Dark Ages Ahead Analysis

In “Credentialing Versus Educating”, the third chapter of Dark Ages Ahead, Jane Jacobs discusses a change in the intent and practice of higher education at universities and colleges. “Credentialing, not educating, has become the primary business of North American universities” (Jacobs 44). The institution of education has shifted its focus from passing on knowledge and teaching students to have critical faculties for the stability and growth of society, to simply certifying individuals in order to be considered for a job. Educating involves the learning of new concepts and gaining proper knowledge while credentialing is focused on obtaining a degree through four years of higher education. Jacobs makes the distinction by outlining that an education and a degree are not the same thing. According to Jacobs, there is an emphasis on selecting job applicants who have desirable qualities such as persistence, ambition, and the ability to cooperate and conform.
This is evidence that employers are beginning to only look at the degree rather than considering “how able or informed the applicant may be” (Jacobs 45). Jacobs put it into perspective universities are teaching for the purpose of credentials and not education. These institutions of higher education are not providing students with the fundamental skills and crucial knowledge necessary to succeed in the work force of their profession. This is greatly ironic as in the attempt to qualify and ensure students can find a job after they graduate, they are only hindered and left without necessary skills that would enable them to prosper and succeed in that real-world work environment. As outlined by Jacobs, it is apparent that education is not the main focus as the experience of education has remarkably changed. This includes the quality of faculty in which “professors lack the time and energy they could once devote to personal contact with students” (Jacobs 49), to the nature of testing that now, “came to consist of ‘True of false?’ and ‘Which of the following is correct?’ types of questions, fit for robots to answer and to rate, rather than stimulants and assessments of critical thinking and depth of understand” (Jacobs 49) I agree that when education is replaced by credentialing, we lose the authenticity and quality of learning that is provided by universities and colleges. As a result, the students graduating suffer the consequences of not being given the proper knowledge and skills necessary to prosper in their field and the work force. With this replacement of education with credentialing, there has also been a loss of motivation of and interest from the students enrolled in these rudimentary programs. Rather than embracing the learning process, students are focused on getting out as quickly as possible, having done the minimum amount