Successful entrepreneurs have emerged as the new idols of college students, a recent Fudan University survey has found.

 

A hundred and fifty Fudan students from different grades and departments participated in the survey conducted in September and October. The results showed that 96 named successful entrepreneurs as their idols, 91 added scientists and scholars to the list, while only some 75 opted for stage and screen celebrities.

 

The results debunked stereotypical perceptions that young college students idolize pop stars such as contestants from the Super Girl competition, the Chinese version of American Idol.

 

Considering the extraordinary lengths that many young fans would go to in a show of their support for talent show stars, such as parading the streets with placards promoting their favorites, the results come as a surprise.

 

Even more surprising is that Fudan's students didn't seem too bothered that the latest Super Girl champion, Shang Wenjie, is a Fudan graduate.

 

"It's normal for students to have traditional ideas about the qualities an idol should have. They think of idols as people who have made a great contribution to society. These kinds of ideas aren't easily changed by TV shows," said Zhen Zhiwei, a second-year post-graduate student who conducted the survey.

 

But Zhen also found that some students have developed their own standards when selecting idols and role models. Some voted for ordinary people and even fictional characters like Harry Potter.

 

"It reveals the diversity of students' standards," Zhen said. "Under the influence of pop culture, some students now view fictional figures as their idols. They see the same qualities in those fictional figures as in other real people.

 

"We are also delighted to see that more and more students are concerned with the roles ordinary people play in society. Wealth, social status and fame are not the only standards they use to select idols."

 

The survey also revealed that 57 percent of the students do not want to be idols for others.

 

"The result can be regarded as a good illustration of why most of them chose successful entrepreneurs and scholars as their idols," Zhen said.

 

"They have high expectations of idols, so they believe that to be an idol means having to take on more responsibilities and pressure than other people, and they are not ready to do that yet."

 

(China Daily November 8, 2006)