[sakjur]

I think the best version of universities would be specifically for studying what the workforce doesn’t invest in and we’d have respected vocational schools (and ideally trainee positions) as the default choice for people just looking to get a job.

When I started at university, it was because I wanted to learn things about computers and computing that I didn’t think an employer would pay me to learn. I added courses in philosophy and economics out of curiosity and avoided course that appealed to workplace relevance (primarily because I don’t want half the questions to be about what’ll appear on the exam).

And with a sample size of one, all of that is useful to me.

For everything that is wrong with academia, I’d put more of the blame on company administrations minmaxing for quarterly gains refusing to post trainee positions guiding people from school to the workforce. And the housing market pushing up entry salary expectations, and internet job boards for opening up an oversized funnel of applications for any junior position.