese college students still in the early developing stage lack of the deeply-developped reform and innovation and the practice isn’t always combined with the college professional content tightly， so the students couldn’t apply their knowledge. We often hear some students complain that their thoughtful practical achievements have not been deserved with much recognition and attention， on the contrary， some students rewarded honorably by writing a report or thesis， aren’t really engage in doing practical activities， just like glancing over things hurriedly or a dragonfly skimming the surface of the water superficially， which harms some students’ creative passion and enthusiasm to some extent.

2.3 Family Education Factors

While the vast majority of Chinese “Post-90s” college students is solo child of their families， the abnormal family structure makes their parents and even grandparents regard them as “sweet babies”， and would give them the most favorable living conditions as much as economic conditions permit. In the eyes of their parents， social practice is not necessary for their children or they needn’t suffer the tough life， and just graduate from colleges simply. Even before the Post-90s join the universities， some Chinese parents promise to find a better job for them so they just commit to study with nothing to worry about. Although some enlightened parents are willing to let their children receive exercises psychologically， also for security or other reasons， they don’t support their children to participate in social practice independently.

2.4 Students’ Life Planning Factors

Objectively， with the modern society requirement for quality of college students being increased， college students’ employment pressure increases， so the students’ initiative and consciousness to participate in social practices is enhancing. The focus on social practice has shifted from the wishes of principals from the beginning to the internal needs of students， which have become an important way to promote the integrated development of individual student， and accelerate their socialization.

Before being enrolled， most of college students in the early times experienced social practices such as going and working in the countryside and mountainous areas ， being recruited by the factories and other forms of exercises， and undergoing the production life in the countryside， factories， workshops and farms personally. Since then， especially after the reform and opening， students who join the universities from high schools directly， obviously are short of social life experience， and know less about national and folk situations， and have a strong sense of superiority with less social contacts， relatively plain experience， simple minds and a general lack of social and practical experience.

The long-term and traditional concepts of life and philosophy of higher education are leading students to get used to learn a lot of knowledge only always around the campus in the studying process， and store a large amount of knowledge， but their ability of practical skills， independent analysis of issues， problem-solving skills has not been very well developed， so it’s make them feel losing the actual strength to fight in the society when their academic is over， and even fear going into the society. Therefore， they are lack of adequate understanding of social practices， prepare inadequately， own unclear purpose in the minds， recognize inaccurately， and don’t realize that social practice is the process to walk into the society with issues and back to the classroom with answers. When they participate in social practice， they deal with it hastily， or even make false and don’t regard social practice as an important means of utilizing the expertise that they have learned to solve practical problems.

CONCLUSION

In Chinese mainland， improving the social practice ability of Post-90s college students is not the task for Chinese universities and Post-90s（ the younger generation） themselves， but requires all the society’s attention and efforts.

（a） The relevant supporting policies formulated by our country provide much more opportunities for college students to participate in social practice. Due to historical and practical， subjective and objective reasons and etc.， in fact， there is a tendency of “examination-oriented education” with “teachers teach for examinations， students learn for exams” exiting in our education and practice in the Chinese mainland. And this kind of education has existed in the Chinese traditional culture nearly for thousands of years. Since ancient times， China has been the tradition of weighting the theory much heavier than the practice.

Whether from the presence of “imperial examination” which has existed for several thousand years in China， or Gao Kao which is the entrance examination for modern Chinese mainland university “，there are less questions whose focus are on how to identify and solve problems in practices. Being like Chinese education， the mode of centralizing education knowledge and regarding the exam as the purpose， less attention to the practice education and lacking of the training for students’ practice quality， trapping students themselves in the narrow world of book knowledge without flexible memory and hearing out of the classroom window， leads students to get “ good scores with low ability”， own obscure labor concept， lack of practical experience and ability， have low ideological， physical and mental qualities， so a large part of students are not welcomed by the society after they have graduated.

In order to combine the education with social practices， all parts of society should shoulder their social responsibilities. In this process， the Chinese government’s role is particularly so important that the government should play its role in guiding functions fully on university facilities’ level， personnel training position， formulation of relevant supporting policies， providing more social practice opportunities for students.

（b） The universities in Chinese mainland should put more minds on the implementation and organization of college students’ social practice. As the social practice planners， executors， administrators for college students， the universities in Chinese mainland should put more minds on the implementation and specific organization， do some more innovation to make college students social practice more effective， such as Hong Kong Polytechnic University founded the industrial center， aiming at providing a realistic industrial environments （also known as simulate factory） for students’ industrial training， which is both different from the ordinary laboratory and from internship places for the single industrial skills training. This industrial environment is basically close to the actual one on the device configuration， layout， operational management， production of a typical selection， industrial technical standards and safety regulations and etc..

In other countries， the University of California attaches great importance to students’ practical ability training， and sets up a series of practical education projects， such as undergraduates’ research programs， cooperative education programs， certificate programs and etc.. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT） education permeates practical education into the entire students training process and establishes a complete training system on practical abilities. This system includes undergraduate research programs， activities of independent duration， undergraduate seminar， rich extracurricular activities， interdisciplinary research and learning programs， internships and experiments and etc..

（c） Chinese parents should encourage students to experience the rich life. With the development of society， we pay much more attention to family education. Considering China is a country with a strong family culture， the relationship between family members relies heavily on Chinese thousands of years’ traditional culture. Because of the influence of traditional culture and family history， Chinese family intergenerational relationship is much closer than the one in Western countries. In terms of social practice， because social and economic development fails to provide adequate social practice opportunities for them to earn tuition， and the vigorous propaganda and full implementation of family “birth-control” planning in Chinese mainland， most “Post-90s” is only one child in their families， and the family pattern change make their feelings between the one-child and their parents much stable and deep. The traditional family culture forces them too dependent on their parents financial aids rather than self-reliant to finish college study， which results in putting the college students groups who just step out of the campus into the weakness groups in all respects， and making them lack of social resources， status and experience and suffer much pain on job applications and career development repeatedly.

The student’s family education can take advantage of the “second classroom curriculum”， such as seminars， selective courses， topical class meetings， League members’ training or other forms. In the organizing process， the experienced teachers or parents should be invited to be involved in guiding or explaining something whose topic may include all related respects of social practice.

（d） finally， also needs college students’ own efforts in the Chinese mainland. In the social practices， students should try bravely， dare to show their own and have the courage to take the initiative to interact， so as to understand their own strengths and weaknesses better， contain themselves correctly， and promote self-perfection of their personalities. The students should overcome many obstacles on interpersonal communication， and maintain a good attitude. Firstly， The students have to treat interpersonal relationships properly which means not only recognize interpersonal relations can bring private interests， but also pay much attention to the important function of interpersonal relations in improving personal qualities and personality improvement. At the same time， we can’t ignore the friendship of interpersonal communication. In addition， in the social practices， college students should be trained to own self-confidence and have communication skills， build trustworthy image， increase their value being used and share with others happily， and also their friends are willing to be together， so that the more opportunities of being together， the more they become creative and attentive. Seize every opportunity to help others， keep curious always- a person who only cares about himself without any curiosity of other people and outside， even the best opportunity appears， and it will pass. Learn professional knowledge， adapt to the needs of society and make much more contributions to our society.

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