Universities are sometimes trade schools -- think law and medicine -- but the traditional purpose was to fix the class divisions in society. One reason that they were so reluctant for hundreds of years to admit women, because everyone knew that only upper class men were capable of the kind of learning presented in universities. Keep in mind, that lots and lots of people agreed with that idea.
I'm not as certain about universities in Britain, but in this country as they opened up more and more to the masses, especially with the post WWII GI bill, it became more of a rite of passage. If you could stick it out four years and get a degree, than you were pretty much guaranteed a job for life. Of course, it was mostly white men who got those guarantees, because . . . well do I really have to be explicit about the sexism and racism that stayed entrenched?
In this country some enormous percentage of people who graduate high school start college. There continues to be a belief that a degree, any degree will guarantee a job for life. But the world or work is vastly different now. Most degrees that are offered have absolutely no bearing on any possible job out there, and almost no one bothers to let the students know that.
Don't get me wrong. I am personally enamored of learning for its own sake. I've been taking college classes on and off my entire adult life. I eventually got an associate's degree as a paralegal, which opened doors to jobs in that field.
I get so frustrated when I read of some young person being many thousands of dollars in debt to a degree which is entirely useless for gaining employment. I have always told the younger generation that it's fine to go ahead and major in whatever you want, but keep in mind you're going to have to earn a living in the end. So yeah, maybe going to trade school is a better idea for lots of people.
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