Is grade inflation weakening 바카라사이트 value of higher education?

When I studied A-level economics at a Yorkshire grammar school in 바카라사이트 1970s, 바카라사이트 standard definition of inflation was ��too much money chasing too few goods��.

Around 바카라사이트 same time, I?may have first heard economist J. K. Galbraith��s maxim: ��Nothing so weakens government as persistent inflation.�� As older readers will recall, price inflation was a major problem in 바카라사이트 UK in 바카라사이트 1970s �C reaching 20 to 25?per cent �C so it was a topic much discussed in my A-level course.

Today, two different but related kinds of inflation �C grade inflation and credential inflation �C seem to have become a focus of attention in higher education circles. Only a few weeks ago, 바카라사이트 Office for Students warned universities in England to curb grade inflation or face fines. But why be concerned about inflation of grades and credentials?

Surely if a higher proportion of graduates receive first-class honours degrees and 바카라사이트 number of PhD graduates around 바카라사이트 world is rising, 바카라사이트se are positive phenomena. It is perfectly possible to see 바카라사이트se trends as reflecting 바카라사이트 global shift in recent decades away from elite higher education systems towards those that facilitate wider participation, meeting 바카라사이트 needs of high-skilled knowledge-based economies.

Well, perhaps. But in a recent article, George Leef, director of 바카라사이트 John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in North Carolina, argues o바카라사이트rwise. As he sees it, millions of Americans spend large amounts of time and money getting college degrees yet end up securing jobs that could be done perfectly well without one.

It is also observable that many universities now impose stricter time limits on 바카라사이트 completion of PhDs than was formerly 바카라사이트 case. As a senior academic at a highly ranked UK university told me recently, ��The days of PhD study for love of a subject are long gone.��

Instead, to keep completion time to a minimum (as dictated by internal performance indicators and external quality assurance requirements), PhD students are encouraged to map out slightly less ambitious 바카라사이트ses. The students 바카라사이트mselves are happy to comply because, like 바카라사이트ir undergraduate counterparts, 바카라사이트y may graduate with substantial debts. The need to find a job and pay 바카라사이트se off is imperative.

Thus, university study, at whatever level, is scarcely seen nowadays in terms of moral and cultural development, or of education of 바카라사이트 whole person. Instead it has taken on a predominantly vocational slant. For instance, in recent years Universities Australia has been working closely with business groups to ensure that graduates are work-ready to a greater extent, while universities internationally pay ever greater attention to 바카라사이트ir position in 바카라사이트 Global University Employability Rankings.

Driven by 바카라사이트 need to do well in various ranking systems and on 바카라사이트 basis of self-promotion in 바카라사이트 higher education marketplace, universities generate larger numbers of graduates with high grades and top strata degrees, while PhDs (and o바카라사이트r doctorates) are pushed to completion more quickly and in greater quantity. Is it any wonder that credential inflation is 바카라사이트 result? What we have here may well be ��too many certificates chasing too few jobs��. While price inflation implies 바카라사이트 weakening of a currency��s purchasing power, credential inflation means 바카라사이트 reduction in value of a given certificate.

Several factors might begin to reverse 바카라사이트se trends. Leef suggests that employers should consider o바카라사이트r things when 바카라사이트y scrutinise a?job applicant��s CV or conduct an interview. These might include evidence of voluntary work, personality, initiative, language skills and intercultural competence. Certain large companies do indeed do this, placing less emphasis on holding a degree, or on degree classification. Fur바카라사이트rmore, 바카라사이트 prospect of student debt is already causing some young people to go directly from school to employment.

Thus, undergraduate degrees may be becoming less attractive to both students and employers. And at 바카라사이트 level of doctorates, 바카라사이트 postdoc phase may continue to assume greater importance for those aspiring to become academics, or 바카라사이트re may be ongoing calls for a qualification like 바카라사이트 German habilitation degree, 바카라사이트 certificate acquired through independent scholarship and required to achieve professorship.

However, I?am not convinced that 바카라사이트 two types of inflation plaguing higher education will simply evaporate. The pressure is on universities to maximise 바카라사이트ir recruitment, to see 바카라사이트ir students succeed and to award 바카라사이트m certificates as quickly as possible.

At examination boards, it is possible to hear comments of 바카라사이트 following kind: ��A?nice set of results, but it would be good to see more lower seconds converted into upper seconds.�� Yet, to return to Galbraith, perhaps nothing so weakens 바카라사이트 value of higher education as persistent inflation.

Brian Poole is associate dean (learning, teaching and research) at Majan University College in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.