After the evaluation of associate professor, college teachers began to "lie flat"

"After being an associate professor at 34, he decided to stop the chase."

This is the career choice shared by an associate professor in a higher education institution in early 2026: reduce scientific research competition, no longer take the initiative to impact higher professional titles, and devote the main energy to teaching and basic job tasks.

From high-intensity competition to a relatively stable pace of development, such changes are emerging in some college teacher groups, especially some teacher groups who have completed the promotion of professional titles and entered the platform period of career development.

"College teachers lie flatIn recent years, it has become one of the hot topics in the field of education.For colleges and universities, what really needs to be considered is not simply asking teachers to increase their investment, but how to establish a mechanism that allows teachers to develop, be able to develop, and develop in return.

When "lying flat" evolved from individual choice to group phenomenon, some colleges and universities also began to take the initiative.

In September last year, when Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine held a special class work meeting on post performance appraisal and performance salary distribution reform, Zhang Lixiang, secretary of the school's party committee, proposed to further unify ideological understanding,Crack part of the faculty"Lie flat" mentalityIn particular, it is necessary to guide young doctors and other backbone forces to actively integrate into the reform.

This is not an isolated case. In recent years, more and more colleges and universities are promoting the reform of performance pay, post appointment and teacher evaluation, hoping to stimulate the vitality of teachers through system adjustment. But one question worth asking is:The premise of system adjustment, whether we really understand why teachers choose"Slow down"?

College teachers have long been regarded as a stable and growing career path. But in recent years, the development environment of colleges and universities is quietly changing. On the one hand, the scale of university teachers continues to expand, job competition intensifies;Connotative developmentstage,At the end of the past period of quantitative expansion, the growth of professional titles, academic resources and development space is slowing down-the "golden channel" for teachers' professional development is narrowing.

Especially after entering the middle and late stages of the profession, some teachers may find that if they continue to invest a lot of time and energy, the benefits may not necessarily increase simultaneously.

That's why some studies and discussions have found that,“The "lie flat" mentality tends to appear in groups of teachers with improved career stability and adjusted development goals.。

The data may provide a more sober perspective.The Event History Analysis of Influencing Factors of Professional Title Promotion of College Teachers in China is based on the survey of 4 colleges and universities in East China,The average age of lecturer promotion to associate professor is34.2years old, the average age of promoted professors is40.8year。This means that when a teacher is rated as an associate professor at the age of 35, there is still an average of six or seven years of promotion for professors-and this road is getting narrower and narrower.

"Crack lying flat" is necessary, but in what way "crack", it is worth being cautious. "Cracking the lie flat" does not mean that colleges and universities to promote teachers in the paper.

For a long time, the pressure of scientific research assessment, title promotion and talent competition faced by college teachers has made some teachers in a state of high-intensity operation for a long time. IfThe direction of reform is understood simply"Improving assessment requirements" and "increasing competitive pressure" may produce another result-teachers are more tired, and the innovation vitality of colleges and universities may not really improve.

Colleges and universities in particular need to be alert to the two extremes.

One end is an invalid inner volume. For example, teachers pursue the number of papers in order to make up enough assessment indicators, and carry out low-value or even zero-value scientific research in order to adapt to the evaluation system. The energy is put into it, and the results seem to be there, but the academic contribution is minimal; at the other end is the negative lying flat. For example,Teachers lack interest in teaching reform, lack investment in student training, and have little participation in school development. They can pass the examination and withdraw themselves from the organization.

The two extremes seem to be opposite, but the roots are the same--There is a problem with the evaluation mechanism.. Therefore, the key to breaking the game is not to force everyone to "run", butEstablish a more reasonable and differentiated teacher evaluation system。

At the end of last year, the People's Daily Overseas Edition reported on the reform practice of Chen Guoqiang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as the president of Hainan Medical University.Some of these practices deserve attention.

At the beginning of his tenure, Chen Guoqiang proposed to complete the materialization of the medical academy, increase doctoral programs, and realize the three goals of renaming "medical school" and "medical university" within two years, and simultaneously promote the reform of cadre management and performance system. In the process of reform, the school promotes the competition of cadres, optimizes the establishment of institutions, and re-establishes the performance system. chen guoqiang clearly stated:"It is not advisable to lie flat. It is impossible to lie down and win."In his view, the important goal of reform is to give more opportunities to those who are truly capable and contributing."People lying flat get up, stand up and run"。

Facing the new changes of teachers' professional development, some colleges and universities have begun to explore the new direction of system adjustment.

These reforms are not simply to raise the assessment requirements, but to try to answer a more central question:How to make different stages, different types of teachers, can find the driving force for sustainable development。

As colleges and universities enter the stage of connotative development, the responsibilities of teachers are becoming more and more diverse. In recent years, some colleges and universities began to explore more refined performance reform.

For example, Hangzhou Normal University launched the performance pay reform in 2025, proposing to create a development atmosphere of "refusing mediocrity, refusing to lie flat and refusing to be conservative" through the reform. In the specific implementation, the school emphasizes "fixed salary by post, distribution according to work, more work, and excellent performance", and supports the college to formulate differentiated plans based on its own discipline characteristics.

The performance plan of the School of Creativity and Media of the school divides teacher positions into three categories: "teaching-oriented", "teaching-scientific research" and "scientific research-oriented", and sets different performance requirements. For example, teachers who are also deputy senior titles,A "scientific research-oriented" subtropical high teacher needs to complete at least 18 scientific research performance points each year, while a "teaching-oriented" subtropical high teacher requires only 2 points, but needs to undertake more teaching hours.

✎From"Single promotion channel" to "multiple development path", let teachers see the growth space

In addition to the way of motivation, the evaluation system also affects the motivation of teacher development. More and more colleges and universities began to promote teachersCategorical evaluationReform.

For example, Beijing Normal University has promoted the reform of teacher evaluation in recent years. According to the characteristics of teaching and scientific research posts, the school has subdivided the posts into "three types and six categories", formulated differentiated promotion conditions for different types of teachers, and improved the annual assessment and appointment period assessment mechanism.

At the same time, the school further expands the scope of evaluation results, changes the evaluation method of over-reliance on papers and projects in the past, and incorporates high-quality courses, policy consultation results, national standards, and public service results into the evaluation system, so that the contributions of teachers in different positions can be recognized.

✎From"Identity Management" to "Position Management"Let stability not equal stagnation.

The profession of college teachers needs stability, but if the stability lacks effective management, it may also evolve into the stagnation of career development.

Northwest University of Agriculture and Forestry Science and Technology promotes the reform of teacher evaluation and post appointment, adheres to classified management and hierarchical employment, sets evaluation standards according to the characteristics of different posts, and promotes post management from "identity management" to "post management" through employment period assessment and competition for posts ".

According to the school's "work plan for the fifth round of post appointment period assessment of the school Youth League Committee", teachers who are excellent and good in the appointment period assessment can continue to be employed at the same level; teachers who are qualified in the appointment period assessment jointly compete for posts at the same level with those who are excellent in the post assessment at the next level; teachers who fail in the appointment period will be given "yellow card" warning, post transfer, post reduction, dismissal, etc.

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The core of the competitiveness of colleges and universities is still in the teaching staff. To crack the "lie flat" is not simply to require teachers to re-enter the competition, but to redesign a development mechanism: let hard-working people have opportunities, contributors have rewards, and different types of teachers have room for growth.

This may be the fundamental way to crack the teacher's "lie flat.

Main references:

[1] Ministry of education website, surging news network, bright net, etc.

[2] official website of the Ministry of Education. Beijing Normal University's "Four Intensities" Continue to Promote Teacher Evaluation Reform to Develop in Depth [EB/OL]. Beijing Normal University News Network, 2024-08-26.

[3] Chen Jingwen. Academician President Chen Guoqiang Medical University Break-"It's Time to Build a Medical University with Distinctive Tropical Characteristics" (Great Health Observation)[N]. People's Daily Overseas Edition, 2025-12-22.

[4] Youth League Committee of Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University. Work Plan for the Fifth Round of Post Appointment Period Assessment [EB/OL]. 2026-03-26.