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"Why is software so different, lacking basic shared and provable prerequisite skills?" It shouldn't be; I think we generally don't have enough people that yet

"Why is software so different, lacking basic shared and provable prerequisite skills?" It shouldn't be; I think we generally don't have enough people that yet recognize this as a Real Problem(tm), and therefore don't know how to do good filtering/interviewing up front. I think it may be another generation or two before there's really enough pushback to start demanding the same level of scrutiny other industries may have. Now, a bad doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc might slip through the cracks now and then, but there's pretty strong proof that at one point they did Know Something (tm) about their field, more through professional licensing than standard higher ed, for example, but it was there. I have so little faith in the value of most higher-ed degrees as higher-ed seems primarily profit and ratings driven, vs capabilities driven. Professional orgs like bar associations actually have some economic incentives to keep people out of practicing law. Universities seem to have no incentive to fail people out, and every incentive to continue grade inflation.

omegaham 12y ago
> Universities seem to have no incentive to fail people out, and every incentive to continue grade inflation. Ostensibly, the idea is that if you don't weed out the idiots, you are going to end up with people with degrees from your university who are garbage, and this hurts your brand. You see this happening with for-profit colleges, where grade inflation is particularly egregious. "Well, we've given a bunch of DeVry grads a chance, and they've all done terribly. We're not going to be considering DeVry grads anymore unless they can really, really prove that they're any good." This should, in turn, get back to prospective students, who won't go to a college if it can't get them a job. Unfortunately, you're now at three steps that are pretty opaque and difficult to measure, and the rewards for lowering standards are immediate and vast.
- mgkimsal 12y ago
  > You see this happening with for-profit colleges, where grade inflation is particularly egregious I see it happening with people all sorts of colleges and universities. It's gotten to the point where if/when I meet a young graduate who has good communication and thinking skills, I consider them an anomaly, or suspect strongly that they already had these skills before college.

omegaham 12y ago

> Universities seem to have no incentive to fail people out, and every incentive to continue grade inflation. Ostensibly, the idea is that if you don't weed out the idiots, you are going to end up with people with degrees from your university who are garbage, and this hurts your brand. You see this happening with for-profit colleges, where grade inflation is particularly egregious. "Well, we've given a bunch of DeVry grads a chance, and they've all done terribly. We're not going to be considering DeVry grads anymore unless they can really, really prove that they're any good." This should, in turn, get back to prospective students, who won't go to a college if it can't get them a job. Unfortunately, you're now at three steps that are pretty opaque and difficult to measure, and the rewards for lowering standards are immediate and vast.

mgkimsal 12y ago
> You see this happening with for-profit colleges, where grade inflation is particularly egregious I see it happening with people all sorts of colleges and universities. It's gotten to the point where if/when I meet a young graduate who has good communication and thinking skills, I consider them an anomaly, or suspect strongly that they already had these skills before college.