"The path to success no longer goes through the academy," I heard in many conversations leading up to the coming academic year. It is true that the job market is changing perhaps faster than the academy is reacting, but the thought that in a three-month course one can acquire an education equivalent to that which one acquires in the academy is far-fetched and arrogant. Education Academic education is more than "acquiring a profession", and the contribution to the processes that young people go through in academia is difficult to quantify, but it is clear that they are important to the people and workers they will be in the future. Academic education is first of all broadening one's mind, building one's self, polishing one's identity and shaping the person you become in adulthood. The academy forces The student learns to deal with intellectual and mental challenges and difficulties, develops mental flexibility and creativity, and teaches about the importance of perseverance. These cannot be obtained in courses that claim to prepare for the next hot profession, and they also understand this in the job market.
When talking about a shortage of high-tech workers, they do not mean workers without prior knowledge, but graduates of degrees from academic institutions.
Therefore, despite the lack of workers, only a few of the graduates of the courses are hired: only about 3% of the juniors come from the "bootcamps".
And in a time of workforce reduction, the graduates of the courses who managed to integrate into the industry will be the first to be fired.
True, cultural capital is not only accumulated in academia and knowledge today is more accessible than ever.
But precisely because of this, the ability to dive into the world of content and understand its broad meanings has become an ever more complex task.
The literacy level of humanity as a whole is declining due to the flood of information, and at the same time - knowledge that involves intellectual thinking is less accessible to us.
But not only that: knowledge without context is meaningless, therefore mediation in academia is important to help us analyze and understand.
Employers need employees with a broad vision and the ability to deepen, trained for self-learning and solving complex problems.
Most of the time, the claim that academic studies are not relevant comes from the privileged parts of society.
People who acquired the cultural capital in quality schools, in expensive informal settings, in elite units and in the homes of parents with high education.
On the other hand, young people who come from a background of lack of opportunities and did not receive all the educational resources - will not allow themselves to give up higher education.
They have no ability to take shortcuts, and they will insist on fixing what was spared from them.
The academy is almost a last chance to reduce gaps and realize the potential.
They have no connections, and they must stand out in front of the young man who grew up in a high socio-economic cluster.
Therefore, beyond the importance of academia in itself as a factor that roots knowledge, invents knowledge and researches it, and beyond being the locomotive that moves humanity forward, academia is important in reducing gaps and making opportunities accessible.
This social role has not yet been fully realized, because there are still many barriers for young people who come from challenging backgrounds: economic barriers, acceptance barriers, models for identification within and outside the academy, and many more glass ceilings that need to be broken.
This is one of the important roles that the academy should take on in the current era.
Galit Caspi Cohen is the CEO of ISEF, the International Foundation for Education
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