Bachelor of Commerce

I work in a university so I think about this question a lot:

What is the point of tertiary education?

Once upon a time people would go to universities for higher education, in pursuit of a deeper understanding of the subject in question.

These days it seems that people just want degrees to get a job. And I think it's a real shame. The level of student enrolments in Accounting courses across Australia is mind-bogglingly high, but where Arts and Science programmes teach students to appreciate depth of knowledge, Commerce teaches them to appreciate big profits. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but essentially Commerce courses teach occupational skills.

Incidentally, even research preferences on profitable projects rather than those with good social benefits.

It's true that all things need to evolve, including universities. But it's a sombre reflection of our society when our leading educational institutions are nothing more than training facilities for white-collar workers.

I hope that at some point in the future, quality education will once again become the primary focus of universities. In the meantime, I guess I will just have to tolerate the idea that somehow a Bachelor of Commerce is comparable to a Bachelor of Arts or Science.