The cult of university, Ctd

James Delingpole reminds us of the growth of university. A growth that I might add, needs corrected. He said in an article in the Spectator, 'The gilded generation - Why the young have never had it so good':

"Education: Of course it’s harder for graduates to find jobs — but that’s partly because there are so many more graduates. In the 1960s just one in 20 people went to university; now around half of all young people get to know the joys of freshers’ week, essay crises, late-night kebabs on vomit-spattered pavements and other formative further education experiences."

Jenni Russell backed up the figures and shared some commentary in my post here.

The Cult of university, Ctd

On BBC Radio 4's programme Zeitgesters, Will Gompertz, BBC Art Editor, meets cultural entrepreneurs who are shaping our lives. People who know what we want, even when we do not. The men and women whose impact goes beyond mere commerce, people who shape contemporary culture. On programme 3, Gompertz met Theaster Gates. A man with two degrees in urban planning (and a further one in religious studies), who worked for the city's Transport Authority, but now uses sculpture, installation and performance to bridge the gap between art and life. Will Gompertz travels to Chicago to meet the the artist who is using collectors' desire for his artworks (they sell for anything upwards of several hundred thousand dollars each) to transform the rundown Southside where he now lives. Theaster Gates said of vocational work:

"We have to make labour more skillful and more sensitive. We gotta bring dignity back. We have to assume that the entire world won't be a tech invested world and that the more we can create a skilled hand, we'll create new sectors of opportunity. Because the tech dude doesn't know how to change his plumbing. And so I don't think that there's a dignity issue in being a plumber. When I watch these guys sauter copper, I realise that they are much more sophisticated people than I am. Keeping water out of places were you don't want it is a big deal. For the roofer, for the plumber, for the electrician I'm paying these people 100s of thousands of dollars to do this work and these is no way I can argue with there value. [This goes deep with me, my dad was a roofer] and

The soft bigotry of the "university experience"

Carola Binney said:

"I have a confession to make: I go to my hometown university. 

The decision to stay in Oxford is one I often feel I have to justify. When people learn that my parents live a 30 minute walk from my college, I get an ‘Oh, cool’. It’s in that tone that I imagine might also be prompted by someone telling you, while wearing flares and flashing trainers, that they maintain a shrine to Peter Andre. 

Cult of university, Ctd @ericabuist: "We've done what you asked,society! Release the jobs!"

Erica Buist (@ericabuist) is the founder of the How To Be Jobless blog and now works on the Guardian Digital Journalism Scheme. She wrote a fantastic blog 'Telling a young person to 'Just get a job' is like going to the Sahara and yelling 'Just rain!'.' She said:  

"Today's youth has spent years chasing qualifications no one ever asks us about. The notion that algebra would ever be useful seemed fishy, but the grownups insisted: education, no matter how apparently arbitrary, leads to jobs."

Money quote right here:

"The minute we graduated, something switched in employers' heads. The same generation who had us sit Sats and the 11-plus and the 12-plus and Sats again and mock GCSEs and real GCSEs and AS-levels and A-levels and BAs and MAs and MScs and PhDs decided education is an afterthought. Experience is what's really important."

Another great bit:

The cult of university, Ctd Short-changed

Rob Behrens, chief executive of The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education

The Sunday Times (9.iii.2014) reported on a 2013 study of more than 17,000 undergraduates (commissioned by Which?) which found weekly contact time between students and staff had fallen from 14 hours and 48 minutes in 1963 to 13 hours 42 minutes in 2012. Some students shared their experiences:

Josh Vallance, a first-year history student at one university, said:

"I have seven hours’ contact time at the moment but that will drop to three in my final year. Some of the seminars are good, but there are just too few of them."

A first-year geography student who wished to remain anonymous, said she regretted going to university:

"As far as the university is concerned, I am non- existent. I could disappear for good and none of the academic staff would ever notice... When I’ve emailed my personal tutor about something, she just says she’s the wrong person to ask. I feel that I am wasting my time." 

This backs up my assertion that for many young people university is a giant holding pen. A student in her final year of an English literature degree at a Scottish university said:

"My last essay took two months to be marked, which may sound trivial but it’s impossible to know how you are getting on without feedback."

The Cult of University, Ctd Eisenhower and the Free University

During his Farewell Address to the Nation on January 17, 196, Eisenhower said how university had been captured by government and other interests:

"The free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. 

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded. 

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. 

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system – ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society. 

...We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the [two]."

Address in full here.

Closing the skills gap, Ctd

Kids to be taught to code from age 5 in Eng & Wales - we need this urgently for schools in NI http://t.co/ZFaAEFo9iM
— Jenni Porter (@jenporterhall) January 24, 2014

Eleanor Mills (@EleanorMills) wrote in The Sunday Times here, 'This mum says: Here’s looking at you, code.' She said: "As more IT jobs go unfilled, the government has put coding on the curriculum. Parents should get techy too: after only a day’s tuition I built my own app."

HOWEVER. Coding is not being put on the curriculum in Northern Ireland. Nor is it being put on the curriculum in Wales! AS Jenni Porter said, we all need this urgently now.

 

@brianjohnspencr England only at present cc @DrTomCrick @Lottiedexter @BBCRadio4
— Miles Berry (@mberry) February 6, 2014

@brianjohnspencr Scotland has 'computing education' already, which includes programming from c age 7, I think. Wales set to improve soon.
— Miles Berry (@mberry) February 10, 2014

Liberal arts education feeds the Skills Gap

Robert W. Goldfarb wrote in the New York Times here:

"The general message from [business] leaders is this: More young people would be hired if they had the right qualifications, but too few have the skills and discipline needed to succeed in today’s demanding workplace. 

Over the last few years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 young people from diverse backgrounds of income, education, race and geography. About half told me that they had liberal arts degrees, and I was struck by how many of them regretted majoring in a discipline now seen as impractical. 

Many liberal-arts graduates say they are eager to find an employer willing to train them in skills that don’t require a degree in engineering or computer science. They cite six-sigma analysis, supply-chain procedures, customer service, inventory control, quality assurance and Internet marketing. They want a chance to master one of those skills.

The Cult of University, Ctd The university bubble

In the video above and here we are introduced to 'Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses', a book by Richard Arum with Josipa Roksa, published January 2011. The video above said:

"As with the housing bubble, cheap and readilty available credit has let people borrow huge amounts of money to finance education, and both students and parents continue to believe that whatever the cost the college education is a necessary ticket to future prosperity."

 It continued:

"The book found that as prices have been going up, learning seems to be going down, as 45% of students did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning during the first 2 years of collegeand 36% did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning over 4 years of college. The primary reason is that course aren't very rigorous. In fact a recent survey of over 700 schools... found that many have virtually no requirements."

The Cult of University, Ctd

Benjamin Marlow (@benjaminmarlow) wrote in The Sunday Times here, 'University and debts of £50,000? No thanks, I’ll be an apprentice'. He shared the story of Rosie Messiha-Harlock:

"Like the rest of her school friends, the high-achieving 18-year-old had not considered anything after A-levels apart from going on to do a degree. Armed with two As and two Bs, Messiha-Harlock went to Kent University to study criminology and law. 

“In the sixth form, everyone is pushed to go to university, so I went along with it, but it wasn’t really for me. I felt as if I was treading water when what I really wanted to do was get on with my career.”

Jenni Russell - Young people spent 13 years listening to a Labour government telling them that university is the key to a better life. The exhortations have shaped reality.

In 2011 Jenni Russell (@jennirsl) wrote in The Guardian here:

"[Young people have] spent 13 of the past 14 years listening to a Labour government telling them that university is the key to a better life. The exhortations have shaped reality. With almost half the age group going on to higher education, anyone who doesn't do so risks being labelled as below average, however unjust that might be. A degree might not be worth what it used to be now that so many people have them. For anyone who is ambitious, though, not having one has become a handicap that needs to be explained away."

She finished by saying:

"We have spent the past 10 days agonising about how to give the most desperate young people hope in their futures and a stake in society. This week we are turning around to those who have worked diligently and telling them: sorry, we know it's tough out there, and the good jobs don't exist in any quantity, but we're not prepared to develop you any further – you're on your own. It's a foolish, short-sighted, rotten way to be running either the country or the education system."

On a side but related note, the skills minister Matthew Hancock recently said in an article, 'Parents must drop 'sniffy' attitude to apprenticeships, leading headmistress says':

"Concentrating only on academic training to the exclusion of technical training was a big mistake."

Jenni Russell in full here. In a blog post here I wrote that a Sunday Times poll found that in many universities are more interested in research than their students. My previous post on Jenni Russell here and here. Previous posts in The Cult of University series here, here university here, here, here, on the University Neurosis here, on The Legally Blonde complex here and also a piece here. Also on the Huffington Post here. My blog post on YouGov who found that employers have found graduates non-work-ready, here. My blog posthere where a Sunday Times poll found that students are critical of university teaching standard and that universities are more interested in research than teaching students.

Jenni Russell - 'Some universities teach and some do not'

Jenni Russell (@jennirsl) wrote in The Times:

"We must throw a spotlight on those institutions where students can get away with little work... [the] mass of words and numbers avoids the hidden truth about university courses; that a few offer a terrific, demanding education while many others are content to allow students to drift through — in a three-year haze. 

Occasionally that is obvious. Everyone expects medicine at Oxford to be more gruelling than event management at a new university. For a majority of courses, though, it is impossible to understand from descriptions just how much study is involved. Hundreds of thousands of students are miserably ill-served as a result. 

A tiny think-tank, the Higher Education Policy Institute, collaborated with Which? magazine last summer to research the student experience. In a survey that consulted almost 40,000 students over two years, it discovered that, on average, they work only three-quarters of the hours that ministers assumed they did. The number of hours per week that law students put in varied from 21 at some universities to 47 at others. Medicine, which one might assume was tough everywhere, varied from 32 to 50. Maths and computer courses required an average of 23 hours a week at the least demanding universities and 44 at the toughest."

The economy has changed, education hasn't

In response to an article in The Spectator magazine by John Armitt, I wrote a piece in The Huffington Post here, 'Remaking Education to make young people work ready' and said:

"The economy has changed beyond all description in recent years. Unfortunately schools & university curricula haven't."

 http://t.co/w16HkJsaGM

The Economist (@TheEconomist) included an article, 'The effect of today's technology on tomorrow's jobs will be immense'

 http://t.co/4pIrnAmxW3 http://t.co/v934fhY6Nl

Michelle Rhee - Redefining what it takes to be successful, Ctd

In an interview with The New York Times here, Ms Rhee laid out her philosophy:

"As educators, we have to approach our job believing that anything is possible. It is incredibly important that we constantly communicate to kids that they can accomplish anything when they put their minds to it."

Previous post in the series here.

The cult of university, Ctd

Hilary French, headmistress of Central Newcastle High School wants school leavers to shift their fixed gazed from university and towards industry. She has said she wants a "shift of focus away from university as the automatic first choice next step for sixthformers and a turn instead to employment." She further said:

"I'd like to challenge independent schools heads to embrace this. Parents too. There is huge potential in employer training courses and the new calibre of apprenticeships emerging. We must not be sniffy about them. Yes, at the moment we may associate apprenticeships with lower-level vocational training, but this need not be the case." 

Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council spoke to the same effect. Calling for more work-based training he said:

"University is not always the best route to fulfilling job or maximising your job prospects."

The 18 year Amina Tagari from Preston has opted for an employer-sponsored training scheme as opposed to university. She explained her logic: 

"Most of my friends went to university - they sit in classes taking notes whereas I feel I am getting experience as well as learning. I will be more employable as a result."

Another young person, Nikki Cusworth (23) took an apprenticeship over a degree after the experience of the interview process for the apprenticeship. She said:

"At the interview, the practical experience I would gain blew me away. I decided I was willing to a HND through the scheme rather than an honours degree because the skills would be such an asset in my career."

My previous blog post in the cult of university series here featured another 18 year old who opted out of university. Thomas Gunning explained his decision to take an apprenticeship with PWC over university:

"I would have left university around £60,000 in debt. If I had done the degree, I would still have to complete an accountancy qualification after that. This way I am ahead of the game."

The skills minister Matthew Hancock has admitted that the elevation of academic learning to the position of par excellence has damaged the workforce. He said:

"Apprenticeships are a crucial part of addressing Britain's skills gap - concentrating only on academic training to the exclusion of technical training was a big mistake."

The reporters Sian Griffiths and Kathryn Cooper reported that the number of high level apprenticeships is small but growing. From 1,500 in 2009 to roughly 5,300 in this year. Full report in the Sunday Times, 'Top head urges schoolgirls to jet into job' here. Previous posts on the cult of university here, here, here and here.

Dear Graduates, sound familiar?

Sound familiar?

"Most young adults started out having faith in the system. They worked hard, they got good grades, they stayed out of trouble and many of them went on to college. But when their educations where over, they discovered that the good jobs that they had been promised were not waiting for them at the end of the rainbow."

 Here.

Harper Reed - My education wasn't actually teaching anything I needed to learn to get a job

Harper Reed, CTO of Obama 2012 made an interesting observation on the non-role and non-relevance that education often plays in non-preparing young people for the world of work. He said in an interview with Tech Crunch here:

"I realized about probably three-quarters of the way through my education that in terms of computers, I actually wasn’t learning anything I needed to learn to get a job later on. I did learn some coding concepts in college, but more importantly I figured out that I’m an experiential learner. I need to put my hands on things and really see them, and really chew on them. It was better to do it in a real context, where it mattered if I did it right. Like where there was money at stake. So, I did an internship in Iowa City, IA. I worked for a real company that was trying to make a profit. The company built ecommerce apps. As an intern I started learning web apps to build web pages. Given my way of learning, it was fascinating to see how the management dealt with me. I was a child. I asked questions like a child does. “Why is the sky blue?” They just said, “It’s just blue. Go with that.” I said, “No! Tell me why we’re doing it this way. What is this?” It was client services, so we were just doing it because the client wanted it done, with no thought behind it. But all the questions I asked gave me this opportunity to see how things worked and the value of asking things that seemed obvious to everyone else. It gave me a lot of hope. It really kicked off the career that I have now."

This reminds me of the Mark Twain quote:

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

Universities aren't serving the brightest

The Sunday Times of September 15 reported that students are critical of teaching standards. Sian Griffiths and Alastair McCall wrote:

"The results [of the national poll by the ST] highlight fears that academics at some universities may be more interested in their research than in their students."

Sir Chris Woodhead, professor of education at Buckingham University and a former chief inspector of schools, said:

"It does not surprise me that top universities are criticised by their students, because they are responding to the excessive emphasis that the government has put on the research they do. This policy needs to change if we are to do justice to the brightest young people."

Survey finds graduates with work experience are 3 times more likely to land a job

I found that this was stating the obvious. Here's what was reported:

The High Fliers study of more than 18,000 university leavers indicates that graduates who have had internships are three times as likely to land jobs. 

Marketing is the most popular sector for these first jobs and more students than ever plan to work in London. 

Fewer students are taking time off after studies to travel. 

This picture of the graduate jobs market is based on face-to-face interviews with students leaving 30 leading universities across the UK, carried out by High Fliers Research, which produces data on graduate recruitment.

Read BBC report in full here.

"Bring back Polytechnics" says Think-Tank

Lord Baker who was in the the Thatcher government welcomed calls for bringing back the Polytechnics that had been abolished by legislation in the 1990s. Lord Baker speaking to Eddie Mair on BBC Radio 4's PM show said that the move to remove Polytechnics from the UK's educational landscape was all down to "status".

He went on to say that there is a patent and latent need for traditional vocational training and for the skills that well trained technicians and tradespeople bring.

Read more in the Telegraph here and on the BBC here.