The Value Differences between China and America on Academic Qualifications

It doesn’t matter who you are; what matters is who you need to be. Many things are decided based on people’s needs. Greed and jealousy, limited rationality, self-interest and opportunism can potentially motivate people. Different societies have different social values and institutions; therefore, they have different rules of the game.

It is difficult to measure a person’s ability. Academic degrees are a very important indicator of ability; they are often a prerequisite for seeking a job or promotion. Receiving an academic degree, in general, is advantageous in any country in the world. Society also approves of people with academic qualifications. Today, the number of political science doctorates in the world is increasing. Members of the Democratic Party and presidents of the United States are usually civilians who have received doctorates, while the requirements of the Republican Party are less stringent. Many of Taiwan’s politicians have received doctorates. China particularly approves of those who have studied extensively because it demonstrates that they are intelligent. Society identifies with Chen Shui-bian, who was born in poverty but was the first in his class every year from kindergarten through university.

As a developed business society, America puts more emphasis on experience. Microsoft does not put much emphasis on academic qualifications. Bill Gates only studied at university for one year, but he began developing software at age 14. In high school he studied university-level courses on his own, ran a software company and started filing his own tax forms. Tang Jun, the former chief executive of Microsoft China, never finished his master’s degree before going to America, but the then-current chief executive of Microsoft China Steve Ballmer never finished his master’s degree either. However, Microsoft still values academic qualifications. Many of the researchers at Microsoft Research have received doctorate degrees, as have many of those working in research and development. The founders of companies that need cutting edge technology such as semi-conductors, search engines and communications have all received Ph.D.s. In the United States, receiving a doctorate can be advantageous in some fields and detrimental to one’s job prospects in other fields. In government as well as in business, receiving a doctorate is advantageous because it signifies a professional background. However, the degree is only helpful to a limited extent, and receiving a doctorate at a good university is very difficult.

Tang Jun has adapted to America’s culture. Tang Jun was a high level manager at Microsoft, not because of his academic qualifications but because he proved he had ability, and he was Chinese. He was considered a suitable person to open the Chinese market for Microsoft.

After Tang Jun returned to China, he began to value academic degrees and managed to get a fake degree from a university in America not accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. In Chinese society, high-level academic degrees are very important factors for employment and promotion. In short, you need a degree to get ahead.

Many businesses also rely on employees who have high academic qualifications because they help high tech companies receive financial aid from the government and boost prestige in the business world. For this reason, some industrial firms recruit mathematics doctorates and provide them with promotions and housing. They have not been proven to be very useful, however, and consumers do not show respect for them. Many companies also need managers with an international background, which is mostly for show. Many companies hire a foreigner to work in the front of an office, as part of the facade. In this way, both employees and employers claim that academic qualifications are necessary, and employees will increase their academic qualifications by any means available.

There are other cases as well, including replacing professional qualifications with academic qualifications, replacing genuine goods for counterfeit goods, or even framing someone to look like they have a fake diploma. There are many forms of this behavior. Thanks to society’s obsession with academic qualifications, a tragedy has occurred. A manager with an annual salary of hundreds of thousands of renminbi but with no educational background was very emotionally unstable and made fun of a college graduate employee for having an education. The manager said that despite the college education, the employee was still not as good as the manager. The employee was furious and stabbed the manager, and both of them died. This occurred in spite of the company’s plans to train the college graduate employee to become a future high-flyer in management.