Science and education as domination
It’s funny but I’ve been lecturing this week on a group of philosophers who were trying to explain the failure of Marxism. One of their main points comes from Max Weber whose whole sociology can be seen as the analysis of rationality. Weber is very pessimistic about the ultimate application of rational models which he sees as removing our humanity: emotion and tradition. Technology (science) in this sense becomes a tool for domination: Marcuse and Habermas. There’s good reason to be worried about being rational.
I’m afraid we can see universities as part of the technology of control and do not operate for the benefit of students, especially since 1979 when Thatcher and her allies moved us away from ‘education’ to ‘training’. For training critical skills are problematic as they foster questioning rather than doing what those in authority want. Hopefully, Cambridge and Oxford have enough influence to resist.