Summary Of Pondering The Purpose Of College

Project 1 – Pondering the Purpose of College
Today’s colleges in the U.S. are attempting to meet student and employer needs by moving toward a more experiential education model. This change is taking place gradually and quietly. In her article “Vocation or Exploration? Pondering the Purpose of College,” Alina Tugend discusses the purpose and types of college education, including this new experiential model.
Tugend first explores the most commonly accepted reason for college, to “ensure a good job after graduation.” She cites recent applicable political actions surrounding higher education. Florida governor Rick Scott proposed a shift in state funding toward science, technology, engineering, and math majors, as these degrees result in
higher paying jobs. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden introduced the “Student Right to Know Before You Go Act” in an attempt to increase transparency of higher education results by institution and program, promoting accountability for the institutions and improved comparability for students and parents.
While Tugend seems to almost discard the economic basis for obtaining a degree, I feel that she sells this aspect a bit short. Studies are conducted every year showing that those with a degree still consistently earn much more than their high school educated peers. In my career alone, I can attest that I have reached a cap, of sorts, in my earning capabilities without a degree in hand. On the job training and a strong work ethic will only get you so far, until those making the salary decisions begin to question the reason for the lack of a degree.
With little transition in her article, Tugend then moves on to another common reason for pursuing a degree: improvement in independent thinking skills.
She then immediately asks, “can a college education do both?” In order to present the answer to this question in the appropriate context, Tugend next discusses the most recent successful major change within the higher education system. Quoting from Professor Carnevale, she explains a shift in the early 1980’s from a liberal arts based higher education model to a more specialized one. The liberal arts based model, popular prior to 1980, is cited as having been much more flexible in that a student could “get a B.A. in history and become an accountant” (Carnevale qtd. In Tugend). The early 1980’s saw both an economic recession and the growth of computer-based technology, which meant an increase in the need for computer skills on the job before there were college courses available for this same skill set. My experience has shown that the need for computer skills and the ability to obtain these skills outside of a college atmosphere still holds true. However, learning-as-you-go often also leaves out important base principals that would have been taught in a classroom setting. Based on this experience, I agree that this movement was in the right direction at the
time.
Tugend then moves on to the subject of college dropout rates. As a solution for the dropout issue, she offers apprenticeship programs offered in many European countries, citing Professor Tabarrok’s “Launching the Innovation Renaissance.” This is her lead into the subject of vocational training. She addresses what she states are the “two main arguments against … vocational training:” a fear of pigeonholing students at a young age and that liberal arts education is necessary in order to create an educated voting populace. In defining these two arguments, she quotes Professor Delbanco and his book “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be.” She then leans back onto Tabarrok in referencing a need for more experiential learning. As she often does throughout this article, Tugend leans heavily onto our sources’ ideas and words. However, she does manage to have her own voice come through, keeping the level of quotation from interfering with what she is trying to say. Her repeated quotations allows her sources to speak in their own words, while her order and structure allow the reader to see that she sees Delbanco’s fears as valid, she feels that Tabarrok’s argument addresses a need that Delbanco ignores. This is an effective and fair presentation.
As she nears the end of her article, Tugend finally asks whether we have to choose between vocational training and liberal arts, apprenticeship and classroom education.
In answering this question with a soft “no,” Tugend now looks to Professor Colby in her work “Rethinking Undergraduate Business Eduation.” Professor Colby, Tugend tells us, worked with colleagues and discovered that the best undergraduate business programs combine liberal arts and professional training. Unfortunately, Tugend does not provide the definition of “best” in this context. The reader is left to assume that this definition is contained within Colby’s work. A few examples of this type of integrated program are given, one at Santa Clara University and one at Indiana University. Tugend also quotes Assistant Professor Jose Luis Santos with reference to the market response of higher education institutes. Santos states the main issue with the response is “they don’t do it in a timely manner” (qtd. in Tugend). In a quick bit of independent research, I can see that in the roughly two and a half years since Tugend wrote her article, more colleges and universities are recognizing Life Experience as a valid learning source, and employment more internships with more supervision (Henderson). This makes me hopeful for the future of my personal education, as well as that of my almost-preteen
children.
Tugend closes by reminding us that while much of this is out of the student’s control, we must look to all of the resources available to us through our institution and quoting Tabarrok again to remind us that change is a good thing. With this statement, I could not agree more.