The university, from its inception in the Middle Ages to the present, has sought to cultivate and transmit knowledge for its own sake—knowledge that does not necessarily yield practical benefits.
Advancing knowledge whose primary purpose is to deepen understanding of reality in its many facets does not align with societal expectations.
Society seeks the university’s direct responses to community needs, primarily through the proper training of the workforce required for its functioning.
The gap between these expectations cannot be bridged.
One way to overcome this inevitable conflict is to develop a sophisticated higher-education system that includes research universities engaged in basic research and in training new generations of knowledge innovators, alongside applied universities or other post-secondary institutions that train the workforce for the economy.
Some countries maintain such a system.
Another solution, adopted partially in various countries and entirely in Israel, is the “hybrid” university, which has taken upon itself two roles: advancing academic disciplines (mathematics, philosophy, physics, history, etc.) through research and teaching, while simultaneously providing professional training in fields required by the economy (accountants, optometrists, psychologists, engineers, etc.).
However, the hybrid solution has not lived up to its promise, particularly in professional training.
The failure stems from the university’s, even in its hybrid version, strong commitment to its academic heritage.
This commitment leads to the imposition of disciplinary academic processes, methods, and norms on professional training, thereby harming it.
A reform is therefore needed.
Its essence lies in creating a diverse post-secondary education system that encompasses institutions of varying types.
Some will engage in basic research and cater to those who seek knowledge for its own sake, while others will focus on professional training.
The success of the reform hinges on a clear division of labor among institutions and a strict set of rules that ensure its maintenance.
Assigning different goals to different institutions and maintaining the distinctions among them will significantly reduce the competition that currently disrupts and harms Israel’s higher education system.
