Wow, this is an academic I really admire:
The Tel Aviv University business school on Monday told its undergraduate students to get their degrees in other academic disciplines rather than business. . .
Ellis said in his email that the business school recommends undecided undergraduate students choose disciplines like pure sciences, math, economics, psychology, computer science, history, literature, philosophy and architecture.
“Study of academic disciplines prepares students to think scientifically in these fields and form the foundation for advanced studies in graduate degree programs,” he said.
But wait, there is more. Brave, honest professors at Tel Aviv U say openly what so many of us have wanted to say for a long time but never dared to:
In TheMarker magazine article by Tali Heruti-Sover, Tviran was quoted as saying business administration should only be studied at the graduate level and that an undergraduate degree in business is unnecessary. “Business administration is an excellent degree but needs to be studied at the appropriate time,” he said.
This is so true, and finally somebody is admitting it. Undergraduate degrees in business are a joke because they turn universities into vocational training schools. In order to conceal from the students how lacking in substance these programs are, professors and administrators fill their heads with pipe dreams about the untold riches that await them the moment they graduate. My sister (who is a job recruiter) says nobody has more inflated and unreasonable expectations than these kids. In reality, nobody can learn how to run a successful business while sitting behind a desk.
The reasons why universities keep deluding their students on this account are clear:
Ellis said, “Unfortunately for us and many of the world’s leading universities, there are open and hidden pressures to serve as institutions for professional training. The MBA was first founded to train graduates of disciplines who already had practical work experience in their professional or scientific fields for administrative positions.
Later, over the protests of many professors, undergraduate programs were also opened. At first, such programs were established at colleges, and the universities were left with no choice but to open management programs from fear of losing good students who are very interested in this field.”
As a result, universities turn into vocational schools that offer useless training for non-existent vocations.
Here is what Tel Aviv U is doing to preserve its integrity:
He continued, “As opposed to other colleges and universities, our senate approved the study of management only when combined with an academic discipline to retain the scientific character of undergraduate studies. For this reason it also barred combining management study with accounting, which isn’t recognized as an academic discipline.”
This is an example we should all follow.
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