美国专业硕士培养现状、特征及争议

Current Situation, Characteristics and Controversy Analysis on the Cultivation of Professional Master in America

美国专业硕士培养规模和增速居于世界前列,尤以教育硕士和工商管理硕士为典型。同时,其专业硕士规模远超出学术硕士。为适应就业市场,两类学位教育在招生、培养、课程上相互参照与模仿。从专业硕士项目看,一方面因特征显著而得到社会认可,如鲜明的职业导向,较为完善的助学体系,种类丰富的双学位及程度较高的国际化等;另一方面又引发争议并遭受质疑,如培养质量问题、传统精英大学过于逐利以及文凭主义盛行等。

Both the scale and the growth rate of professional master in America have been in the top rank in the world, especially for M.Ed. and M.BA. The number of professional master is greater than research master. In order to adapt to the job market, the two types of postgraduate degree have been learning from each other in the aspects of admission, cultivation and curriculum. On the one hand, the programs are highly accepted by the society for their significant characteristics such as vocation-orientation, comparatively perfect student aid system, a variety of dual degrees and very high degree of internationalization. On the other hand, sometimes they cause controversy, for example, the criticism of the training quality, the profit-seeking behavior of the traditional elite university and credentialism inflation. Through the analysis of the operation of professional master＇programs in America, we could adjust strategy to catch up the international trend of professional master training.