How do we know that a university degree isn't primarily a signalling mechanism? That would make universal university incredibly wasteful of people's most energetic years.
Because people don't just learn to be doctors, physistics, biologists, structural and civic engineers, chemists, and countless of other professions on their own (not in any significant nunber after the 18th century at least), they learn it in university, with a structured curriculum, theoritical tuition, supervision, labs, and so on.
The vast majority of people with degrees will not use that degree in their job. I certainly didn't and looking at my fellow physics or maths grads the same is true of almost all of them.
Not sure what part one wont use. The degree as in "the printed paper"?
Because I guarantee that the "vast majority of people with degrees" in the professions I described and many more, will use the knowledge acquired during their degree in their jobs.
I'm not sure what physics or maths grad doesn't use the math he was taught/practiced/and picked up during his tutoring for the degree.
The implication is that they learn those things before going to university? Or that they learn them in grad school? (as if studying for graduate school is not also university, and as if the prior knowledge acquired during their BSc and such wasn't necessary to understand what they encountered in grad school -- and to have a basic understanding of their field).
> Because I guarantee that the "vast majority of people with degrees" in the professions I described and many more, will use the knowledge acquired during their degree in their jobs.
I agree with this, but think the jobs that use degrees are a small minority. Maybe 20%?
> I'm not sure what physics or maths grad doesn't use the math he was taught/practiced/and picked up during his tutoring for the degree.
I'm a software engineer atm and while I have done some gnarly stuff with directed graphs, I don't think I've used any of my uni maths in my career. A friend of mine went to be an actuary, same thing, A-level maths was used but nothing beyond that. Catastrophe modeller? Same. Civil servant? Same. Hedge fund analyst? Same.
Very very few jobs actually require graduate level maths.
