When 40-year-old freshers enliven campus
More middle-aged Chinese are going abroad for a fresh crack at education
While most college-age students expect the epic milestone of graduation to be the end point of a challenging and demanding period of study and learning, some middleaged people pluck up the courage to return to scholastic life in a foreign country by taking a gap year off work in China.
In November, following her fulltime overseas study, 42-year-old Li Yanqiu graduated from her master’s degree course in ethnographic and documentary film with a distinction from University College London in the UK.
That one year was fruitful, Li said, as she dipped her toe into new waters — learning how to shoot virtual reality documentaries, doing volunteer work at churches, attending activities held by a museum community and joining a bakery society — alongside writing essays and reading in the 24-hour on-campus library, which was once used as a set for the movie Inception.
Despite all of that, Li still regrets not making the most of the year. “I went there for a diverse cross-cultural life, but I seemed to spend too much time on studying,” she lamented. “I didn’t even realize that Oxford street, Europe’s busiest shopping thoroughfare, was just a 10-minute walk from University College London until the final term.”
It was Li’s decade-old curiosity about foreign culture and education that led her to the idea of studying abroad. However, the fact that her two-year-old son required intensive parental care halted her plans.
However, everything fell into place and was ready in 2016, when, after 19 years of working for a local press company in Shanghai, she resigned as a director with enough money to afford the tuition costs and admitted her son to a boarding high school.
Li had decided to change her career path and to start by heading overseas to study a subject she enjoyed.
“This gap year was a turning point, and I feel a sense of accomplishment now,” she said. “Although I spent a fortune on the choice, and I’m doing part-time jobs while still job hunting after graduation, it’s worth it. You should always do something that challenges you.”
In China, entering full-time higher education abroad in middle age like Li did is still only endorsed by a minority.
A report jointly released by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and Zhilian Recruitment in August showed that most Chinese students studying abroad are aged from 23 to 33, among the 2,190 interviewees. Those aged between 23 and 28 accounted for up to 55 percent of the total number.
Another report by the CCG on overseas study trends, published last year, found that the age of Chinese people studying abroad continues to drop as more adolescents join the overseas study population.
Yu Hai, a sociology professor at Fudan University, said the phenomenon may be related to a traditional culture that Chinese middle-aged people are more likely to focus on family rather than on themselves.
“Most middle-aged people continue their work and life in a stable environment they are familiar with, unless there is an urgent requirement to study abroad for a job promotion or, in the case of academics, research purposes,” he said. “For some there’s impulsion just to relax or seek new challenges in foreign countries for a short time.”
Tian Jiefang, a 45-year-old who wishes to study abroad but has not yet taken the next step, agrees.
“I’m too busy taking care of my parents and my children, managing my social relationships and developing a decent and stable job,” she said.
“You just can’t leave all these behind for more than a week, to bet on a possible new life. It will be too much to bear for a middle-aged person.”
Chen Jin, a 46-year-old, said she’d prefer to save money for her son’s future marriage and his pursuit of higher education.
“Economic support is a basic condition. Except from the programs fully sponsored by government or with a scholarship, most overseas study costs more than 400,000 yuan ($58,000) per year. For our age group, that should be spare money, neither borrowed from parents nor saved for the future,” said Chen, before adding “but you can’t deny that if everything has been arranged, it will be a great option to make middle-age life brighter.”
Teng Zheng, president of Shanghai CIIC Education, claims that middle-aged students have different motivations and expectations, compared to younger students.
“One advantage about returning to class later in life is that mature students may have a greater sense of purpose and focus. Some aim for a job promotion when they return to the workplace, some for a change of trade and a more exciting career, and others may just want a break from the stresses of everyday life,” he said.
“That’s why they are able to capitalize better on what is offered and quickly fit into the new environment, compared with the younger people, whose future ahead is uncertain and who feel pressured to go to university by their teachers or parents.”
Cui Lijuan, a psychology professor at East China Normal University, pointed out that another advantage is that the older students may bring a lifetime of experience to their overseas study and can, as a result, enjoy a richer learning process.
“While younger students get distracted by new things around them at school and complain, middleaged students have probably already balanced work, home life and study,” said Cui.
Li Yanqiu agrees.
“As an older student, I appreciate the chance of education more. You’re there because you want to be. I study much harder now than when I was an undergraduate 20 years ago. My former job as a journalist with a nose for appealing topics enabled me to better write essays and assignments than the younger students in class,” she said.
“It was a time when I only needed to arrange my schedule around my studies, nothing like the life when I am home, surrounded by a bunch of issues regarding work, friends and family.
“I miss being a student now,” said Li.
Xu Jian, a 45-year-old founder of a consulting startup in Chengdu, Sichuan province, studied at UCL for a master’s in industrial and organizational business psychology five years ago.
“I felt intimidated at the start of the course, when I was surrounded by young people, but gradually found that doing a degree in middle age is not as scary as it seems, because you have got world experience and wisdom on your side.”
His seven-year experience as HR manager of a US manufacturing company truly helped his communication with people in the UK.
“I saw teachers as my friends and colleagues, and was not shy or nervous to ask for whatever resources I needed,” Xu said.
“Everyone is paired with a personal tutor at school. I communicated with mine every week on topics concerning work, life and study. However, some young people in class told me they barely talk to their tutors during the whole academic year.
“Fitting in is not an issue, either, given my previous business trips, international meetings and overseas work experience,” he added.
Xu said he has put the knowledge he retained to good use in his own consulting business, and it has served him well.
Zheng Jielan, a 34-year-old studying for her PhD in international relations at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia in Moscow, said she spent most her spare time at her part-time job.
“I did a lot of translating and interpreting jobs for money, social relationships and a better understanding of the culture and people in Moscow, despite the tuition being covered by the Russian and Chinese governments.
“It is different from an exchange program I attended in Moscow during my undergraduate study years ago, when spare time was mostly spent on hanging around with friends,” she said.
Approaching graduation in 2019, Zheng said her studies will lay a great foundation for her future career change from an administrative position to an academic role at a university in Shanghai.
However, Chen Danli, manager of the marketing department at Beijing Aoji Enrollment Center of International Education Company, suggested that people in middle age shouldn’t rush into going to study abroad.
According to the Ministry of Education, the number of Chinese students studying abroad hit 608,400 in 2017, a record high and an increase of 11.7 percent year-onyear.
At the same time, in 2017, the number of graduates returning to China after studying overseas grew by 11.19 percent over the previous year, reaching 480,900.
“The domestic job market is filled with talented Chinese people returning from overseas with an advanced education background and work experience now,” said Chen.
“For those who quit their career believing that an overseas study experience in a new industry will make for a more competitive and impressive resume, they may be putting themselves back into a fierce and inevitable competition with their younger counterparts.”