No University for Young Men
23rd October 2023
“This pivots of when is learning through practice learning and when is it work.”
No, you haven’t had a stroke, and no, that line was not intended to make any sense. Rather, it is an excerpt of feedback provided for my Master’s thesis. Such is the contempt of the University I attended, that spell-checked exam materials and feedback were luxuries seldom afforded to most students. As graduation approaches, I am left to ponder the previous four years, asking all the while — was it really worth it?
The opening up of higher education to the masses has surely been beneficial to some for whom, like me, going to university 50 years ago would have been little more than a pipe dream. Yet, expanding student numbers to record levels has led many to the bitter understanding that quality education does not scale.