When Wang Shihu graduated from Zunyi Vocational and Technical College three years ago, he was offered a job in Guiyang. After working for a week, he made up his mind to return to his hometown of Yulin, Shaanxi. Today, he is a crop plant protection worker at the Chaonong Agricultural Materials Store in Jingbian County, Yulin, using the knowledge he has learned to serve the countryside, provide technical services to the villagers, and popularize new technologies.
Ying Chao, a native of Zhejiang, worked in a machinery factory in the city for a year after graduation, and finally chose to return to his hometown. He is a 2017 student of Jiaxing Vocational and Technical College, a student of the 2021 Jiaxing Vocational and Technical College Plant Protection UAV Training Course, and now he is the secretary and general manager of the Youth League Branch of Jiaxing Lvkang Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.
There are now many "new farmers" who have skills like Wang Shihu and Ying Chao and then return to their hometowns to devote themselves to rural revitalization. Over the years, Cai Meng, an associate professor at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Xi'an Jiaotong University and a researcher at the Institute of Empirical Social Sciences, has been paying attention to the phenomenon of returning to his hometown for employment. Starting from 2022, he has set his sights on the group of vocational students who have returned to their hometowns for employment.
Led by Xi'an Jiaotong University, Cai Meng's team carried out the "Comprehensive Survey of College Students in China's Higher Vocational Colleges" in batches from October to December 2022. According to the random stratification sampling method, the team selected 2 to 3 higher vocational colleges in 2 to 3 prefecture-level cities in the eastern, central and western parts of the mainland, distributed a total of 30,746 questionnaires, and finally obtained 29,529 valid questionnaires. The domicile of the valid sample covers 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) in mainland China. In June this year, Cai Meng and his doctoral student Ju Shaowei jointly published the phased research results "Research on the Influence Mechanism of College Students' Willingness to Return to their Hometowns for Employment", which attempts to construct a theoretical model of the influence mechanism of college students' willingness to return to their hometowns for employment from the dual perspectives of instrumental rationality and value rationality.
"Our survey found that most of the students in vocational schools come from rural areas, especially the schools we surveyed, accounting for more than 80%." This has also been largely officially confirmed, Cai Meng said, and at a 2020 press conference at the Ministry of Education, Chen Ziji, then director of the Ministry of Education's Department of Vocational and Adult Education, said that more than 70 percent of students in vocational colleges were from rural areas.
In Cai Meng's view, rural revitalization needs both leaders and practitioners. The advantage of higher vocational students is that they have skills and specialties, and rural construction has a great demand for this group.
At the just-concluded Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, it was proposed to "improve the system and mechanism of urban-rural integration development" and "accelerate the construction of a vocational education system that integrates general vocational education and industry and education". In Cai Meng's view, this means that the return of vocational college students to employment can become a key part of the revitalization of rural talents, whether it is the integration of urban and rural areas or the integration of industry and education, high-quality technical and skilled talents are needed.
The "new farmers" who return to their hometowns with technology have a lot to offer
Ying Chao's family is a farmer, and he still remembers that when he was a child, his family raised white jade snails, and he would also do farm work on holidays. He felt that now it should be the world of "new farmers".
"The traditional farming methods in my hometown are particularly hard, and the farmers work hard in the fields, and there is no new blood injected into them, whether it is people or technology. So I decided to return to my hometown and rely on my own CNC machinery major to help people in my hometown open the way of replacing manual agricultural machinery. Ying Chao told a reporter from China Youth Daily · China Youth Network.
Rice transplanters, balers, rakes...... Ying Chao's drone also drove into the field, and more and more local villagers also joined in and began to use machines for farming. There are also more and more young people born in the 80s and 90s who have returned to their hometowns for employment and joined Ying Chao's team. Most of them, like Ying Chao, are also graduates of vocational colleges, some learn mechanical repair, and some learn numerical control.
"I'm not afraid that you don't have a high education, I'm afraid that you won't endure hardship." Ying Chao said.
When Wang Shihu decided to return to his hometown, his family was not supportive at first, "most parents don't want their children to go to college and come back to farm."
He was a "new farmer" who returned to his hometown with his skills, providing potato growers with planting techniques and increasing yields to 4 tons per mu. Recently, he is promoting high-yield corn planting technology, with a yield of 1,800 to 2,000 catties per mu.
After 3 years, this young man convinced his parents with his real achievements in the field. This year, he set up a new experimental field and tried a new dense planting technology, "this year's output wants to be 2,400 catties."
Wang Shihu told his teacher Qiu Ninghong about this goal. After he returned to his hometown, he has been in contact with the teachers of Zunyi Vocational and Technical College, and has encountered problems and problems in production, from vegetable pests and diseases to the yellowing of corn bottom leaves, he will communicate with the teachers, and Qiu Ninghong will help him find a way in time.
"For students returning to their hometowns to start businesses, the school always pays attention to and provides guidance and encouragement." Qiu Ninghong said.
The most tiring sowing phase of the year has passed, the corn cob has already formed a pole, and by the time the harvest is in October, he will know if this year's experiment will be successful.
Wang Shihu originally studied architectural engineering at Zunyi Vocational and Technical College, but later switched to horticultural technology because he "likes agriculture". Qiu Ninghong, a professor at Zunyi Vocational and Technical College, counted two representative classes: one is a horticultural technology major that graduated in 2009, with a total of 43 students, and 14 years after graduation, 28 people are still engaged in agricultural and rural work; Another class is the crop production technology major that graduated in 2013, with a total of 28 students, and 14 people are engaged in agricultural and rural work in the 10 years after graduation.
"Some of them have been admitted as agricultural technicians and become agronomists at the grassroots level; Some have grown into the management backbone or technical backbone of the enterprise they work for; Some started their own businesses and started their own agricultural companies. Qiu Ninghong said.
"Once upon a time, migrant workers flocked from the countryside to the cities in search of jobs. However, in recent years, many migrant workers have made the opposite choice, leaving the city and returning to their homeland to devote themselves to the wave of employment and entrepreneurship in their hometowns. It is through the dynamics of this group that we are deeply aware of the prevalence and importance of the phenomenon of returning to their hometowns for employment. Ju Shaowei, a doctoral student in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Xi'an Jiaotong University, said.
"From the perspective of individuals, returning to their hometowns for employment is a career choice for higher vocational graduates to stabilize employment and ensure employment, and it is the key path to realize personal value. From the national level, the return of higher vocational students to their hometowns and employment injects talent dividends into rural revitalization, which is an important way to promote local culture, boost the development of rural industries, and optimize the rural talent team. Cai Meng said.
Relying on the bond of local complex, guide vocational college students to return to their hometowns
"There is a continuous outflow of young and middle-aged talents in rural areas, so a series of contradictions such as population aging, imbalance in population structure and insufficient talent reserve are very prominent. Under such circumstances, we believe that in the process of comprehensively promoting rural revitalization and accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, the construction of rural talent team is particularly important. Cai Meng said.
The survey found that the rural complex positively affects the willingness of college students to return to their hometowns for employment, and the sense of urban integration plays a part of the mediating role. Through the mediation of individual social capital and human capital, family endowment negatively affects the willingness of college students to return to their hometowns for employment. The perception of return policy positively moderates the impact of rural sentiment on college students' willingness to return to their hometowns for employment.
Ying Chao mentioned to reporters that when he returned to his hometown, he hoped to drive his hometown through his own efforts and "make his hometown better and better". Wang Shihu also explained to a reporter from China Youth Daily · China Youth Network that his family's "ancestors are farmers for three generations".
"It's not convenient to go back to my hometown, and the transportation is not convenient, and it's definitely not as good as the city in general, but I have a deep affection for my hometown, so I want to go back and plant the land well and increase the yield." In his hometown of Yulin, coal and natural gas resources are abundant, and agriculture is relatively undominant. Wang Shihu thought that he should apply what he had learned and use the technology he learned to "improve the status quo" in his hometown.
"These kids from rural areas have a more local feel." Cai Meng told a reporter from China Youth Daily · China Youth Network. In this regard, he suggested that the local government "should dare to play the emotional card of the local complex", with the help of the revitalization of local culture, the reproduction of hometown folk scenes, and the panoramic publicity of the rural landscape, to awaken the local complex of higher vocational students studying abroad. In the end, "relying on the bond of local complex, guide vocational college students to return to their hometowns".
The executive meeting of the State Council on July 15, 2020 proposed that "it is necessary to support the entrepreneurship and employment of key groups such as college graduates and returned migrant workers". In 2023, the No. 1 document of the central government pointed out that "those who meet certain conditions are allowed to return to the countryside to work and start businesses in their places of origin or employment and entrepreneurship".
In response to how to motivate higher vocational students to return to their hometowns for employment, Cai Meng put forward a series of suggestions. From the perspective of higher vocational colleges, we can increase employment support for students with financial difficulties, coordinate them to make up for the shortcomings of individual capital, and enhance the practical ability to return to their hometowns for employment; At the same time, vocational colleges can simultaneously promote the care of students returning to the countryside for practice, on the one hand, to motivate those students who already have a local complex, clarify their willingness to return to their hometowns for employment, and on the other hand, to help those students with a poor sense of integration in the city, to help them make employment choices that meet their own needs.
"The focus we are now focusing on the willingness of higher vocational students to return to their hometowns for employment. But in fact, I think more attention should be paid to the issue of 'retention' and 'flow' of rural revitalization talents. One is to stay and the other is to flow. Cai Meng said with emotion, "Finding a long-term path to drive young people to return to their hometowns for employment is not only related to the strategic layout of rural revitalization, but also related to the development and future of young people, and more importantly, to the prosperity and stability of the vast rural areas." ”
Higher vocational students still need government help to return to their hometowns
For Wang Shihu, the biggest difficulty in returning to his hometown to start a business is the problem of funds. He returned to his hometown after graduation, and his family had no money, and he had no money in his own hands. He inquired that there was a local innovation and entrepreneurship loan policy for college students, but "the threshold is relatively high" and he could not find a guarantor. Wang Shihu gritted his teeth and carried through the first year, and his condition slowly improved.
"It's best to choose an industry that you're good at or familiar with when you return to your hometown to start a business. And it is more prudent to do more research and choose the industry or project that is suitable for the local area. Wang Shihu sincerely suggested.
The biggest challenge that Ying Chao encountered after returning to his hometown was also the pressure on funds. "At first, I couldn't make much money, and I wanted to buy some modern agricultural machinery, so I had to take out a loan."
In addition to the shortcomings of funds, he also has a deep understanding of the shortcomings of agricultural machinery.
"In the early years, agricultural machinery was not as developed and advanced as it is now. Through various investigations, we decided to buy a certain robot, and then improve its performance step by step. Under pressure from all sides, Ying Chao persevered.
As far as Ying Chao knows, the village has certain policy support and training support for young people, and in the past 10 years, the support has gradually increased, especially after the rural revitalization strategy was proposed, he clearly felt the changes in the general environment.
"In our town, there are special support policies for agriculture, the renovation of farmland, and the construction of beautiful villages, which makes it more convenient for us to operate in the fields." Ying Chao said.
Wang Shihu also often participates in the regular training provided by the local agricultural bureau to learn from the local farming experience: "I used to learn all the things in textbooks, and there must be areas where I am inexperienced, and there is no end to learning." ”
The young man couldn't help but sigh that farming in his hometown is much easier now than when he was a child, and the promotion of new technologies has reduced the cost of human labor, and changes have been happening.
In 2018, when he left home to go to school, his hometown still used the traditional method of artificial irrigation, which was used to release water by hand and dig canals with shovels. "Of course, I am tired, my family's twenty or thirty acres of land, it may take three to five days to water. But now, the new drip irrigation technology is popularized, and you only need to pull down the electric switch and turn on the faucet, and it will be completely solved in a day or two, and there is no need to take care of it in the ground. Wang Shihu sighed.
In 2017, the state put forward the rural revitalization strategy, and then in rural areas, through national policies and financial support, the appearance of many villages has been significantly improved. Ju Shaowei introduced that in this context, local governments have actively responded to the call of the state and introduced local policies for returning to their hometowns for employment, aiming to attract all kinds of talents, including migrant workers and college students, to return to their hometowns and seek common development.
"In our research, we found that some local governments acted quickly and formulated clear policy measures, promising to provide substantial support such as employment subsidies and financial support for those who return to their hometowns to work and start businesses. This series of measures is a positive measure taken to attract and retain local talents under the macro framework of the national rural revitalization strategy. Ju Shaowei specifically mentioned that the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has compiled the "List of Talents in Short Supply in the Rural Revitalization Strategy". This directory lists in detail the types of talents urgently needed in the rural development of the region, and provides a scientific basis for accurately attracting, cultivating and employing talents. "By clarifying the specific areas and requirements of talents in short supply, we can attract more professionals who meet the needs of rural development to return to their hometowns for employment and entrepreneurship."
Anhui Province is one of the earliest regions to pay attention to and promote the policy of returning to their hometowns for employment, and began to introduce relevant policies and measures as early as 2013. In recent years, Guizhou Province has also been speeding up the creation of characteristic brands such as "Qianling Housekeeping", "Guizhou Craftsman", "Guizhou Embroidery" and "Guizhou Nursing", developing vocational education for rural areas, and supporting new professional farmers to participate in secondary and higher vocational education through flexible school systems, so as to meet the needs of rural industrial development and revitalization.
"Through careful comparison and induction, we clearly observe along the timeline that since the rural revitalization strategy was officially proposed, local governments have responded and successively introduced a series of policies and measures aimed at promoting employment and entrepreneurship in return." Ju Shaowei said.
However, he also noticed that there are obvious regional differences in the situation of higher vocational students returning to their hometowns for employment. Higher vocational students in developed eastern provinces are relatively willing to return to their hometowns for employment, and "the economic and employment environment in their hometowns is actually very good". Students in the western region have a stronger sense of nostalgia and will also consider returning to their hometowns. In the central region and the three eastern provinces, students are less willing to return to their hometowns.
Another situation mentioned by Cai Meng is that at present, the state has introduced a lot of supportive policies in order to encourage college graduates to work in rural areas, but in practice, the number of recruits with college degrees is very small, and the policies are more inclined to attract talents with a bachelor's degree or above, "There are fewer policies for higher vocational students."
In Cai Meng's view, higher vocational students have professional knowledge and technology, and their return to their hometowns for employment is of great significance to the revitalization of rural industries, the transformation of agricultural technology, and the production and employment of rural enterprises.
"However, at present, we have seen that the current return policy in various places still puts forward requirements for academic qualifications, focusing on undergraduate and graduate students, and actually has some neglect to guide vocational college students to return to their hometowns for employment." Cai Meng suggested that preferential policies should be introduced for vocational college students to return to their hometowns for employment. (Reporter Zhang Miao) Source: China Youth Daily