New Delhi, July 7 -- A 39-year-old man with degrees from Oxford, Peking University and Tsinghua is making headlines in China, not for his academic achievements, but for his current job as a food delivery worker. Ding Yuanzhao, once considered a top-performing student in China's cutthroat entrance exam system, now works for Meituan in Beijing after failing to find employment in academia.

His story, first reported by the South China Morning Post, has sparked widespread debate about the shrinking value of elite education in a rapidly shifting job market.

Ding's resume is stacked: a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua, a master's in energy engineering from Peking University, a PhD in biology from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, an...