It is fair to say that Rishi Sunak’s latest intervention in education policy, to limit the number of degree subjects that don’t deliver well paid jobs for graduates, has not been well received by the higher education sector, especially among the post-92 institutions.
More generally, graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds are likely to earn less than their peers from more prosperous backgrounds, regardless of where they study. Cracking down on so-called ‘rip-off’ degrees would limit access and participation to higher education among certain cohorts.
It should not be the primary function of universities, or schools for that matter, to turn out labour market outcomes like widgets off a factory production line. But there is undoubtedly a relationship between human capital and productivity. Skills clearly matter. All learning is valuable, and raising the skill levels of the population is both desirable and necessary. But the financialisaton of higher education has flooded the market and devalued degrees in a qualifications arms race while simultaneously contributing to a widening skills gap between what education institutions provide and what employers say they need.
