Dr. Muhammed Erkan Karabekmez
The online possibilities made viable by the digital revolution — and accelerated by the necessity brought about by COVID-19 lockdowns — have significantly eroded the classical model of university education. Over the past decade, prophecies about the end of universities have become increasingly common. On LinkedIn, white-collar gurus began proclaiming that university diplomas were becoming obsolete. But is that truly the case?
The “end of universities” perspective rests on a few main arguments. First, it is argued that access to knowledge no longer requires physical presence or enrollment in an institution, as online educational content has proliferated and diversified. Second, it is claimed that university departments and curricula have become outdated, unable to meet the demands of the age, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence making many professions obsolete.
Another argument is that university education stifles creativity, often citing examples of tech billionaires who dropped out of college and went on to build massive companies.
If we loosen the Eurocentric definition of the university, we can trace the history of such institutions back over a millennium, with early examples in Morocco, India, Harran (Turkey), and Italy. Prior to these, advanced knowledge was typically transmitted through master-apprentice or teacher-student models, with much less institutionalization. Interestingly, even in the modern university model — which, in its current form, arguably dates back only about 150 years — the master-apprentice relationship remains central. In undergraduate education, students take courses from multiple professors, but graduate research is conducted under the supervision of a single mentor. The master-apprentice or teacher-student tradition has existed throughout human history and will continue to do so. Universities will never lose this function.
A university is not merely a place to access information. Today, you can access much information from your phone — just as 50 years ago, individuals with access to libraries could reach vast amounts of knowledge. Universities are evolving and will continue to do so.
While the value of a university diploma for employment is diminishing, it will never reach zero.
In the past, a diploma could (often unjustifiably) guarantee a job; now, different qualifications and experiences are increasingly valued. However, universities are not redundant.
Throughout history, there have been exceptional individuals who educated themselves without attending university — and this will continue — but statistically, such cases have never represented a significant proportion, and they likely never will. Universities also offer a second, irreplaceable function: I believe that studying, exercising, participating in clubs, joining Israel protests, sitting side-by-side in classrooms, and even simply spending idle time with peers — often those in the top 10% of society in terms of analytical and academic abilities (even though there are plenty of exceptions) — provides a formative experience that digital platforms cannot replicate. After all, birds of a feather flock together, and being surrounded by driven, curious individuals naturally fosters personal and intellectual growth in ways that virtual interactions alone cannot. We should not think only in terms of money. Billionaires strive hard to secure a good education for their children even though they could directly place them into jobs without concern for their future. This formation alone is a value that cannot simply be exchanged for money.
Digitalization is rapidly transforming all aspects of life, including professions. It is true that existing university structures sometimes lag behind these changes. However, I do not believe that this stems from a structural issue indicating the end of the university era. Universities — despite the proliferation of thousands of private institutions — are fundamentally not profit-oriented organizations. Their mission is to explore matter/the universe, life/living beings, human/human agency. Even if, in practice, the public perception often reduces them to vocational schools, they cannot be expected to operate solely on market-driven principles.
It is only natural that companies — operating in direct response to monetary incentives — adapt more quickly when digitalization creates new value domains. Similarly, engineering only came to dominate university education toward the end of the industrial revolution.
Most inventors of the steam engine era did not even possess university degrees.
Yet later, in the 20th century, nearly all major inventions and discoveries emerged from universities. In terms of entrepreneurship as well, similar dynamics exist. Even if we judge solely based on economic success, for every tech billionaire who dropped out and derides university education, there are thousands of successful entrepreneurs with PhDs or MBAs over engineering degrees. Exceptional cases receive disproportionate attention precisely because they are exceptional — but rules cannot be built on exceptions.
Universities’ greatest flaw regarding the stifling of creativity lies in what Thomas Kuhn described in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: the institutionalization of intra-paradigm science. According to Kuhn, the scientific community is often conservative, resistant to novelty and anomalous theories — until a scientific revolution topples the prevailing paradigm. We can rightly criticize universities as being the breeding grounds of this conservatism. But let’s not forget: scientific revolutions, and the next paradigms, will not arise far away from the universities either.
Therefore, do not use arguments like these as excuses for your laziness:
- University graduates rarely work in their field of study.
- There are too many unemployed graduates.
- Universities are obsolete.
Even if you are certain you will end up working the cash register at your father’s appliance store, still pursue a good university education. At the same time, don’t limit yourself to coursework: supplement your learning with online content, invest in yourself through civil society activities, and build a dual portfolio of skills and knowledge. Investing in university is not just about securing an income — it is about cultivating yourself.
Do not turn your back on institutions built on thousands of years of accumulated wisdom for the sake of dreaming based on a handful of outlier success stories.