Education and Careers: critical thinking is vital

Back in 2016, when much of the world was still in shock over Donald Trump’s election as US president, people on the internet briefly and collectively had their minds blown by learning of the foretelling of this strange event.

Image: Yuri Arcurs peopleimages.com

The “prophet” was the late American philosopher Richard Rorty, who in 1998 predicted the US electorate would eventually lose faith in the system and look to a “strongman” leader, fuelled by a shift from Leftist policymakers and leaders. Before the Second World War, progressive policymakers focused on addressing problems like poverty. But in the latter half of the 20th Century, policy focused more on resetting the cultural status of traditionally marginalised groups.

Both problems need addressing – but Rorty identified that the Left couldn’t do both at the same time, and it failed to recognise the growing marginalisation of the rural American poor, partly through declining educational attainment.

In America and in Scotland, education is viewed as an equaliser – a pathway to a better life. But in the US, unequal access to education has been cited as a contributing factor to the growing polarisation between Left and Right. Funding inequality begins when children enter education. Recently, the US Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action (which means race can no longer be considered as a factor in university admissions), but legacy admissions (which gives preference to the children of alumni and was created in the 1920s to reduce Jewish student numbers) continue to be rife.

My home state of Kentucky is one of the most impoverished in the US and for many years post-secondary enrollment was on the decline, partly due to growing stigmatisation and narratives that question its value. However, thanks to targeted policy and efforts focused on improving affordability and increasing diversity, Kentucky is now bucking the national trend of declining admissions with some modest increases since 2021.

In Scotland, we often point to our education policies with pride. We fund college and university tuition for Scottish domiciled students. Unfortunately, the failure of this investment to track inflation has been delivering real-terms cuts for years.

While Scotland isn’t about to elect its own version of Trump, I see hints of Rorty’s critique of 20th Century American Leftism in contemporary Scottish politics. I would argue that Nicola Sturgeon admirably attempted to extend the rights of marginalised groups, but did so at the expense of developing robust, well-researched social and economic policy – essentially, she followed the post-war US Leftist policymakers. Meanwhile, the cost-of-living crisis is widening inequality.

The Scottish Government has announced it will create a new funding model for colleges and universities. The details aren’t yet known, but the focus on financial resilience is promising.

There are countless reasons to invest in education, largely based on economics, skills, innovation, and human rights. But it is also a critical tool to ensure our electorate is informed, capable of interrogating the claims of would-be or current leaders, and able to make the best choices for itself. In short, without education, democracy is at risk.

While Scotland and the US aren’t the same, it is important to heed warnings wherever they come from.

- Anna Dickens is an associate partner at Charlotte Street Partners.

Charlotte Street Partners is a public affairs agency based in Edinburgh