Are Our Universities Fit For Purpose?
Anecdotally, 90% of University students pursue a Bachelor Degree primarily to secure a job post-graduation rather than further academic pursuit.
Millions unwittingly choose programmes that are overly or tacitly marketed to them as ‘professional’ yet these are designed and operated by inward-looking academics with only an illusion of how the purported careers actually work in practice.
In articulating the basic purpose of Education, the famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle, over 2500 years ago contended that people do not agree on whether the end is to take virtue in the abstract cultivation of the intellect (academics) or the best life (career-focused). This contention has however been largely resolved today given the dual mandate of our Universities, that is, to provide both Academic and Professional Programmes in support of the socioeconomic wellbeing of society
OUR FOCUS IS ON PROFESSIONAL DEGREE PROGRAMMES IN FINANCE AND THE COMMERCIAL FIELDS
A Professional Programme includes a vocational or career-focused offering for which there is an active industry Professional Body, especially statutory but otherwise, locally or internationally, that regulates the work of practitioners who are often its members. Examples
Whereas an Academic Programme provides grounding in the underpinning principles of a field, a Professional Programme focuses on the Practical Application of these principles and preparation for a particular vocation or career. In other words, the theory is designed and delivered with a very strong emphasis on its application to
THE LINE BETWEEN ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMMES CAN BE BLURRED
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