Ivory Tower Spurned

大學之門 不再非進不可

By Tom Brady

With anemic job growth around the world and educated young people struggling to start their careers, some are beginning to wonder if it’s all worth it.
當前全球工作機會面臨貧血式成長，受過高等教育的年輕人開展事業也十分辛苦，有些人開始懷疑，這一切究竟值不值得。

All that education, they mean.
他們的意思是，受那麼多教育，究竟值不值得。

In lieu of completing a four-year degree, a growing group of young Americans are turning to groups like UnCollege, which promotes a do-it-yourself approach to education, or taking advantage of massive open online courses known as MOOCs, which stream classes from elite universities.
愈來愈多年輕人不上四年制大學，轉而受教於提倡教育DIY的UnCollege，或善加利用菁英大學透過「大規模網路開放課程」（MOOC）所提供的課。

And like some of the world’s best-known and richest entrepreneurs – Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Bill Gates – they are dropping out after a year or so.
就和世上幾位最出名也最富有的創業家 － 祖克柏、賈伯斯、戴爾及蓋茲一樣，他們也都差不多念了一年大學就輟學了。

“Here in Silicon Valley, it’s almost a badge of honor,” Mick Hagen, 28, told The Times. Mr. Hagen dropped out of Princeton University in New Jersey in 2006 and moved to San Francisco, where he started Undrip, a mobile app. He is recruiting workers now, and insists dropouts are freethinkers and risk takers.
28歲的哈根告訴紐約時報：「在矽谷這裡，輟學幾乎就像是個榮譽獎章。」哈根2006年從新澤西州的普林斯頓大學輟學，搬到舊金山，創辦行動應用程式公司Undrip。他目前正在招募員工，他堅信輟學生都能自由思考，而且勇於冒險。

“College puts a lot of constraints, a lot of limitations around what you can and can’t do,” Mr. Hagen told The Times. “Some people, they want to stretch their arms, get out and create more, do more.”
哈根對紐時說：「各大學對於你能做什麼、不能做什麼，設了許多約束和限制。有些想大展身手的人離開大學，做更多事，創出更多成就。」

Though studies show college graduates earn more than those without degrees, and that the odds are long for becoming rich from writing a popular app for the iPhone, the true believers are not dissuaded.
雖然研究結果顯示大學畢業的人賺的要比沒有大學文憑的人多，而想靠為iPhone寫一套熱門應用程式而致富機率又不高，那些深信輟學才能有成的人仍然不為所動。

“Education isn’t a four-year program,” Benjamin Goering, who left the University of Kansas two years ago and moved to San Francisco to work as a software engineer, told The Times. “It’s a mindset.”
軟體工程師戈爾林兩年前離開堪薩斯大學，搬到了舊金山，他告訴紐時：「教育不是一套四年的課程，而是一種思維。」

The biggest problem with higher education, Kevin Carey wrote in The Times, is that there are no meaningful standards for academic quality. Mr. Carey reported how college athletes – the best of whom drop out after a season to pursue professional careers, referred to as “one and done” – can earn three credits from 10-day courses offered by special schools to maintain eligibility. He blames this loophole, which is legal, on the outmoded American system originating after World War II that measures a student’s progress by credit hours – 120 credit hours are generally needed for graduation – which does little to measure student learning. A study published last year, Mr. Carey wrote, “found that many students at traditional colleges showed no improvement in critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing, and spent their time socializing, working or wasting time instead of studying.”
新美國基金會教育政策負責人卡瑞在紐時撰文指出，高等教育最大問題在於，學術品質並無有意義的評量標準。卡瑞曾報導大專院校運動員如何上特殊學校提供的課程，十天就獲三學分，以便維持學生資格；最優秀的運動員會在上過一季大學後輟學，轉為職業運動員，這種作法稱為「一季就夠了」。卡瑞把這種合法的漏洞歸咎於美國二次大戰後創設的一套過時制度，也就是幾乎不衡量學生的學習，只以學分時數來衡量學生的進展－通常需要120個學分時數才能畢業。卡瑞說，去年一份研究報告發現，「許多傳統大學學生在批判性思考、複雜推理及寫作上毫無進步，時間不拿來讀書，全用在交友、打工，或者平白浪費掉。」

Meanwhile in Florida, Governor Rick Scott and Republican lawmakers are pushing Florida’s 12 state universities to train students in fields where there are jobs, such as engineering, science, health care and technology, The Times reported. Liberal arts majors, like historians, philosophers and English majors, are not so much in demand. Florida is also proposing lowering the amount a student would pay for a degree in engineering or biotechnology.
而紐時報導，佛羅里達州州長史考特和共和黨籍州議員現正推動佛州12所州立大學，多招收培育較易找到工作的那些領域的主修學生，如工程、科學、健康照顧及科技。需求不那麼高的則是主修文科的人，如歷史學家、哲學家及主修英文者。佛州也正在提案調降攻讀工程或生技學位的學費。

Still, some are perfectly happy with liberal arts degrees, even if they are pursuing a profession outside their field.
但有些人仍對自己的文科學位十分滿意，儘管他們現在從事非文科工作。

Calvin Kyrkostas, 25, graduated with a history degree from Oberlin College in Ohio, and now works on a farm on the east end of Long Island. He got into agriculture after working on a  Missouri farm one summer in college and felt pride in the accomplishment that came with seeing – and eating – the fruits of his labor after 15-hour workdays.
25歲的克考斯塔斯畢業於俄亥俄州奧柏林學院歷史系，現在長島東端一個農場工作。他是大學暑假在密蘇里州農場打工後踏進農業，看著、吃著每天工作15小時種出來的水果帶來的成就感，讓他感到自豪。

And don’t forget the tractor.
還有，別忘了拖拉機。

“I’m not a country boy, so it was cool to be able to hop on a John Deere,” Mr. Kyrkostas told The Times. “It’s like every little boy’s dream to drive a tractor.”
克考斯塔斯告訴紐時：「我不是鄉村孩子，因此能夠跳上強鹿牌拖拉機，實在很酷。每個小男孩都曾夢想駕駛拖拉機。」

“You don’t get into farming for the money,” he added. “You do it for the love of the game.”
他說：「務農不是為了錢，是因為愛上了這一行。」

原文參照：
http://newyorktimes.com.mx/2012/12/13/ivory-tower-spurned/

2012-12-18聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 馮克芸譯 原文參見紐時週報三版右