I would have to say that Harold's post is true in that a university education in most areas of study is unlikely to prepare you for a job - at least as far as developing the skills that a corporate employer seeks. However, I resist measuring everything through an economic lens. While many changes need to be made to the world of academia (and I can say that cause I work in it, and am working on a PhD), most businesses are not that different. It matters less and less what you can do - but matters more and more who you know. And I don't mean who you are connected with on FB or LinkedIn. It's who you know that can get your foot in the door. It's who your parents know from the club. It's who your uncle plays golf with on Saturdays. It's a protectionist system of class preference (sometimes based on race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation as well).

Because jobs as we've come to understand them are disappearing, the university can help us develop a life of the mind. And I increasing believe that the life of the mind is a more interesting investment than skills. Apprenticeships can also be a wonderful thing, but if we're just going after it for economic gain, it's unlikely to be the answer we seek.

It's going to take a lot of creativity to get through the mess we are in. Creativity is rarely valued in the corporate world - I know because I worked there for many years. Look at what measuring everything by economic measures has gotten us. Oh, the folly....