Higher Education? (eBook)

How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids-and What We Can Do About It

Claudia Dreifus, Andrew Hacker (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2010 | 1. Auflage
Henry Holt and Co. (Verlag)
978-1-4299-4339-0 (ISBN)

Infos

What's gone wrong at our colleges and universities—and how to get American higher education back on track

A quarter of a million dollars. It's the going tab for four years at most top-tier universities. Why does it cost so much and is it worth it?

Renowned sociologist Andrew Hacker and New York Timeswriter Claudia Dreifus make an incisive case that the American way of higher education, now a $420 billion-per-year business, has lost sight of its primary mission: the education of young adults. Going behind the myths and mantras, they probe the true performance of the Ivy League, the baleful influence of tenure, an unhealthy reliance on part-time teachers, and the supersized bureaucracies which now have a life of their own.

As Hacker and Dreifus call for a thorough overhaul of a self-indulgent system, they take readers on a road trip from Princeton to Evergreen State to Florida Gulf Coast University, revealing those faculties and institutions that are getting it right and proving that teaching and learning can be achieved—and at a much more reasonable price.

Textauszug

Higher Education?

PART 1

WHAT WENT WRONG?

1

THE WORLD OF THE PROFESSORIATE

A few years back, the political science department of Queens College, part of the City University of New York, put out a call for an assistant professor to teach basic classes in American government. In a tight job market, this was an unusually good opportunity. The position was 'tenure track,' which meant that in six years' time it could lead to a lifetime appointment. The pay was above average. Moreover, this was a rare opening in geographically desirable New York City. Most beginning professors are forced to start out in towns like Ames, Iowa, or San Marcos, Texas.

As it happened, a young political scientist just finishing his dissertation at a top research university made it to the short list. His research—,An Algorithm for Statutory Reconciliation in Bicameral Legislatures—,had a trendy feel to it. His mentors had sent glowing recommendations, casting him as a rising academic star.

Yet, on campus at Queens College, Golden Boy's presentation, meant to showcase his intellectual breadth and teaching style, failed to impress. At an interview with the departmental chair, hemade no inquiries about the school or its students. Nor did he ask the one question that every career coach claims is essential in a job interview: 'What can I do for you?'

Instead, his first question was: 'What's the teaching load here?' 'Three and three,' the chair answered politely, meaning that her staff taught three courses each semester.

'That won't work,' he quickly returned. 'I have my research to continue with and, as you heard, it's important. Where I did my doctorate, it was two and two. By the way, how do your sabbaticals work?' He was told one came every seventh year, after six of teaching.

The candidate winced. 'I couldn't consider that. At other schools, it's a year off after three. If I were to come here, we'd have to make some special arrangement.'

This young man never got a callback, which we suspect must have puzzled him. True, this episode occurred several years ago, when young stars felt they could write their own tickets. Today, hiring freezes are the rule, and there can be several hundred applicants for any open position. Current candidates accept the templates of the job, no questions asked. So here's our reason for recalling this interview. Despite the downturn in the economy, the academic culture that produced this young man hasn't changed. He was only emulating the ways of his mentors—,in this case, to negotiate for as little teaching as possible, with ample time for research and the support it would need. In the entitled world where he'd been nurtured, a place so different from the rest of society, there was nothing odd about going to an interview and, in effect, asking, 'How little do I have to do?' Moreover, if he happens to get one of the now-scarce openings, and in time achieves the protection of tenure, we doubt if we'll see him volunteering to teach first semester freshmen in Political Science 101.

Ah, the professoriate! It's an alternate universe. While the rest of working Americans endure foremen and supervisors, professors often get to select their colleagues, vote on raises and promotions,and even in some instances vote out their bosses. The schools almost function for them, for their aspirations and interests. Students come and go every four years, administrators will move on, but the tenured stay on in Bloomington, College Park, and Chapel Hill, accumulating power, controlling resources, reshaping the university according to their needs. Lost on the Professorial Campus is the presence...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 4.6.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Familie / Erziehung
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Privatrecht / Bürgerliches Recht ► Zivilverfahrensrecht
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Erwachsenenbildung
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Betriebswirtschaft / Management ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• ISBN-10: 1-4299-4339-4 / 1429943394
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4299-4339-0 / 9781429943390