e-magazine
Ball Out of Play
A nation of football lovers, China lacks a team strong enough to reach the FIFA World Cup
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Nation
Nation
UPDATED: June 30, 2014 NO. 27 JULY 3, 2014
A Class Without Classmates
Unpopular degrees offered by universities struggle for survival under the pressure from the job market
By Yuan Yuan
Share

GROUP PHOTO: Xue Yifan is the only graduate of paleontology from Peking University this year (FILE)

Xue Yifan posted a picture of herself online. In the picture, she stands alone in front of the Peking University's massive library in her graduation attire, looking solemnly into the camera. The photo would have been unremarkable were it not for one detail: She was the only graduate of the paleontology program at the Yuanpei College of Peking University this year.

Although seeing only one student study a major is a novelty to many, it is not unfamiliar to people with knowledge of the state of paleontology education in China.

Lu Xiaodong, deputy chief of the Yuanpei College, revealed that the paleontology program only has one student in each grade since its foundation in 2008.

The loneliest major

Paleontology was popular in China more than 50 years ago. Liu Jianbo, a professor at the College of Earth Sciences of Peking University, said that back then, thousands of students graduated with degrees in geosciences and an army of geologists and paleontologists were trained to survey the country's natural resources.

Faced with uncertain prospects in the current job market, students are inclined to choose majors that lead to more lucrative careers. "Geology in general and paleontology in particular can be perceived as having a difficult job market," a group of Chinese academics wrote in Paleontologia Electronica, a digital paleontological journal, in 2010.

"The most serious threat to the sustainable development of Chinese paleontology is the decline of undergraduate education programs at Chinese universities," the scientists stated.

Paleontology courses were even cancelled in China in the 1990s. However, with the science being developed globally, a handful of universities—including Peking University, Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province and China University of Geosciences—reintroduced the major in the late 2000s. Peking University set up its paleontology course 2008 at its Yuanpei College.

The Yuanpei College is actually an elementary undergraduate program. Students enrolled in the school do not choose specific majors but are instead divided into two groups focusing on the humanities or science. After one or two years of fundamental education, they can freely choose their major.

Xue enrolled in the Yuanpei College in 2009 and chose to study paleontology in 2010, the only student to do so that year.

"Actually paleontology was one of the reasons why I chose Peking University," Xue said.

Xue's passion for paleontology started in high school after watching a series of documentaries on ancient animals made by the British Broadcasting Corp.

Spellbound by the vivid pictures of dinosaurs, Xue checked which universities in China could best let her study these ancient animals, eventually setting her sights on Peking University.

Unlike the netizens' belief that Xue is the only student in the class, paleontology combines the study of biology, geography and archaeology. Xue has to take classes at both the School of Life Sciences and the School of Earth and Space Sciences together with dozens of students and sometimes even more.

1   2   Next  



 
Top Story
-Why is China Still Cheering from the Sidelines?
-'Made-in-China' Reaches Fever Pitch
-Big-Data Challenge
-Keeping Cyberspace Safe
-Deciding on a Second Child
Most Popular
在线翻译
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved