The situation has been brewing for more than a decade, say academics. During that time, China’s leaders have repeatedly expressed a desire to emphasize engineering in their universities. Today, with all nine of the country’s Politburo Standing Committee—the top tier of the Communist party—being engineers, the vision has become more focused than ever. Chinese officials reportedly are aiming for 50 percent of the country’s college graduates to come from engineering. Today, the figure hovers between 35 to 45 percent, according to the best estimates.