Period of Transition from Engineering to Social Science (1980–1983)

Abstract

I was trained as an engineer and worked in the electrical engineering field for over 33 years. However, in 1980 I ventured into a new field—social science and began my new profession as a researcher and practitioner in applying and integrating policy science to China’s reform and opening to the outside world. This represented a paramount change for me in terms of work environment as well as my knowledge base. The change presented a significant challenge and at the same time a great opportunity for me. The major challenge was to expeditiously expand my knowledge base with the new knowledge and to broaden my expertise to meet the new work demand. For a well-trained intellectual in contemporary society, lifelong learning is a “must” quality for meeting the dynamic and ever-changing world. The higher education of today is expected not only to train students with the functional knowledge for specific disciplines but also to develop their how-to-learn ability for life-long learning of ever-expanding knowledge. (Unfortunately, not all institutions of higher learning seem to live up to such an expectation.) I considered my transition into the new profession a great opportunity for me to grow professionally because China as a semi-isolated country since the establishment of PRC in 1949 had much to catch up to bring it up to the norm once it opened to the world.