Academia Resists Reform Efforts

Accuracy in Academia ^ | October 6, 2010 | Malcolm A. Kline

[Academiadotorg]

Attempts to reform higher education usually result in the object of those efforts digging in its heels. “The aversion to applied learning has grown stronger since A Nation at Risk came out [in 1983],” Georgetown’s Anthony Carnevale said at the National Press Club on September 29, 2010.

“A good 40 percent of Americans don’t do well in traditional pedagogy,” he avers and “four to five percent of BAs are in the liberal arts.” Carnevale heads the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown.

Nevertheless, according to Carnevale, the professoriate argues that “American education exists for some other purpose than to create loyal foot soldiers for American capitalism.” Carnevale agrees, in part.

“That’s true but we have one requirement for citizenship,” he says. “You have to have a job.”

“If you don’t work, the rest of us won’t support you.” Carnevale has worked for the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union.

He was the keynote speaker at a conference on working learners sponsored by the Chronicle of Higher Education and the University of Phoenix. Nonetheless, some of his own prescriptions might fall short of realistic.

“We’re losing an awful lot of kids on Algebra II,” Carnevale said. “We need alternatives.”

While outsiders look at colleges and universities and see clearly that the problems lay in unemployment after graduation and underemployment beforehand in less-than-useful courses, insiders, such as the other panelists at the symposium are less certain of what troubles the Ivory Tower. Some, predictably, see the maladies stemming from inadequate funding, despite the billion dollar endowments of even the smallest public colleges.

[wideawake]

“four to five percent of BAs are in the liberal arts.”

4-5%? And the other 95% are in the hard sciences?

I would guess that the reverse is the case at most universities.

[econjack]

“That’s true but we have one requirement for citizenship,” he says. “You have to have a job.”

Really? When did that happen? Seems to me there's a flood of people coming into this country looking for a job and could care less about citizenship, and we have a gov't that ignores the citizens' will to stop this influx. Wake up, people...we need to take out the trash next month.

[Calvin Locke]

When I was in school in the late 1970s, announcements were made that the college was dropping the BA in Math, and only offering the BS.

Those already in enrolled had the choice of either at the time. Not being a math major, I don't remember if it was a simple choice of what you wanted on your diploma, or actual differences in the degree requirements.

[MSF BU]

It would be interesting to see a breakdown by college of the types of degress awarded as a percentage of overall degrees. Having worked in an academic environment for over ten years, I suspect the degrees awarded are more than 5% liberal arts or 'soft' subjects.

Employment placement has always been relatively easy for engineers, biologists, accountants, IT and medical graduates. If you're majoring in english, gender studies or political science, you may have a problem.