The Academic Inflation Problem In Higher Education In Hong Kong – Having University Degrees Is Already Not An Assurance Of Future Career
Abstract
Work chances should be guaranteed for university graduates. However, in Hong Kong, students’ job opportunities cannot be guaranteed even though they are highly educated due to the academic inflation problem, which has recently given rise to “anger generation”, producing negative economical and phycological impacts to teenagers. Hence, to save our future generations, two methods are suggested to improve this situation: the local government shall encourage more diversity and atmosphere of innovation in the economic structure. Also, the government shall release more government-funded post-university degrees and establishing an up-dated regulatory system to ensure those post-university degrees meet assurance of quality and recognition. It is believed that these two methods above can on one hand provide more job opportunities to more graduated university students from different professions, and on the other hand improve livability of our city because teenagers may feel more hopeful. It is beneficial for enabling social harmony and improving the competitiveness of Hong Kong.
Introduction
Job opportunities should be guaranteed after students’ graduation from university. However, there is a serious problem of educational inflation, in higher education system in Hong Kong which mean students’ job opportunities cannot be guaranteed even though they have high levels of educational background. According to Siu (2015), the average salaries of university graduates have dropped 20% in last 20 years, from average HK$13, 158 in 1993, to only average HK$10, 860 in 2013. Siu (2015) also claimed that the requiring skilled jobs available for university graduates only increase 66, 500 between 1993 to 2013, but the number of university graduates fulfilled the requirements of the jobs increased by 699, 600 in this 20 years. It revealed the mismatch between job opportunities from market demand and growth of graduated students. Having a higher educated university places is already not an assurance of students’ future job occasions.
Horrible vicious cycle may affect the growth of cities’ livability and competitiveness in Hong Kong, if society did not try any approaches to alleviate this problem. Many university graduates may feel pessimistic and disappointed with their future career and finance. Also, the competitiveness of Hong Kong will also be weakened because many graduated students will consider study or work in mainland or overseas due to the shortage of local job opportunities. Therefore, government should take more actions on encouraging more diversity of economic structure to promote more job opportunities for more university graduates from different professions. Also, government should promote more government-funded post-secondary programmes with high quality and recognition for more students who are willing to move upwards to have more chances to improve their levels of education background and skill to help them increase opportunities of finding better career.
Cause of the Problems
Mismatch between job opportunities of market demand and growth of graduated university students
First, Hong Kong’s economic structure is too relying on the service sector, contains financial industry, tourism, trading and real estate industry, which creates intense competition of jobs, but other job opportunities besides these three pillars are not enough for students who are studying in the fields of engineering, literature, performing arts and astronomy. According to the Research Office of the Legco (2016), in 2014, the service sector takes 92. 7% of Hong Kong’s economy, as well as industry sector only takes 7. 2%, while compare to other developed countries or regions, service sector and industry sector separately takes 59. 4% and 39. 8% in South Korea, 64. 0% and 34. 1% in Taiwan, as well as 72. 6% and 26. 2% in Japan, and even Singapore, a city has similar economic structure and culture with Hong Kong, have taken 24. 9% on their industry sector, and 75. 0% on service sector. It reveals many Hong Kong graduates from different professions besides financial, tourism, trading and real estate industry, such as engineering, mechanism, technology or astronomy has too little future career opportunities due to the pathological single polarized economic structure, and only the inadequate and fierce competitive skilled required jobs are left for them. Therefore, many university graduated youths can only take low-paid jobs for bringing their home the bacon. Many of them still find themselves unable to afford a home as property prices soar but their salaries growth slows. According to Shirley Zhao’s study (2015), salaries of Hong Kong's worker have also been growing more slowly, with the median monthly employment wages of the inclusive workforce increasing by 14% from 1997 to 2013, compared with a whopping 139% from 1976 to 1996 during the golden age of Hong Kong's manufacture industry. But at the same time, the average price for a small residential flat rushed by 188% from 2006 to 2013, while the median monthly household income only increased by 30% over the same period. The clammy narrow economic structure is the main reason of academic inflation in Hong Kong, which leads to the mismatch between job chances of market demand and growth of university graduates, who are suffered from the high average price of their residential flat in the low incomes because they can only find low-salaries jobs, which leads them become anger teenagers feeling gloomy and losing hope with their future career and finance. It’s detrimental to social harmony and happiness in Hong Kong, which leads to lowering Hong Kong’s livability.
Overly commercialization of post-secondary education marke
tSecond, overly commercialized and lack of regulatory system of post-secondary education in Hong Kong cause heavy financial burden on graduated students. It’s undoubtedly that the government has tried hard to promote popularization of post-secondary higher education during these several years. According to government spokesman, the government has notably extended the post-secondary sector in the past decades. It is also expectation of almost 70% of youths will have access to post-secondary education, while aggregate both undergraduate degree and asso-degree places. It looks good in the paper, however, the extension of post-secondary education has been almost completely in the self-financed sector, as well as caused overly commercialized in post-secondary education market. Since former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has compassion to expand the participation rate in post-secondary education to 60% in 10 years in 2000, as well as self-financed associate degrees have increased about tenfold from only 2, 468 during millennium to near 30, 000 in 2013, but the government-funded university slots remained at 15, 000. It leads to overly commercialization of the post-secondary education, and unguaranteed quality of these programmes which also reduce the quality of life in Hong Kong. Overly expensive fees give average and poorer students heavy economic burden because of limited government funded to these sub-degree institutions, which their finance hardly rely on students’ heavy tuition fee. Many sub-degree students carry a massive debt even before they graduate, some amounting to more than $200, 000. Bearing heavy financial burden and unguaranteed of quality of sub-degree programmes undermines the sub-degree programmes’ ability to increase students’ social upward mobility, while aggravating situation of academic inflation in Hong Kong/
Suggested Solutions
This paper suggested that 2 approaches to alleviate this problem in Hong Kong.
Encouragement of new industries in economic structure
To solve problems of academic inflation in Hong Kong, government should have encouragement of innovation, and other new high value-added industries such as engineering, mechanism, technology, and environmental protection industry to provide more job opportunities for graduated students from different professions, interests and expectation. Hong Kong’s economic structure should not only rely on service industries since many neighboring cities like Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore, which have the similar role with Hong Kong, some of them even start catching up with Hong Kong in the role of international finance centre. Also, these financial, tourism and real estate on the type of service industries are very subject to the external economy. Once a regional or global financial crisis or a major epidemic crisis, such as the SARS crisis in 2003, Hong Kong’s economy will be severely affected and will take a long time before it can recover again. If Hong Kong could develop more high-value-added industries, it will not only help provide more job opportunities for university graduates with different specialties, alleviate academic inflation, encourage the innovative atmosphere of society, as well as also make Hong Kong's economy stronger and healthier, and reduce loss of Hong Kong’s economy while facing external economic crisis to increase competitive strength of Hong Kong/
More government-funded post-secondary degrees; Establish well regulatory system to assurance quality and recognition of these post-university study programmes.
Continuous education should be also encouraged by government. There should be more government funded programmes for degree and sub-degree places to reduce the financial burden of students. Government should also have complete regulatory system to guarantee quality and recognition of these post-university programmes, to ensure affordable but high quality and high recognition for persevering young people can move upwards in more opportunities, which can prevent and alleviate educational inflation by increasing educational levels of post-university students.
Conclusion
It’s commonly known that teenagers are the pillars of our future society. They should be guaranteed their future job opportunities because of their ability and attainment. Review the recent past few years, there are growing anger among teenagers in Hong Kong because the pathologic narrow economic structure, causes academic inflation, heavy financial burden on self-finance degrees and low social upward mobility. It’s very distressed for us while our positive and energetic teenagers become anger, pessimistic and disappointed to the future. We must help our teenagers immediately. It’s belief that the living quality of Hong Kong will be improved if there was alleviating of the situation of academic inflation due to the benefits on social harmony and social sense of belonging among teenagers and improving the competitive strength of Hong Kong.
