評(píng)論
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Jack Ma, one of China’s best-known entrepreneurs, thinks business success in China has nothing to do with prestigious foreign degrees: “When you want to judge whether a person . . . is excellent or not don’t look at whether they went to Harvard or Stanford,” he is famous for saying.
中國(guó)知名企業(yè)家馬云(Jack Ma)認(rèn)為，在中國(guó)，經(jīng)商能否成功與有沒有外國(guó)名牌大學(xué)的文憑無(wú)關(guān)。他的名言是：“判斷一個(gè)人、一個(gè)公司是不是優(yōu)秀，不要看他是不是從哈佛(Harvard)或斯坦福(Stanford)畢業(yè)的。”
More and more Chinese parents apparently disagree with the co-founder of internet company Alibaba: they are increasingly spending three or four years’ annual family income to send their only child for foreign study. Some are now asking whether it is worth the investment.
對(duì)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司阿里巴巴(Alibaba)這位聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人的觀點(diǎn)，越來(lái)越多的中國(guó)家長(zhǎng)顯然無(wú)法茍同。他們中越來(lái)越多的人會(huì)拿出相當(dāng)于家庭年收入三四倍的錢，送他們唯一的孩子出國(guó)留學(xué)。如今，一些家長(zhǎng)開始質(zhì)疑這筆投資是否值得。
The number of Chinese studying overseas has more than tripled in the past decade and continues to shoot up. The rise has been particularly dramatic among lower-middle-class families: according to a report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, up to the end of 2009 students from such families made up only 2 per cent of all those who studied overseas, but by the end of 2010 the proportion had risen to 34 per cent.
過去10年中，中國(guó)留學(xué)生的人數(shù)已增長(zhǎng)逾兩倍，而且還在繼續(xù)增長(zhǎng)。來(lái)自中產(chǎn)階級(jí)下層家庭的留學(xué)生人數(shù)增長(zhǎng)尤為迅猛：根據(jù)中國(guó)社科院(Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)的一份報(bào)告，2009年底，來(lái)自中產(chǎn)階級(jí)下層家庭的留學(xué)生人數(shù)僅占留學(xué)生總?cè)藬?shù)的2%，但到2010年底，這個(gè)比例升到了34%。
For many Chinese families with children overseas, money is no object. But many lower middle-class and working-class families are counting on their only child to support them in their old age.
對(duì)于許多送孩子出國(guó)留學(xué)的中國(guó)家庭而言，錢并不是目的。但很多中產(chǎn)階級(jí)下層家庭卻是指望靠他們唯一的孩子養(yǎng)老的。
Foreign universities also increasingly rely on fees from Chinese students to boost their income. But is it worth spending Rmb1m-2m ($165,000-$330,00) on preparing for and completing an overseas degree, only to return to a job market where seven million graduates cannot find jobs?
外國(guó)的大學(xué)也越來(lái)越依賴于從中國(guó)留學(xué)生那里收取費(fèi)用，以增加收入。但花費(fèi)100萬(wàn)至200萬(wàn)元人民幣(合16.5萬(wàn)至33萬(wàn)美元)去申請(qǐng)和取得一個(gè)外國(guó)學(xué)位，最后卻回到一個(gè)700萬(wàn)大學(xué)畢業(yè)生找不到工作的就業(yè)市場(chǎng)上，這是否值得？
According to Chinese recruitment agencies and human resources professionals, people who have studied overseas – known as “haigui”, or sea turtles, because they have one foot on land and one in the sea – command little if any salary premium when they start entry-level jobs back in China.
中國(guó)招聘機(jī)構(gòu)和人力資源專業(yè)人士稱，歸國(guó)留學(xué)人士（俗稱“海歸”或“海龜”，后者是取其海陸兩棲之義）受聘做入門級(jí)工作時(shí)，薪水可能跟本土畢業(yè)生一樣高、或僅略高一點(diǎn)。
Zong Qinghou, China’s second-richest man, sent his only daughter and heir apparent, Zong Fuli, to study overseas. As a result, he told a recent press conference, the thirtysomething Ms Zong “knows neither the current situation for Chinese enterprises nor the situation abroad”.
中國(guó)第二富豪宗慶后曾將他的獨(dú)女、當(dāng)然接班人宗馥莉送到海外留學(xué)。結(jié)果，他最近在一個(gè)新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上表示，現(xiàn)年30多歲的宗馥莉“既不了解中國(guó)企業(yè)的現(xiàn)狀，也不清楚國(guó)外情況”。
Jennifer Feng, chief human resources expert at 51job, the leading Chinese employment agency, says there is “no big difference between the starting salaries of those holding overseas or local university degrees”. Gone are the days when an overseas degree ensured a top-paying job.
中國(guó)主要招聘機(jī)構(gòu)前程無(wú)憂(51job)首席人力資源專家馮麗娟(Jennifer Feng)表示，“擁有海外文憑的求職者和本土大學(xué)畢業(yè)生的起薪?jīng)]有很大差別”。擁有海外文憑就能確保獲得高薪工作的日子已經(jīng)一去不復(fù)返了。
“The proportion of students studying overseas these days is high and what they study isn’t particularly suitable to the Chinese market,” Ms Feng says, adding that China is no longer sending only its brightest students abroad.
馮麗娟表示：“如今留學(xué)生的比例很高，他們所學(xué)的知識(shí)不是特別適合中國(guó)市場(chǎng)。”她補(bǔ)充稱，中國(guó)不再只是將自己最聰明的學(xué)生送到國(guó)外了。
These days a big proportion are average or below-average students who failed to gain entry to university in China. But the foreign institutions they attend may not be top-notch either: “Eighty to ninety per cent of the overseas universities that they attend these days, most people in China have never heard of them”, Ms Feng says. Even studying English overseas is no longer so crucial: job recruiters say they can meet their need for English speakers with locally trained graduates.
如今很大一部分留學(xué)生成績(jī)中等、甚至中等偏下，當(dāng)初未能被中國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)的大學(xué)錄取。不過，他們念的外國(guó)大學(xué)可能也不是一流的大學(xué)。馮麗娟說(shuō)：“如今留學(xué)生念的大學(xué)中，有80%至90%是大多數(shù)中國(guó)人從未聽說(shuō)過的。”甚至在海外學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)的經(jīng)歷都不再像以往那樣重要了。招聘者表示，本土大學(xué)畢業(yè)生就能滿足他們對(duì)英語(yǔ)能力的需求。
Liu Yinwei of Jinzun Investment Consulting was inundated with candidates at a recent job fair in Shanghai, but he was not looking for those with foreign degrees. He has sales jobs to fill and the last time he hired a returnee with a UK master's degree, “he thought he knew a lot and therefore . . . he looked down upon clients”.
在上海最近舉辦的一次招聘會(huì)上，金尊投資咨詢(Jinzun Investment Consulting)的劉銀偉（音譯）收到了大量簡(jiǎn)歷，但他想招的不是那些“海歸”。他要招聘的職位是銷售。上一次他聘用了一位從英國(guó)留學(xué)回來(lái)的碩士，那個(gè)人“認(rèn)為自己懂的很多，因此……看不起客戶”。
For Gao Wei, 25, attending the University of Melbourne was not her first choice, but she did not make the cut for a top Chinese university. Four years in Melbourne cost Rmb1m, she says, and paying it was “no big deal” for her parents, businesspeople in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing. Was it worth it? “It wasn’t my money so I have no views on the return on investment, but I have very beautiful memories of those four years.”
對(duì)于25歲的高偉(音譯，見右圖)而言，攻讀墨爾本大學(xué)(University of Melbourne)并非第一選擇，但誰(shuí)讓她沒考上中國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)的一流大學(xué)呢？她說(shuō)，在墨爾本學(xué)習(xí)4年，花了100萬(wàn)元人民幣，這對(duì)于她（在華東城市南京經(jīng)商）的父母而言只是“小菜一碟”。那么，這筆錢花得值得嗎？“這不是我的錢，所以我對(duì)于投資回報(bào)率沒有看法，但這四年為我留下了非常美好的回憶。”
Sandra Yoo, 28, took a different approach: she knew her family could not afford a foreign undergraduate degree, so she studied in China first and then went to the University of York for a one-year master’s in public economics. That year cost Rmb260,000, and her starting salary at a Chinese equities firm was Rmb220,000. She wants her child to study in China first too: “If they go abroad too early they lose their connection with classmates,” she says. In China, classmates often form an invaluable network for business.
28歲的Sandra Yoo走的是一條不同的道路：她知道，父母負(fù)擔(dān)不起自己的留學(xué)費(fèi)用，因此她先在中國(guó)念完本科，然后赴約克大學(xué)(University of York)攻讀了一個(gè)一年期公共經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)碩士學(xué)位。這一年的花費(fèi)為26萬(wàn)元人民幣，而她在中國(guó)一家股票公司的起薪是22萬(wàn)元人民幣。她也希望她自己的孩子先在中國(guó)念完本科。她說(shuō)：“如果太早出國(guó)，他們就會(huì)失去大學(xué)同學(xué)這份人脈。”在中國(guó)，同學(xué)關(guān)系往往會(huì)為經(jīng)商提供非常寶貴的人脈資源。
Gu Huini, 26, spent Rmb500,000 of her parents’ money getting a master’s in journalism from Columbia University. “Going to the US, the expense is like living in a four- or five-star hotel every day,” she says. Ms Gu, an elegant, poised young woman who speaks excellent English, says she was ill-prepared for her course of study and found the experience so distressing that she joined an education consultancy to help families avoid similar mistakes. Agents themselves can be a big part of the cost of overseas study, though: they charge between Rmb30,000 and Rmb300,000 to arrange overseas admission.
26歲的谷慧妮(音譯，見右圖)花了父母50萬(wàn)元人民幣，獲得了哥倫比亞大學(xué)(Columbia University)的新聞學(xué)碩士學(xué)位。她說(shuō)：“在美國(guó)讀書的花銷就像是天天住四星或五星級(jí)酒店。”谷慧妮年輕、優(yōu)雅、鎮(zhèn)定自如，操一口流利的英語(yǔ)。她說(shuō)，她自己對(duì)留學(xué)準(zhǔn)備不足，那段經(jīng)歷讓她非常痛苦，因此她加入了一家教育咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)，以幫助其他家庭避免類似的錯(cuò)誤。不過，留學(xué)中介機(jī)構(gòu)本身收取的費(fèi)用也可能占到海外留學(xué)費(fèi)用的很大一部分。申請(qǐng)人被國(guó)外的大學(xué)錄取后，留學(xué)中介會(huì)收取3萬(wàn)元至30萬(wàn)元人民幣不等的費(fèi)用。
One of China’s first overseas students, Xia Yingqi, now works with the Beijing government to help attract high-level returnees. Is foreign study worth it for the new generation of sea turtles? “It’s really not just about jobs and salaries: living in a foreign country, the whole country is your university,” he says. “I think it’s a good choice.”
中國(guó)第一批海外留學(xué)生之一夏穎奇現(xiàn)在在北京市政府工作，幫助吸引高素質(zhì)留學(xué)人員歸國(guó)。對(duì)于新一代“海歸”而言，留學(xué)是否值得？“留學(xué)的意義其實(shí)不僅僅在于工作和薪水——住在外國(guó)，整個(gè)國(guó)家都是你的‘大學(xué)’。”他說(shuō)，“我覺得這是個(gè)不錯(cuò)的選擇。”
