Is this the same Duke and MIT that are vastly oversubscribed? And he has tenure? There is almost nothing he can say in this context that affects his compensation, his status at the university, or the demand for Duke degrees. That's what tenure is for, and that's a key benefit of elite universities. Faculty can speak very freely. However cynical your stance, there is a real difference between the Apple employee and tenured Duke professor.
If this were not the case, people like Noam Chomsky would not survive to contribute as they do.
Of course he's free to speak his mind, and indeed there are other professors who are skeptical about the cost/value proposition of universities, now and in the near future. I don't know if Ariely is tenured, but I'd lend his views a lot of weight in any situation.
Still, though, people are loyal to the institutions that sustain them... often unconsciously, and often via earlier filtering/selection.
There's no need to assume Ariely is under explicit workplace pressure to promote elite universities, or that he's hustling for the incremental gain to his status or income. It's enough to recognize that someone who's the son of a Columbia MBA, a graduate of Tel Aviv University and a holder of doctorates from both UNC and Duke, and a professor at MIT and Duke, has already been massively selected and rewarded for his deep-seated faith (and ability to thrive) in those sorts of institutions. His intimate familiarity with the system gives his testimony credibility, but his career involvement also makes it unlikely he'd say, "it's just not worth it".
So I'm not even particularly saying that he's wrong, just that his formally-titled, well-remunerated, large-sunk-cost and choice-supportive-bias position inside the high-tuition private-university system is relevant enough to warrant a mention, if he's giving cost/benefit advice to others.
Comments
Is this the same Duke and MIT that are vastly oversubscribed? And he has tenure? There is almost nothing he can say in this context that affects his compensation, his status at the university, or the demand for Duke degrees. That's what tenure is for, and that's a key benefit of elite universities. Faculty can speak very freely. However cynical your stance, there is a real difference between the Apple employee and tenured Duke professor.
If this were not the case, people like Noam Chomsky would not survive to contribute as they do.
Of course he's free to speak his mind, and indeed there are other professors who are skeptical about the cost/value proposition of universities, now and in the near future. I don't know if Ariely is tenured, but I'd lend his views a lot of weight in any situation.
Still, though, people are loyal to the institutions that sustain them... often unconsciously, and often via earlier filtering/selection.
There's no need to assume Ariely is under explicit workplace pressure to promote elite universities, or that he's hustling for the incremental gain to his status or income. It's enough to recognize that someone who's the son of a Columbia MBA, a graduate of Tel Aviv University and a holder of doctorates from both UNC and Duke, and a professor at MIT and Duke, has already been massively selected and rewarded for his deep-seated faith (and ability to thrive) in those sorts of institutions. His intimate familiarity with the system gives his testimony credibility, but his career involvement also makes it unlikely he'd say, "it's just not worth it".
So I'm not even particularly saying that he's wrong, just that his formally-titled, well-remunerated, large-sunk-cost and choice-supportive-bias position inside the high-tuition private-university system is relevant enough to warrant a mention, if he's giving cost/benefit advice to others.