While I think that many of the world's higher education systems are moving towards optimizing throughput rather than focusing on truly engaging with students, i

While I think that many of the world's higher education systems are moving towards optimizing throughput rather than focusing on truly engaging with students, it is wrong to assume that this trend only affects the humanities. As a researcher in a STEM field (at US university) for only ~7 years I have often posited that many of the ideas which appeal to administrators result in a degraded academic experience for students. In turn, this can negatively impact research efforts. I understand that this must be more frustrating to those in the humanities, as funding is more abundant in STEM, but my guess is that these same trends are harming the quality of research in all fields.