To drop, or not to drop? That is the question

The battle between the tech giants and the best universities in the world is getting worse and it won’t have a good ending.

It is well known that the best companies in the world are doing interesting offers to the best university talents to drop out their studies. Some pay them to start their own business after promising not to return and to finish the bachelor, and others, hire them before they can graduate. I can understand, it is not easy for a teenager to say no to a $120k annual salary. Many teachers, mainly at USA, are already trying to stop this migration to the private sector (that startles many academics) by starting social co-working projects and sharing information between them.

A study from the University of Toronto published at The Economist showed that publications that include an author with a corporate affiliation increased more than 20% from 2012 to 2014. “The firms offer academics the chance to see their ideas reach markets quickly, which many like. Private-sector jobs can also free academics from the uncertainty of securing research grants”. (The Economist)

We may ask ourselves, if students can prove their skills, does it really matter to finish college? How important has become this paper? Are we going to change our minds and appreciate talent instead of titles? Are we going to continue hiring numbers or are we going to hire skills?

If all these big companies continue hiring students before they finish their college, and hiring also the best university teachers, the education, in a long term, will be seriously damaged, decreasing its quality.

What is happening with the Tech companies now, is the same that happened in Spain with the Property Bubble between 1997 and 2007, where many students dropped out the High School and the University. Now, we all know what happened after, you have been warned.

Twitter: @xavimm