Cathy Davidson, author of The New Education, describes the twenty-fifth birthday parties that many of her college students throw “to commemorate their collective indecision and existential sense of uselessness.” They have degrees, credentials, and honors, but few job prospects. Davidson argues that these students have been given “a raw deal.” The prescriptive, disciplinary and specialized training that colleges provide, which is based on a 150-year-old model of education, does not prepare them for the post-industrial and post-Internet world. It’s time for a new approach, Davidson says, that emphasizes creative, critical and computational methods that teach students collaboration and adaptability.
Davidson, Cathy. The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux. Basic Books, 2017, p. 18c.