Anybody else think the modern university system is grossly inefficient?
Yep. They mainly persist as a way to sort workers: those that can get through, and with a degree in X at university Y, are good enough to be trusted to job Z (even though, as is usually the case, nothing in X actually pertains to Z—you’re just signaling your general qualifications for being taken on to do job Z).
Having the degree is a good proxy for certain skills like intelligence, diligence, etc. Why not test for intelligence directly? Because in the US and most industrialized countries, it’s illegal, so they have to test you by proxy—let the university give you an IQ test as a standard for admission, but not call it that.
Shifting to a system that actually makes sense is going to require overcoming a lot of inertia.
I agree with this analysis to some extent. I’m not sure I’m willing to grant that the primary purpose of universities is a way to sort workers, but that is a major thing they’re used for, and I tend to argue at length that they should get out of that business. I argue as much as possible against student evaluation, grading, and granting degrees. One of the first arguments that pops up tends to be, “But how will people know who to hire / let into grad school?”
But I don’t think it’s the University’s job to answer that question.
Yep. They mainly persist as a way to sort workers: those that can get through, and with a degree in X at university Y, are good enough to be trusted to job Z (even though, as is usually the case, nothing in X actually pertains to Z—you’re just signaling your general qualifications for being taken on to do job Z).
Having the degree is a good proxy for certain skills like intelligence, diligence, etc. Why not test for intelligence directly? Because in the US and most industrialized countries, it’s illegal, so they have to test you by proxy—let the university give you an IQ test as a standard for admission, but not call it that.
Shifting to a system that actually makes sense is going to require overcoming a lot of inertia.
I agree with this analysis to some extent. I’m not sure I’m willing to grant that the primary purpose of universities is a way to sort workers, but that is a major thing they’re used for, and I tend to argue at length that they should get out of that business. I argue as much as possible against student evaluation, grading, and granting degrees. One of the first arguments that pops up tends to be, “But how will people know who to hire / let into grad school?”
But I don’t think it’s the University’s job to answer that question.