China's unsung graduates should never be dismissed as unimportant

Graduates from China's second-tier universities tend to be easily ignored, but they form a major force for social stability and development, an expert said.

Huang Deng, a professor of Chinese studies at Shenzhen Polytechnic in Guangdong province, said in the eyes of the media and members of the public or in the distribution of social resources, students from "average" universities seem to have little that deserves attention.

"Many people who pay more attention to key universities may easily assume this is a group of people who did not work hard and underperformed in the college entrance exam. But when I taught those students, I discovered that they are particularly important and are not as insignificant as others may think. In fact, many of them worked very hard," she said.

Having gained a bachelor's at a similar establishment in Hunan province, she gained her first job as a secretary at a State-run factory.

However, she was laid off in 1998, so she decided to resume her studies.

She completed a master's at Wuhan University in Hubei province and then gained a doctorate from Sun Yatsen University in Guangdong.

Huang then taught at Guangdong University of Finance, a second-tier school, for nearly 15 years.

After teaching for so long, she began to think about how the environment for this group of students has changed over the past two decades. That prompted her to record their stories, and last year she published a book about them titled My Students.

In the book, many of the students came from humble families in rural areas. Their parents made a living by farming, butchering or other types of small businesses, and many of the students had younger siblings to look after.

Today, a growing number of young people have the opportunity to pursue higher education through access to the gaokao, the national college entrance exam, but only a handful are accepted by prestigious universities.

The majority attend second-tier schools, Huang said. These students are aware of their position in the higher education hierarchy, which means they are not overambitious, she added.

They accept life at the "ordinary" end of the scale and would never classify themselves as "elite". If they can't find a job upon graduation, some will work as delivery personnel or security guards, she said, but noted that this doesn't mean they are unimportant.

China only has a few first-tier cities, but the tremendous number of graduates each year results in fierce competition to settle down in these prestigious places.

Huang said she has noticed a growing number of students seeking jobs in their hometowns in recent years, which suggests many will accept positions at the grassroots level, as local civil servants or teachers for example.

"In 10 to 20 years, they may become local officials and then they will be the ones who determine the local political environment and development.

"The ratio of graduates employed locally is very high. So if this group of students can gain a good education, it will be equivalent to reserving more talent for ourselves," she said.