Going to university is supposed to be a mind broadening experience. That assertion is presumably made in contradistinction to training for work straight after school, which might not be so stimulating.
读大学应该是开阔思想的经历。这种说法可能是为了与毕业后直接参加工作培训的说法相对比，这听起来或许没那么励志。
But is it actually true? Jessika Golle of the University of Tubingen, in Germany, thought she would try to find out. Her result, however, is not quite what might be expected. As she reports in Psychological Science this week, she found that those who have been to university do indeed seem to leave with broader and more inquiring minds than those who have spent their immediate postschool years in vocational training for work.
但真的是这样么？德国蒂宾根大学的Jessika Golle认为她可以试着找到答案。但她得到的结果和所期待的大有不同。本周她在《心理科学》的报告称，她发现和那些离校后马上进行职业训练的人相比， 那些读过大学的人看起来确实在毕业后有更加开阔的探索性的思维。
However, it was not the case that university broadened minds. Rather, work seemed to narrow them. Dr Golle came to this conclusion after she and a team of colleagues studied the early careers of 2,095 German youngsters.
但大学能够开阔思维，其实并非如此。但工作似乎会使思维狭隘。Golle博士和她的同事团队对2095名德国年轻人的早期事业进行研究，之后她得出了这个结论。
During the period under investigation (the system was modified slightly this year), Germany had three tracks in its schools: a low one for pupils who would most probably leave school early and enter vocational training; a high one for those almost certain to enter university; and an intermediate one, from which there was a choice between the academic and vocational routes. The team used two standardised tests to assess their volunteers.
在调查期间（今年对该体系进行了稍微修改），德国的学校分为三类：低等学校—学生们可能会早找离开学校接受职业训练；高等学校—学生基本一定会读大学；以及中等学校—从这里出来的学生要在学术和职业道路中二选一。该团队利用两种标准测试对他们的志愿者进行评估。
One was of personality traits (openness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness and extroversion). The other was of attitudes (realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional).
一个是人格特征（开放、神经质、有责任心、亲和以及外向）。另一个是态度（现实主义、探究型、艺术型、社会型、开创型和保守型）。
They administered both tests twice-once towards the end of each volunteer's time at school, and then again six years later. Of the original group, 382 were on the intermediate track, and it was on these that the researchers focused. University beckoned for 212 of them.
每个测试均会进行两次—— 一次是在每位志愿者的离校之时，第二次是在六年之后。原始组中有382人就读中等学校，这是研究人员重点关注的对象。其中212名被大学录取。
The remaining 170 opted for vocational training and a job.
剩下的170人选择职业培训或参加工作。
When it came to the second round of tests, Dr Golle found that the personalities of those who had gone to university had changed not a statistically detectable jot. Those who had undergone vocational training and then got jobs were not that much changed in personality, either-except in one crucial respect.
在第二轮测试时，Golle博士发现那些去读大学的人，他们的性格变化不大。那些接受职业培训然后工作的人性格也没怎么变—除了另一个重要的方面。
They had become more conscientious. That sounds like a good thing, certainly compared with the common public image of undergraduates as a bunch of pampered layabouts.
他们变得更加认真负责了。这听起来是一件好事。大学生的普遍公众形象就是一群养尊处优的闲人，这么一比当然不错。
But changes in attitude that the researchers recorded were more worrying. In the university group, again, none were detectable. But those who had chosen the vocational route showed marked drops in interest in tasks that are investigative and enterprising in nature.
但是研究人员对他们态度上变化的记录更加令人担忧。大学组中的志愿者的性格还是未发现变化。但是那些选择职业培训的人，他们对探究型和开创型任务的兴趣明显下降。
And that might restrict their choice of careers. Some investigative and enterprising jobs, such as scientific research, are, indeed off limits to the degreeless.
并且这或许限制了他们的职业选择。一些探究型和开创型工作，比如科研，确实不在无学位者的能力范围内。
But many, particularly in Germany, with its tradition of vocational training, are not. The researchers mention, for example, computer programmers, finance-sector workers, estate agents and entrepreneurs as careers requiring these attributes.
但是很多有职业培训传统的工作并非如此。例如，研究人员提到，计算机程序设计员、金融部门员工、地产中介以及企业家是需要这些特质的职业。
If Dr Golle is correct, and changes in attitude brought about by the very training Germany prides itself on are narrowing people's choices, that is indeed a matter of concern.
如果Golle博士的结论正确，并且由于培训（德国人以此为傲）而带来态度上的变化缩小了人们的选择，这确实是一个令人关注的问题。
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