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Top Chinese students flock to business and management majors

(People's Daily Online)    16:10, August 24, 2016

A recent survey found that business and management have become the most popular majors for students with high scores on the college entrance examination. However, the fact that these are the most commonly selected majors does not necessarily mean top students are most interested in these topics. 

For students who aren't sure what they want to study, the selection of a major often comes down to peer pressure, with the most outstanding students simply defaulting to majors such as business and management. For instance, more than one-third of the students in the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University were top scorers on the college entrance examination, with many boasting additional victories in academic competitions.

One reason these students choose to study management is that doing so creates an easy path to a future career. Another reason for this phenomenon is called the signal effect: since the students in these majors are mostly at the top of their respective classes, employers are willing to offer the outstanding management graduates high salaries. This, in turn, motivates top students to choose such majors, since they are viewed as an incubator for high-paying careers.

Statistics show that more than 45 percent of the top scores on the college entrance examination from 2000 to 2016 majored in economics and business management.

But this phenomenon doesn't end with graduation. When top students finish school, they are more likely once again to be affected by peer pressure. They often give up potential careers that they truly love in favor of the ones that are most commmonly chosen by other elite students. After graduation, they tend to take jobs in investment, stocks and consulting.

This cycle not only hurts the students themselves, but can also have a negative impact on society as a whole. When top students occupy all the vacancies in a given profession, they leave no space for those with lower grades who are truly interested in the field. This means that even more students are being prevented from following their passions. 

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Editor: Hongyu,Bianji)

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