An advertisement for 14 college advisers by Shanghai Normal University (SNU) attracted 195 graduate students, including some who were educated overseas.

 

So many highly educated people seeking nursemaid jobs in a university for which they are dramatically over-qualified!

 

These are good jobs but hardly suitable for people with such sophisticated educational backgrounds.

 

College advisers are responsible for, of course, advising students and arranging their daily lives.

 

They are also counselors when students have psychological or employment problems.

 

College advisers were once graduate candidates or young teachers in the same university department. The positions were informal.

 

Lu Jian, SNU's vice president, was happy with the higher threshold of the position, as the university could choose from graduate students and even PhD students, according to a report in Wenhui Daily earlier this month.

 

However, this is another instance of China's problem of diploma inflation.

 

According to Wenhui Daily, these job applicants were students majoring in science, literature, philosophy, sociology and politics.

 

They have spent at least seven years in a university and hold at least a master's degree.

 

It is a pity that they seek to tutor college students and attend to their daily lives, like a nanny.

 

This is not to undervalue the importance of a college adviser, but to do justice to people's talents.

 

If people who apply for the job are genuinely interested in a position that is beneath their abilities, that's fine.

 

But I doubt that all 195 are keenly interested in developing the abilities of others rather than personal growth.

 

It's quite possible that many are daunted by the heated competition of the job market and instead seek the comfort of the less challenging ivory tower environment and the academia they know.

 

(Shanghai Daily January 19, 2007)