Transferrable skills are a by-product of university education: Opinion

The point of a university education is not to teach students “transferrable skills,” writes University of Toronto – Mississauga Associate Professor Mairi Cowan. Instead, the author argues that transferrable skills are a byproduct of postsecondary education; students are taught competencies as instructors teach them how to engage with the class material. Cowan explains that as students practice the skills, they gain competencies that can be transferred to a variety of different contexts and life paths. “I’m not teaching these skills as transferrable skills; I’m teaching them as historical skills that my students can transfer to whatever contexts they see fit,” writes Cowan. University Affairs (Editorial)