Education, Society and Business

Of the 3200 undergraduates admitted to Oxford last year only one was from a British Black Caribbean family. Said like that Oxford University is immediately thrown into a bad light. There may be more to it however. I write only in observation as I have no way of substantiating any research on this.

The first thought is that clearly their admission procedures need looking at for prejudicial practice. One might imagine a figure around 100 admissions would be more appropriate by relating numbers to population.  Imagine though that opportunity might be at fault. The admission policies and criteria might show equality but maybe the opportunity does not.

That throws the responsibility back on to the education system and maybe further back on to the Local Education Authorities and ultimately the Government.  Oxford and Cambridge have a very demanding academic standard with a limited number of places and so to gain entry you have to be very able, very mature in interview and just lucky on the day as well as having self belief and confidence and ambition.

Another statistic that enters the frame at this point is that most Oxbridge students come from Public Schools and it is tempting but ill considered to suggest that it is because they are fee paying.  That brings selection and other partisan debates into the fray as well.

The essence of it is that the Education system in the UK is in poor shape. We no longer command respect around the World for it as we used to do, and we no longer have the expectations and apparently the consistent motivation across the industry to shine.

The Schools blame the Government interference. The Government lament the fall in social standards and have no redress that we can afford. The papers blame the schools on one hand, the parents on the other and the government for nanny interference by turn. The Society that does not have consistency of standards of behaviour and controls is also probably the fault of our parents and their parents, so far as fault is the right term. Consequence is another. The boom in babies after the Second World War coupled with the loss of significant numbers from that generation and the preceding one and the sheer scale of regeneration needed set up all kinds of consequences. Changes in life opportunities and traditions for home life, work, and other social contexts meant major shifts in attitudes, allowances and expectations.

The increasing speed of technological applications (that’s ‘apps’ in modern phone speak) also creates and continues to create speedily shifting sands. So it all shifts round and no one seems to have the answers. The Government is at the mercy of the latest education nerdy fad and the teachers roll their eyes. My observation is that they are asked to do an impossible job made so by the attempts to make it all evenly registered and compliant.

The kids aren’t all the same so why herd them all into a meaningless regime designed, but not successful, at giving them equal opportunities? It only means some are disinterested at any one time and kids get bored. Who would want to be a teacher against that background? I saw some Chinese children on a programme doing mental arithmetic in class. They were hugely talented at it. The mental exercise gave them dexterity with other things and they were loving being challenged.

All of these observations come to no firm conclusion. But I feel the numbers of any one particular classification of students entering the rarefied halls of Oxford is not the real point; wanting to do mental gymnastics probably is.

The impact on Business behaviour, resources, performance, recruitment, and therefore the wealth of the economy and the UK is immense and the threads run through everything.

Bob Shepherd  is the owner of  Bob Shepherd Associates 

History Is Not Bunk

I read today that History is being phased out of schools because some Heads don’t think it has any value. I want to shout that down straight away. That is rank stupidity.

Apart from any interest in where we came from or how we came to be here, there are fundamental skills that come with History studies. One company I know was run by science graduates who naturally looked to their own. It was a company set up to provide and monitor data from the mobile communications industries and others.  It gives industry forecasts and knowledge to the phone manufacturers, the satellite navigation companies etc.  All very techy and gadget strewn. It employed a lot of young people and many came from international backgrounds, form the far east and elsewhere.

When they were recruiting some years ago they were given a cv from the agency of a young graduate who was competent in spreadsheets and sported a good degree from Oxford, in Modern History.

There was enough in the cv to warrant an interview, They discovered that not only was he competent in basic IT packages – MS Excel, Word and others but of course he could take data, interpret it and produce a report about it that was fluent and well written. Not only that he could do it effortlessly.

When you have been through the mangle of an Oxford history degree with a major presentation and 4000 word essay to do every 10 days, producing an article drawing on data you have before you is not so hard.

It soon became the case that the other members of the team , mostly second language English speakers used to pass their efforts by our junior recruit to correct and check their English and the spellings before submitting for publication approval.

I haven’t identified anyone here but the story is essentially true. That company realised with a bump that History graduates had what they needed. Research skills, and presentational skills plus fluidity of language. Not only could they summarise the data, but they could communicate.

So who says History is a pointless subject? It actually has relevance to research and communication. Marketing of all sorts depends on just those things. Wake up Education World! Our heritage industries depend on an interest in history. We have so much in the UK . There are probably 50 historic sites within an hour’s drive where I live. On a simple level it enriches and gives pleasure to millions. The film industry thrives on it. The tourist industry depends on it. History is not just one thing after another.

Bob Shepherd Associates has a wider perspective on business. Add value to your development plans with specialist guidance for finance and strategy. And consider what staff you really need!