Value-less university education

Exactly what is the value of a University Education? Why are plumbers on 40 grand and accounts graduates on 15? Could it be that a University education is actually adding little true value?

A recent meeting of the Institution of Structural Engineers in Edinburgh, comprised a talk by Peter Pallet on the subject of temporary works - scaffold, shoring.formwork etc, an oft neglected, expensive and failure-prone element of the construction industry. In response to my question about the quality of the people involved in the design and supervision process, Peter moved onto the subject of Graduate Engineers. He came up with the memorable summary that

"they know nothing about engineering..as far as I can tell they do nothing at University but drinking and wenching"

Now students, particularly those in engineering, medicine and a few other practical professions are worked hard, how can they be so unimpressive after four or five years of this? It is because Mr Pallet is correct; what they spend their time on has little relevance to the real world.

My experience after many years of training, coaching, and supervising the finest products of our Universities is, if anything, more concerning. For the graduates suffer from a common malaise:

• They are poorly versed in the fundamentals, with a surface veneer of knowledge but no deep understanding
• They are utterly lacking in the basic skills of their profession
• They are virtually incapable of independent critical thought or problem solving
• They are economically illiterate.
• They are often close to being functionally illiterate.

How to spot this problem - watch the questions an individual asks when faced with a new challenge. They fall into three categories:

1. No questions - no mental activity at all. Only option is rapid retraining as Tea-boy, or perhaps head of the IMF
2. "Tell me what to do", usually followed by "tell me what I did wrong". Most common category. A technician mentality has developed. An inability to reason is made terminal by a reluctance to take responsibility. Not suitable for creative work, recommend Macdonalds burger flipping as a career path.
3. Some original thought resulting in a perceptive question. Really rare, fast-track to the top.

Now the question is WHY is it so bad. Accident or design?

Lets look at the writing of the most influential educator of the 20th C - John Dewey

"Children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society which is coming, where everyone is interdependent."

So there you have it, Our education system has been molded by those who favour a collective (that is are coercive, totalitarian) society to prevent independent thought.

Job done!