My university, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), is a top University in China. It ranks somewhere between 3 and 5 in the country on most ranking systems, and its a member of the C9 League, a coalition of the top 9 Universities of China. By most accounts, its a top academic performer.
Still, since my arrival, I’ve found my academic life to be somewhat frustrating. There is little guidance, the degree has unclear requirements, and there are very few challenging academic objectives. In a brief conversation with another foreign colleague, I brought this up, and I specifically mentioned how I found it odd that our department office was empty more often than not. His response was so good it bears repeating:
“Having lived in this post-apocalyspe [sic] environment for six years, none of the things you said surprised me. The only things that would surprise me would be a) having guidance and b) having any actual work to do. If the office is empty and the only people who occupy it are those drinking tea, sleeping and using chatting tools to talk to their friends, then everything is normal and as it should be.”
There you have it. I haven’t spent enough time here to verify to accuracy of this account, but I found it humorous enough to warrant some thought. Certainly, I don’t want to insinuate that the students and employees are lazy, but I think there is an attitude of doing the work when there’s work, and not doing work when there’s not.
Do you think the lack of "finding work for yourself" is a product of their culture? From my own ignorant standpoint, I assume that Chinese education up until higher education is very regimented (more so than primary education in the US) and stuff we think common in the US (Charter schools or alternative paths to success) are not as prevalent. Therefore, there is an expectation that authority will tell you what you should be doing and if no one does, there is nothing you are supposed to do.
That's my admittedly uninformed and "gut" feel for the situation. Sounds interested!
@Adam Johnson I should also note that there is a really interesting dichotomy going on about working. It is vitally important for someone to have a good job here, or else they feel like they've failed. Even if they hate it, working for good pay or a prestigious title is the ultimate goal. That said, they work significantly less hours than US employees, taking sometimes more than two hours each day for lunch. You should see the look when I tell them that sometimes in the US, companies allow only 30 minutes or sometimes take 'working lunches' with no set break time!
@Adam Johnson Quite possibly. Education is more regimented, but I'm not sure what effect that has on later work attitude. I think in general the population is a little more lax about working, except as you said, when a 'boss' hands down the order to get to work. In all honesty, I haven't figured it out. Sometimes people are really busy, other times, they just sit in the office and play computer games.
*interesting