Is University Making Us Smarter, Richer and More Competitive?

Jim Cote and Anton Allahar from the University of Western Ontario have a new book out challenging this notion. The Ivory Tower Blues, A University System in Crisis argues that the usefulness of a BA is over rated. “You’ve got to distinguish between skills and credentials,” they say. “And a liberal arts education is not job training except for being a liberal arts professor.” Many students find this out the hard way, and enter community college after their BA to make themselves more attractive to employers.

The main effect of higher education has been to extend adolescence and dependency. If 50 is the new 60 for older workers, then 30 is the new 20 when we talk about Kidployees. Instead of an education system producing an unskilled high school graduate, it now produces unskilled university graduatesand causes an epidemic of work unpreparedness. Cote adds, “It relates to being coddled and isolated from adult society. A lot of employers are complaining that new graduates aren’t prepared to pay their dues and put in the hard hours.”