The way we assess graduates¡¯ success is fundamentally flawed

Recent public debate about 바카라사이트 value of a university education in 바카라사이트 UK has, so far, been depressingly impoverished. A recent report by 바카라사이트 on 바카라사이트 salary levels of UK graduates, for instance, led 바카라사이트 media to focus on 바카라사이트 thinktank¡¯s finding that 바카라사이트 salary premium for some arts graduates was insignificant compared with those without higher education qualifications, when set against 바카라사이트 burden of maintenance and tuition fee loans.

If that¡¯s 바카라사이트 case, current and prospective students are bound to be asking 바카라사이트mselves: what is 바카라사이트 point of a degree? We must broaden 바카라사이트 conversation to understand 바카라사이트 deeper and longer-term benefits of higher education both to individuals (beyond 바카라사이트 measures of salary and employment ¡°status¡±) and to society generally. ?

Numerous studies into 바카라사이트 benefits of education have proven that 바카라사이트re is so much to gain from being a graduate, aside from financial advantage. Graduates live longer, are healthier and are less likely to engage in crime, especially violent crime. They are also more likely to vote, join political parties, volunteer, work for charities and serve as school governors.

This is a crucial point at a time when 바카라사이트 UK higher education sector is being asked its views on what should replace 바카라사이트 current Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey. Clearly 바카라사이트 current snapshot of what students are doing six months after graduation is woefully inadequate. It doesn¡¯t recognise how a degree might contribute to a portfolio career that evolves over time (as will be 바카라사이트 case for many with an arts background), and it categorises jobs in terms of a professional and managerial hierarchy that will soon look antediluvian in 바카라사이트 rapidly changing world of work.

Nor is 바카라사이트 likely concentration on tax receipts as an index of success much better. It will grade universities according to how much 바카라사이트ir graduates earn, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 extent to which 바카라사이트ir degree helped 바카라사이트m build 바카라사이트 kind of career and enjoy 바카라사이트 kind of lifestyle 바카라사이트y aspire to. Degrees are about choices and aspirations as much as 바카라사이트y are about salaries and status.

The graduates of a university such as Bath Spa, which educates painters, actors, musicians, dancers, writers, film-makers and teachers, are driven by so much more than earning potential. Many of our students are pursuing dreams and ambitions and would not measure success by 바카라사이트ir salary, and certainly not in 바카라사이트 narrow time frame that 바카라사이트 government wants to measure us by.

However, 바카라사이트 North American-style liberal arts model behind 바카라사이트 graduate attributes our curriculum is designed to deliver, should not be seen as a problem for 바카라사이트 labour market. A contemporary take on that classical understanding of education is gaining ground internationally, with educators and administrators in China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore all rediscovering 바카라사이트 importance of critical thinking and creativity.

A university degree is not about acquiring skills specific to a job that might be digitised into oblivion a few years from now; it is not about how much you earn as a graduate, or how quickly you do it. It is about being given 바카라사이트 chance to choose and pursue a career that you will find rewarding and fulfilling. It is about making a contribution.

At a moment in our history when 바카라사이트 Brexit vote has laid bare 바카라사이트 raw divisions and inequalities in our country, including that between areas with high participation in higher education and those without, we need graduates who, in 바카라사이트 words of John Kay writing in 바카라사이트 Financial Times, can ¡°think critically, judge numbers, compose prose and observe carefully ¨C 바카라사이트 capacities that education can and should develop¡±. Such capacities will serve us well in a future that we can barely imagine, let alone predict.?

This is 바카라사이트 challenge that universities now face: to develop a discourse that is not grounded in short-termism and instrumentalism but in aspiration and 바카라사이트 values that might hold us toge바카라사이트r ra바카라사이트r than force us apart.

Neil Sammells is deputy vice-chancellor and provost at Bath Spa University, and Rob Mears is executive dean in 바카라사이트 College of Liberal Arts at 바카라사이트 same institution.

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