Gustible - under the rubric of [$_SELF]

I recently posted an article on our experience of recruiting developers in South Africa, on our team’s blog.

Feel free to read it, and comment further. I chose to post this comment here rather than on that blog, because it is very much a personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect my employer’s viewpoint (although it might).

I personally found some of the comments very interesting, and what struck me in particular is the way that a number of respondents negated the usefulness of a tertiary education. It is almost as if though they are stating that it is better not to have a university education, than it is to have one. I guess that in a country such as South Africa where there has been a great deal of discrimination, it is to be expected that some will rail against the fact that they were not afforded the same opportunities as their peers might have been offered. Yet – the impression I got from the comments on this post was not that the problem was resentment, but rather that some people thought that a university education did not add any value – all the old phrases such as “ivory tower” and “privilege” and “money” was being bandied around.

I have a simple take on this. Yes, university is expensive. No, university does not teach you how to build things. Yes, academics live in a bit of an ivory tower. But there is a reason for this! Universities are there to provide a place for people to devote their careers to thinking (that’s the ivory tower). Universities are huge institutions, largely funded by the state, and requiring a lot of money to operate – every student is as a matter of fact highly subsidised already (sorry, but that’s capitalist reality for you). And lastly – universities are there to teach you how to think, and how to use the resources that help you think.

Sure – there are unmitigated geniuses out there – but I for one have drawn great advantage from a tertiary education, even though my undergraduate and first graduate degrees had nothing whatsoever to do with my career choice. It simply opened my eyes, allowed me to explore, and taught me how to think logically, rationally and scientifically.

If you are looking for a trade it is better to find a position as journeyman – craftsman skills are not found in universities. But if you want to be a broad-minded, visionary, capable craftsman – then even you will find value in a university education.

I do most emphatically not agree with the sentiment that universities are actively destroying the potential of good developers in South Africa (or anywhere else for that matter). Willful ignorance is a great transgression, as far as I am concerned.