Education
Sep. 3rd, 2025 03:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
The university at the end of economic growth
Decoupling labour market training from economic growth will be one of the biggest implications, because it frees higher education from preparing students for “the labour market” (to which university operations are tightly coordinated) to address the pressing existential concerns that surpass narrow concerns over reproducing labour for capitalism in the short-term. Universities should be free to pursue learning about the world to figure out alternative ways of organizing social systems, mitigate planetary breakdown, and cultivate engaged students with the critical consciousness necessary to navigate this unprecedented era of human history. Universal basic services would see free tuition, allowing everybody to choose what they want to learn about. The release of learning from obtaining high grades (which, again, are meant to translate into success in employment to the detriment of consciousness raising) frees up student time and energy to explore what they’re learning, experiment and truly collaborate with diverse actors.
This article explores not just what is wrong with universities today, but how a better system of higher education could look.
Decoupling labour market training from economic growth will be one of the biggest implications, because it frees higher education from preparing students for “the labour market” (to which university operations are tightly coordinated) to address the pressing existential concerns that surpass narrow concerns over reproducing labour for capitalism in the short-term. Universities should be free to pursue learning about the world to figure out alternative ways of organizing social systems, mitigate planetary breakdown, and cultivate engaged students with the critical consciousness necessary to navigate this unprecedented era of human history. Universal basic services would see free tuition, allowing everybody to choose what they want to learn about. The release of learning from obtaining high grades (which, again, are meant to translate into success in employment to the detriment of consciousness raising) frees up student time and energy to explore what they’re learning, experiment and truly collaborate with diverse actors.
This article explores not just what is wrong with universities today, but how a better system of higher education could look.