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I think that at an even more basic level than hard skills, some graduates lack knowledge in things like basic problem solving, abstract thinking or the ability

I think that at an even more basic level than hard skills, some graduates lack knowledge in things like basic problem solving, abstract thinking or the ability to switch between languages quickly. It's interesting to see how straight-A students who study well and test well don't make the transition from the academic environment to a job.

peterlk 7y ago
I have a pet theory about this. Your whole life has goal posts laid out for you. You go to elementary school, get good grades so you can get into honors classes in middle/high school. And you do this again for college. Everything is quantitatively measured. How many questions did you get right? How many days did you attend school? How many extracurricular activities did you participate in? How many hours did you volunteer? All check boxes that other people hate laid out for you so that you can be measured in the funnel. And, artually, for some people this process can continue in their career. You get good grades in college, then you get an internship at BigCo. Then you get a job at BigCo. On and on until you die. The problem is, you never had to figure anything out. So if you ever decide to do something non-standard or if randomness hits you too hard, or if someone along the way deems you "not good enough", now you're off the track. And you have never had to set your own goal posts. If you have to be constantly told what to do, employers are not going to want to hire you. I think the lack of critical thinking goes hand in hand with an inability to function without rulebooks and structure.
- nercht12 7y ago
  On the right track, but even moreso of a factor is the personal relations in one's life. A kid straight out of school being told constantly to "go get a job" has trouble trying new things and getting a startup going. They end up trying to please these other naysayers and at the same time trying to pursue their dreams, thereby splitting their efforts and cutting their productivity of both in half, resulting in fewer successes over a longer period of time, further demoralizing them.
- ascales 7y ago
  I think this is somewhat right, but I also think that there aren't enough project based learning opportunities in school, and there certainly is not enough opportuntities to fail in school. A number of universities are implementing a limit of 3, sometimes only 2, on how many times you can fail or drop a course. So there is definetly a comply-or-die academic environment that just doen't exist in most tech jobs nowadays. I'd love to see a curriculum where there is a class each semester that is 100% project based, where the end result isn't as important as the process.

peterlk 7y ago

I have a pet theory about this. Your whole life has goal posts laid out for you. You go to elementary school, get good grades so you can get into honors classes in middle/high school. And you do this again for college. Everything is quantitatively measured. How many questions did you get right? How many days did you attend school? How many extracurricular activities did you participate in? How many hours did you volunteer? All check boxes that other people hate laid out for you so that you can be measured in the funnel. And, artually, for some people this process can continue in their career. You get good grades in college, then you get an internship at BigCo. Then you get a job at BigCo. On and on until you die. The problem is, you never had to figure anything out. So if you ever decide to do something non-standard or if randomness hits you too hard, or if someone along the way deems you "not good enough", now you're off the track. And you have never had to set your own goal posts. If you have to be constantly told what to do, employers are not going to want to hire you. I think the lack of critical thinking goes hand in hand with an inability to function without rulebooks and structure.

nercht12 7y ago
On the right track, but even moreso of a factor is the personal relations in one's life. A kid straight out of school being told constantly to "go get a job" has trouble trying new things and getting a startup going. They end up trying to please these other naysayers and at the same time trying to pursue their dreams, thereby splitting their efforts and cutting their productivity of both in half, resulting in fewer successes over a longer period of time, further demoralizing them.
ascales 7y ago
I think this is somewhat right, but I also think that there aren't enough project based learning opportunities in school, and there certainly is not enough opportuntities to fail in school. A number of universities are implementing a limit of 3, sometimes only 2, on how many times you can fail or drop a course. So there is definetly a comply-or-die academic environment that just doen't exist in most tech jobs nowadays. I'd love to see a curriculum where there is a class each semester that is 100% project based, where the end result isn't as important as the process.