The Tyranny of Metrics

by Jerry Z. Muller

The hazard of metrics so purely focused on monetary return on investment is that like so many metrics, they influence behavior. Already, universities at the very top of the rankings send a huge portion of their graduates into investment banking, consulting, and high-end law firms—all highly lucrative pursuits.48 These are honorable professions, but is it really in the best interests of the nation to encourage the best and the brightest to choose these careers? One predictable effect of the weight attributed to future income in college rankings will be to incentivize institutions to channel their students into the most high-paying fields. Those whose graduates go on to careers in less remunerative fields, such as teaching or public service, will be penalized.49 A capitalist society depends for its flourishing on a variety of institutions that provide a counterweight to the market, with its focus on monetary gain. To prepare pupils and university students for their roles as citizens, as friends, as spouses, and above all to equip them for a life of intellectual richness—those are among the proper roles of college. Conveying marketable skills is a proper role as well. But to subordinate higher education entirely to the capacity for future earnings is to measure with a very crooked yardstick.