TAN CHAO, a PhD candidate in Yanbian University in Northeast China's Jilin province, recently shared his story of working as a courier for six years. Tan said after working as a courier some people said he was pulling down the status and worth of doctorial degrees. Southern Metropolis Daily commented on Monday:

From the perspective of the individual, it is not even worthy of discussion whether or not doctorial students should deliver parcels. On the contrary, doctorial students should be encouraged to support themselves while doing their studies. It is unnecessary to care about others' negative review.

PhD students may always find themselves under great pressure. At the age when many have jobs and are getting married, they haven't started earning money from the knowledge they have acquired and research compensation for participating in academic projects varies depending on the subject and tutor. Some supervisors even say outright that students without a family that can financially support them are unsuitable for taking a PhD.

However, usually ignored in the media reports is the truth that those well-educated couriers are unlikely to do such work all their lives. Maybe at the beginning they were delivering some packages but later when the business expanded, they became bosses of their startups.

The really sad thing is the average of six years' revenue of Tan Chao's courier business is far less than thought, which seemingly proves that it is harder for kids from poor families to get a PhD.