Originally posted on LinkedIn
Unpopular opinion - We need to move from a “demand-driven” higher education system (where people study whatever they want) to a “development-driven” one (where the country trains what it actually needs).
We have a structural crisis in higher education — and the biggest reason is the massive disconnect between academia and the job market.
Every year, 140,000 business administration students enroll. 115,000 law students. 100,000 psychology students.
The vast majority are condemned to a life of underemployment and low salaries — and low productivity for the country. Same goes for a huge chunk of the humanities.
Or like many — they end up working in something completely unrelated to what they studied (even if they’re economically successful). And they throw away most of those 4 or 5 years.
The gap between supply and demand in the labor market is MASSIVE. And with AI arriving, it’ll only get bigger.
We NEED more people in technical studies. We NEED more people in engineering and applied sciences. We NEED more experience and service designers (not industrial or graphic, and even less so with AI).
To build a tech industry (and have more tech entrepreneurs), to drive structural innovation, to develop agriculture, to grow supply chains and tourism.
There would still be room for everything — yes. Of course. But with limits set by labor market demand.
What if universities only opened enrollment slots with proven corporate demand? That’s what Campuslands does. It doesn’t even have to be the government regulating it — the institution itself can go find the demand.
What if quality accreditations weren’t based on obscure factors (# of PhDs teaching — wtf?) but on real outcomes — employment rates, average starting salary. The market would self-organize way faster that way.
And maybe, just maybe, we’d also shed the social stigma against technical education and start focusing on results over certificates.
What do you think? Am I crazy?