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Is going to university to "broaden the mind" a common sentiment? Maybe that's a European thing, because the mindset in the US is that college is a step towards

by tmh88j 8y ago

Is going to university to "broaden the mind" a common sentiment? Maybe that's a European thing, because the mindset in the US is that college is a step towards a good career, which unfortunately doesn't seem to hold as much weight these days for a growing number of fields.

simonsarris 8y ago
> Maybe that's a European thing, because the mindset in the US is that college is a step towards a good career, Really? In the USA, every single time I get into a discussion of the pros and cons of college with friends (or this week family) it starts out "they need to in order to get a good job!" and end with "well... how are they going to become a more well rounded person if they don't go?" It's like clockwork, the unavoidable striking of midnight when they toss the ROI premise for the broaden the mind premise.
- whorleater 8y ago
  This article literally says that while going to university does not make you a more well-rounded person (if we use "well-rounded" as a proxy for "broadened mind"), working makes you a less well-rounded person.
- tmh88j 8y ago
  >it starts out "they need to in order to get a good job!" and end with "well... how are they going to become a more well rounded person if they don't go?" I've honestly never heard anyone say that outside of movies and tv. Maybe I don't come from a posh enough of a background that "becoming well rounded" is an option of equal consideration alongside earning a sustainable income. Sure, they're not always mutually exclusive, but let's be real; most people are going to college nowadays for a better career, not to be a renaissance man/woman. I would consider myself to be well positioned now after going to college for engineering and having almost a decade of work experience under my belt, but even the thought of going back to college for a subject I'm passionate about is just a pipe dream. It's expensive, time consuming and I'll probably have no pragmatic use for what I learn without a career change. I barely had enough time while in undergrad to focus on the core material, let alone add on an extra 25% workload to become "well rounded". Sure, I had to take some "intro to _______" courses, but I hardly consider that any sort of in depth knowledge. Is that what people consider a well rounded college experience? If so, I disagree.
  - simonsarris 8y ago
    > I've honestly never heard anyone say that outside of movies and tv. I think that's part of the problem: Most of the people I'm talking to aren't doing a serious pro/con or staking out their future earnings based on their majors[1], or doing a serious evaluation of whether or not they come from a background that can afford such a posh take. Yet they are still repeating things they've essentially heard on movies and TV, probably to their detriment. > most people are going to college nowadays for a better career, not to be a renaissance man/woman I think you may be too optimistic or personally realistic when others are not so. It is much worse: Most people are going because movies/TV/peer pressure tell them they should go. They might say they're doing it for a better career, but they haven't thought that far ahead, not really. If they had, total US student debt would look very different. [1] Lots of psych and communications. The people I talked to who are doing serious "is this worth it" calculations are doing nursing, or when I was in an engineering school, obviously that.
    - tmh88j 8y ago
      >Most people are going because movies/TV/peer pressure tell them they should go. They might say they're doing it for a better career, but they haven't thought that far ahead, not really I agree, but that's even further away from going college to broaden the mind than for a lucrative career.
fwn 8y ago
> Is going to university to "broaden the mind" a common sentiment? Yes, actually! This might be a good link to read more about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldtian_model_of_higher_education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldtian_model_of_higher_ed... The individual development those thinkers had in mind wasn't what the study tested, though, since "broadening the mind" isn't necessarily about personality tests. But I see that this is an attractive over interpretation of the results from a publishing perspective.

by tmh88j 8y ago

simonsarris 8y ago

> Maybe that's a European thing, because the mindset in the US is that college is a step towards a good career, Really? In the USA, every single time I get into a discussion of the pros and cons of college with friends (or this week family) it starts out "they need to in order to get a good job!" and end with "well... how are they going to become a more well rounded person if they don't go?" It's like clockwork, the unavoidable striking of midnight when they toss the ROI premise for the broaden the mind premise.

whorleater 8y ago
This article literally says that while going to university does not make you a more well-rounded person (if we use "well-rounded" as a proxy for "broadened mind"), working makes you a less well-rounded person.
tmh88j 8y ago
>it starts out "they need to in order to get a good job!" and end with "well... how are they going to become a more well rounded person if they don't go?" I've honestly never heard anyone say that outside of movies and tv. Maybe I don't come from a posh enough of a background that "becoming well rounded" is an option of equal consideration alongside earning a sustainable income. Sure, they're not always mutually exclusive, but let's be real; most people are going to college nowadays for a better career, not to be a renaissance man/woman. I would consider myself to be well positioned now after going to college for engineering and having almost a decade of work experience under my belt, but even the thought of going back to college for a subject I'm passionate about is just a pipe dream. It's expensive, time consuming and I'll probably have no pragmatic use for what I learn without a career change. I barely had enough time while in undergrad to focus on the core material, let alone add on an extra 25% workload to become "well rounded". Sure, I had to take some "intro to _______" courses, but I hardly consider that any sort of in depth knowledge. Is that what people consider a well rounded college experience? If so, I disagree.
- simonsarris 8y ago
  > I've honestly never heard anyone say that outside of movies and tv. I think that's part of the problem: Most of the people I'm talking to aren't doing a serious pro/con or staking out their future earnings based on their majors[1], or doing a serious evaluation of whether or not they come from a background that can afford such a posh take. Yet they are still repeating things they've essentially heard on movies and TV, probably to their detriment. > most people are going to college nowadays for a better career, not to be a renaissance man/woman I think you may be too optimistic or personally realistic when others are not so. It is much worse: Most people are going because movies/TV/peer pressure tell them they should go. They might say they're doing it for a better career, but they haven't thought that far ahead, not really. If they had, total US student debt would look very different. [1] Lots of psych and communications. The people I talked to who are doing serious "is this worth it" calculations are doing nursing, or when I was in an engineering school, obviously that.
  - tmh88j 8y ago
    >Most people are going because movies/TV/peer pressure tell them they should go. They might say they're doing it for a better career, but they haven't thought that far ahead, not really I agree, but that's even further away from going college to broaden the mind than for a lucrative career.

fwn 8y ago

> Is going to university to "broaden the mind" a common sentiment? Yes, actually! This might be a good link to read more about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldtian_model_of_higher_education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldtian_model_of_higher_ed... The individual development those thinkers had in mind wasn't what the study tested, though, since "broadening the mind" isn't necessarily about personality tests. But I see that this is an attractive over interpretation of the results from a publishing perspective.