The STEM crisis in China’s universities: how outdated courses are wasting talent
AdvertisementScienceChinaScienceThe STEM crisis in China’s universities: how outdated courses are wasting talentMany Chinese degrees prioritise theory over practical experience and fail to prepare students for real-world employment, critics say
Reading Time:6 minutesWhy you can trust SCMP2Dannie Pengin BeijingPublished: 6:00am, 25 Oct 2025Updated: 6:07am, 25 Oct 2025At a conference in December, Wang Xingxing – the robotics guru who founded China’s industry-leading Unitree Robotics – had a sharp critique.Advertisement“China is at a disadvantage in terms of talent reserves because its education system has decided that knowledge learned in school is often outdated, whereas overseas students study the world’s most cutting-edge technologies,” he told the audience.“The education system fundamentally shapes future development potential and opportunities,” Wang said, adding that for an intelligent individual entering university, studying frontier knowledge versus 20-year-old textbook materials..
