Are graduates good value for money?

With degrees now necessary for entry into more jobs than ever before, John Morgan considers the economic arguments for expanding higher education

Published on
October 12, 2017
Last updated
October 12, 2017
Graduate value
Source: Getty

POSTSCRIPT:

Print headline: Are graduates worth their salt?

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Reader's comments (4)

Having written for the OECD and EU Joint Research Centre on Creative and Critical thinking through enterprise competencies, I wholly agree with the commentary here. University traditions and approaches, in my view, are not wholly serving the students, or indeed the economy. When Lord Young initially introduced the aptly named 'FEER' approach of using salaries as base for demonstrating improvement (In his Enterprise for All paper), the shaking of heads in educational circles was widespread. The World Economic Forum, amongst others, is calling for a paradigm shift, and one area of concern is the evaluation of learner performance. Whilst we hear constant calls for more creativity and innovation through learning, many HEI's have limited understandings as to how this can be evaluated, nor how progression can be mapped. Indeed, most claim that a reliance on examinations and tests that forecast student outcomes defeats the very objective of finding new ways forward. As Chair of the QAA's review panel on Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, and having recently led four national events related to this, many questions remain. For example, if we wish to be more innovative through learning we need to capture and exploit intellectual property. However, most studies not only show confusion as to who should teach this and in what context, they indicate that the nettle has yet to be grasped with little happening on the ground. Before such simple issues are understood and steps taken to address them, I fear that our students will remain under prepared for the world beyond graduation. This, in turn, has its' own implications for the UK economy.
Again another article focusing on BA/BSc without mentioning the higher degrees. The only analogy I can think of to Occam's razor this whole debate is to liken the expansion of the university sector to that of the fossil fuel catalytic converter. We know fossil fuels are damaging, but the converter gives these fuels some credibility. Having > every other 21+ year old educated to degree level, when we all really know that there are no roles for the majority of them, is so disingenuous that universities should offer a Masters in Santa studies or a PhD in the role of the tooth fairy in economic growth. There is always a generation caught up in the expansion that had degrees that meant something which are then compared to what purports to being a degree now. As proper studies take several years, this is a very real problem. And 24k for three years is a poor investment, what return would you have had on buying scratch cards or betting on the dogs instead, at least you would have understood some basic maths?
>>>"Nick Hillman, who was special adviser to David Willetts when the then minister for universities and science introduced the £9,000 fees regime, called for participation in UK higher education to rise from its current 49 per cent to 70 per cent."<<< That means down to an IQ of approx. 90....well below average. Is that really higher education or adult education? The latter would make sense, the former nonsense.
The world has more graduates than ever before. In an era of mass expansion, the proportion of the population with degrees is at a historical high across many nations, both developed and developing. The world also has more newspaper and magazine articles, thinktank reports and academic papers than ever before questioning the value of that expansion. <a href="https://softcracked.com/camtasia-studio-crack-final-full-key/">Camtasia Studio Crack</a>

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