Berkley Center

With the recent financial crisis as well as the long road to economic recovery, in the past few years, the effectiveness of the liberal arts education has come into question. Does a liberal arts education actually teach a student how to think? Will a student’s liberal arts education make him or her desirable in the job market? Resulting from financial pressures, students can feel compelled to pursue a more useful degree, such as business or engineering. While this effect has not yet resulted in a large-scale imbalance in our tertiary education system, it has at least resulted in a shift.

Having a glimpse into China’s education system, I believe I have a better grasp on how an even greater shift away from liberal arts education can affect a society as a whole. China’s education system has long had a reputation of stressing memorization over analysis. Additionally, the understanding of the Communist Party’s ideology takes the primary focus in humanities education. This attitude toward education eventually culminates in the gaokao, the singular test that determines a student’s placement after high school. For a vast majority of students this is the only factor that determines whether they can attend college. But, as in any standardized testing environment, this in turn results in teachers “teaching to the test,” further reaffirming the system’s sole attention on memorization.

While we place a great deal of importance on the SAT and ACT exams in the United States, students still have the opportunity to showcase their other abilities, whether in athletics, art, journalism, or debate. For the most part, college admissions offices still look for the “well-rounded” student, demanding an application that can capture a more holistic representation of the student. And while I admit America’s college admissions process still has its fair share of problems, it still allows students to use different mediums to convey their ability and intellect.

It’s fairly clear that by failing to provide students with opportunities to think for themselves, China’s students are left at a disadvantage. In an article from the Huffington Post, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, a feeder school to the Chinese diplomatic corps, commented that while his students had an incredible command of geography, history, and many other subjects, their analytical and argumentative abilities were incredibly undeveloped. This kind of system creates huge consequences for the economy, as innovation requires engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, and artists to think beyond existing ideas. As a result, China’s economy could face hurdles in developing a sustainable future economy.

At a local café on the Minzu University of China Campus, Wu Hao Café, I had the opportunity to speak with the owner, who also happens to head the Art Department at the university. While the professor was born and raised in Korea, she’s been living in Beijing for over 15 years. In her experience as a professor, while the students she’s worked with showcase a great deal of ability, they still struggle to think creatively, reflecting their past experience in the education system. As a result, she’s dedicated more time to working with her students and providing a creative atmosphere for her students to develop.

China’s leaders and educators are also taking steps to create these more creative atmospheres for students in higher education settings. In fact, a few educators are even leading initiatives to open liberal arts universities, modelling them after the University of Oxford. Government officials are also taking steps to try new education models, starting in the tertiary levels, with the goal of creating more creative graduates. This is already a very promising start, considering the success of China’s rapid reform in other areas of development.

While American students are feeling pressure to have more specialized degrees, Chinese students are realizing the importance of a liberal arts degree. Over the next decade, one can only hope that educators can find a balance somewhere in the middle to not only benefit the students, but also strengthen the global economy.