Recently, during the Two Sessions, Shuang Shaomin, a National People's Congress representative and the Vice Dean of the School of International Education and Exchange at Shanxi University, focused on the high-quality development of the education sector. He proposed suggestions to advance the high-quality development of higher education in the central and western regions.
Shuang Shaomin cited statistical data indicating that China's doctoral degrees are predominantly academic, with the number of enrollees and graduates in professional doctoral programs being relatively low. By the end of 2019, China had awarded a total of only 48,000 professional doctoral degrees. In terms of structural proportions, academic doctoral degrees accounted for 96.2% and professional doctoral degrees for 3.8%. The proportion of professional doctoral degrees is significantly low, which does not meet the scale needs of strategic emerging industries. Limited by the regional socio-economic development and the impact of higher education structure, the gap in graduate education and cultivation between local institutions in the central and western regions and those in the eastern region is further widening.
In light of this, Shuang Shaomin suggested a preferential layout for professional doctoral programs in the central and western regions. During the review process for new doctoral and master's degree authorization, implement favorable policies for the central and western regions to narrow regional disparities. Under the same conditions, increase the inclination towards adding professional doctoral program authorization points in some provinces of the central and western regions, especially supporting disciplines and specialties closely related to the socio-economic development of the central and western regions, such as electronic information, cultural relic protection, resources and environment, to support industry and regional development.
Taking Shanxi Province as an example, Shuang introduced that while promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional advantageous industries like steel, the province has been actively fostering the development and planning of strategic emerging and future industries. However, the main challenges are the lack of innovation in enterprises and weak research and development capabilities. On the other hand, universities in Shanxi currently have only 70 academic doctoral degree authorization points and 7 professional doctoral degree authorization points. Although the quality of graduate students is highly appreciated by employers, the number of graduates is insufficient to support the regional economy, especially the traditional coal machinery and electrical industry and the photoelectric information industry.
To advance the coordinated development of higher education and regional economy and society, Shuang Shaomin suggests in the construction of professional doctoral programs, strengthening the top-level planning, interdisciplinary integration, and structural optimization of discipline construction. Place graduate education in the central and western regions within the national major development strategies and regional planning. Through legal, tax, and other means, incentivize and promote industry enterprises to actively cooperate with universities, training more high-level professional talents for regional industrial upgrades and new economic development.
