Small does not like Alex Rowley

I reeled this off to the Merc an hour or so ago:

In Wednesday's First Person Alex Rowley argues that our universities are full of lazy students studying apparently useless subjects for worthless degrees. His argument relies on the following assumptions:

1. That his experience of university life, as a first year Drama and Performing Arts undergraduate, is a reliable indicator of the state of higher education as a whole.

2. The worth of knowledge is to be measured entirely in terms of whether it is economically beneficial, either to the student, or to society at large.

Alex seeks to undermine a particular degree course, offered by the Welsh College of Horticulture, in Equestrian Psychology. The College's own website states that graduates are expected to be pursue a career in the equine industries, which surely has parallels with other courses and industries, like, for example, Drama and the Performing Arts.

The worth of knowledge in and of itself is a matter of individual opinion, and if young people are willing to incur large amounts of debt in the study of subjects which may not advance their position economically, surely it is their choice to do so.

I would argue that future progress, both economic, and cultural, is to be found in a robust and varied education system which arms young people with, not only knowledge, but also the skills of research, analysis, and communication which a solid degree education already provides. I think judging education purely in terms of it's ability to prepare young people for the work force will result in generations unable to think for themselves, and unworthy of their inheritance, a civilisation built on centuries of respect for the pursuit of knowledge as an end in itself.

I would agree with Alex that there are flaws in our higher education system, but I don't think singling out hungover rugby players (surely not a recent addition to university life), or specialist courses with clear links to existing industries is the way forward.

This is coming from a Sociology graduate earning minimum wage, by the way, although I have absolutely no cause for complaint in the current climate. I wish Alex the best of luck with his academic endeavours.

Bravo Andy.
I'm lucky (some days I would claim otherwise) that my job requires that I not only promote but understand the benefits of all levels of education, whether it be a doctorate or an apprenticeship in farriership; to give two very different career paths, not different ends of any intellectual spectrum.
As a graduate myself I once had the tendancy to be a bit of a snob about education but as our credit continues to be crunched its becoming more and more evident that vocational qualifications are becoming hugely desirable. Its interesting…

As long as a person is passionate about the subject/trade they study then I have no complaints.

Do let us know if you get a response Andy.

Any one who believes that they are above another because of what they study truly annoys me, surly rather than picking at who is better than who we should be applading those who feel passionalty about a subject that they want to learn more about it. Surely every aspect of life deserves the greatest amount of research and love we can muster, for some people having the perfect tan and looking beautiful is more important to than the discovret of some atom they will never see.

As for comments on drunken rugy players, whats wrong with kicking loose, every one has there own way. Surely there is nothing wrong with what people do in their free time as long as they get the work done, isn't one of the reasons that people go to university is so that they can be away from home and be stupid and make mistakes learn who they are. I wonder what Alex Rowley does when he isnt studying to chilax a little other than getting above himslef and judging others.

Surely with an increase in the number of Universities, the number of courses and the number of people studying them, we run the risk of saturating the market with degrees, thus devaluing them? It is also worth noting that the Higher Education Industry is just that; an industry, and as such is driven by similar market forces as any other. As a result, there are probably tens if not hundreds of taught subjects which genuinely do not deserve to be turned into degrees. I point you in the direction of the University of Salford, who recently (and wisely) shut their Bachelor of “Science” degrees in Acupuncture and “Complementary” Medicine, which should never have been offered in the first place. What's next? Psychic Mysticism Bas? I think we should acknowledge that perhaps there are some things which just don't belong in the lecture theatres of our universities.

Further more, I think it's a mistake to think that the value of a degree resides only in the subject matter. A Physiology degree, for example, does not just teach you how a kidney works, but also how to base ideas on evidence, how to critically de-construct ideas and how to analyse data…it gives you a bull-shit detector. I think this is the difference between “real” (or traditional) courses compared to some more “modern” degrees; “real” ones teach you how to think, not what to think.

Equine Physiology, whilst being laughably specialist, is likely to still be a difficult and rigorous course, and cosmology is incredibly important and has many real world applications, for example the ideas of general relativity (specifically that time, being relative, slows down the further from a large gravitational object you get) is used to make Sat. Nav.s more accurate.

Finally, his point about retaining intelligence as a race is ironically retarded and staggeringly vague. A lesser commenter may suggest this is the type of thing one would suggest from a Drama student…

There are definitely courses that shouldn't be degree courses. So called 'complementary' medicine is definitely on my hit list too.

Published in today's Merc. Win.