27th June 2011, 02:37 PM
the invisible man Wrote:a new graduate is not the finished article, far from it, but is prepared and equipped to commence their professional career in whichever field or discipline they choose.
I completely agree that a new graduate is not a finished product. Probably no one is and we should all be constantly trying to learn and improve.
That being said the rest of the world does not look at it that way, by rest of the world I mean employers. I am not sure when or where it happened but now employers EXPECT graduates to be able to complete the jobs they are give with no to limited training. The idea of training has now been passed on to the individual to take care of. It saves money and protects profits, not just in archaeology but every profession now. Not a bad thing but it means that employees have to pay to get trained.
That is were uni's come in, most graduates now look to universities as the place to get training. Which rightly I think they should as they are the ones now paying for their degrees. If I pay for a service I have expectations of that service or I would want a refund.
If you havn't been to uni and a while and had to pay you probably have a different perspective of what a uni is about. Nothing wrong with that view BUT as I said before the world is changing fast and so are expectations of requirements to live in it. We have to face up to these realities or we get nowhere.
The functions of universities have changed whether they like it or not. It was not their choice, well none of them have said no to people trying to give them money or challenge the notion that everyone should get a degree, but it is a reality they have to live with.