Peking University, Dec. 7, 2012: Hosted by the Graduate Association of PKU, a long-awaited dialogue between professors from different fields was held in the auditorium of Guanghua School of Government, PKU on December 7, the topic of which was “How to Urge Students to Pursue Academics.”

Professor Cheng Daizhan from Tsinghua University was invited to join the dialogue with three other PKU professors in response of the issue his blog addressed, which triggered a heated debate on the Internet a short while ago. According to the blog, one of Professor Cheng’s excellent PhD students chose to be a high school teacher upon graduation instead of continuing doing researches in mathematics, which Professor Cheng was truly gutted about.

The other three professors were Rao Yi, Dean of School of Life Sciences, Pan Xilong, Associate Professor of School of Public Health and Shen Yan, Associate Professor of National School of Development.

Professors' Life Lessons

The dialogue began with the professors sharing their life lessons.

Professor Rao Yi referred to the divergent mindsets between different generations. When he was young, books were so hard to get hands on that most people of his age (like Professor Cheng) cherished their opportunities of reading books and receiving higher education. Nowadays it was a different story. Since life had changed for the better, the young were able to seek things that aroused them the most. He took his daughter as an example: “I respect my daughter’s choice to learn anthropology though I believe that she has a talent for natural science.”

Professor Shen Yan was the youngest of all four guests and she shared her experience with the students like an elder sister. She said that she had strong empathy with the students in that she once was also puzzled about her life, for instance, whether to go to industry or stay in academia, and whether to stay in America or return China. “It is common to be puzzled when we have to make a choice, but much exploration of the pros and cons is needed before making a decision.”

Professor Pan Xilong thought it was commonplace to change jobs. When he graduated as a PhD, he went to a renowned hospital. When he decided to resign, everybody thought that he was insane. “It takes a lot of courage to leave your normal life path and make a breakthrough. Before changing your job, you have to think two questions through: whether you are gifted in the new field and whether you are fully prepared for the worst.”

Role of a Professor

Professor Cheng Daizhan constantly pondered over his student's issue these days and shared his reflections. First of all, he admitted his student's freedom to make his own choice. But he also emphasized the mentor's role – to help analyze whether the choice is proper for the student. "There is an art of 'match' in the society. From this perspective, it is a failure that a PhD graduate chooses to be a high school teacher because he cannot use his knowledge to the fullest." Professor Cheng regretted that he had not acquainted himself with the inner thoughts of his student in time.

Professor Pan Xilong, however, maintained that the mentor had little impact on his students. “A mentor rarely knows his students’ other interests well. What a mentor can do is merely to improve his students’ skills in a certain field. But there is a difference between 'interest ' and 'capability'. Students may pay attention to their interests, while the things that they can easily accomplish are their truly strengths."

Professor Shen Yan put professors into three categories – boss, adviser and mentor. “If you have a professor like your boss, he will just assign projects to you. An adviser, as it suggests literally, gives you advice and guidance in your projects. The third category, mentor，is the ultimate level, which means imparting wisdom into less experienced ‘colleagues’ and share knowledge with them. As a mentor sees, there are no roles of professors and students but colleagues.”

Professor Rao Yi added to Professor Shen’s point of view. He said that he disliked the word "boss" because many professors would really believe they were the boss of their students after they were such addressed so many times. A graduate should indeed work with their mentors rather than work for them.

Ideal and Reality

The four professors also exchanged their views on ideal and reality. They all agreed that the relation between the two was not incompatible. All roads lead to Rome, and the way leading to success was not alone. It was a relatively easy thing to change jobs for elites because the basic qualities gained through a series of exploration and improvement could be transferred.

“The life in academia was a little bit lonely but full of freedom. You can own your research results though it may be a small progress in your field. If you have the curiosity to seek and explore, you will know what your proper choice is.”

In the following Q&A session, the students raised questions about career prospects for young college teachers, the definition of excellence and how to be a good choice-maker. Four professors answered the questions patiently and received rounds of applause, bringing the dialogue to a successful end.

Reported by: Meng Yiran
Edited by: Chen Long