Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Others think that the true function of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake, regardless of whether the cours

There has always been a heated debate on the main function of a university since a growing number of people attend the university for further education. Some people advocate that universities are required to provide graduates with practical knowledge and skills for occupation, while in contrast, others argue that universities should focus on knowledge and ignore the applicability of it to the workplace. In fact, knowledge imparted in the university should be both theoretical and empirical and the main functions of a university are outlined in the following aspects.

To begin, it should be realized that university is the primary place for students to gain basic knowledge of their intentional careers. Therefore, it can never be too emphasized to stress the importance of the academic knowledge in students’ occupations. For example, students who want to engage in engineering may have no idea of what they should do. Their knowledge of math and physics acquired in the high school can not support their work’ demands on engineering, so they should go to the university for major study, including construction, design of a building and so forth. Without theoretical knowledge in the university, they would not become engineers due to lack of basic knowledge.

Another main function of a university is to impart empirical knowledge and skills to students for their workplaces. The fundamental task of students is to solve the problem of living. Hence, it is understandable that students should acquire job-related knowledge and skills to ensure their living after graduation. If universities just pay attention to theoretical knowledge without consideration of the requirements of students’ future careers, their students may find that it is hard for them to find satisfied jobs in the employment markets full of fierce competitions and they may lose competitive edges in their struggle with other students who boast of acquiring both academic and practical knowledge and skills.

According to the above discussion, it is obvious that universities should lay emphasizes both on theoretical and practical knowledge and skills as their major tasks in order to better prepare their students for future challenges in their occupations.