Hi OP, I remember when it first began to boom. The universities did not cite that it’s important. If one looks at the 1960s, engineers were equal to lawyers in pay. Then over the decades their jobs got outsourced. For law, big law firms control most of the clients which is why one needs to work for big law to open their own firm generally. The history is clear that any well paid job has industry and businesses lobby to push it down that is corrupt.

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Google came later in the scene and paid its programmers well. Apple took issue and threatened patent lawsuits and then overtime colluded to avoid hiring each others workers. In time this collusion expanded to other businesses sharing special lists. Thus the history for programmers had a shorter time to be paid well versus engineers. Industry learned how to lobby more efficiently.

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So what career isn’t immune when there is demand for their skills but industry will collude to keep the market working for the worker? With that same paradox why is university even valuable when all that studying to be paid well will have that fate if the demand is large enough. Seems the ones that avoid this if it’s a niche market but niche markets themselves are not immune entirely. Because their skill can become a fossil fast.

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So in the end universities collude with the businesses as economic cartels that does not benefit the market. Instead they extract the skills and do not pay fair market price. Once people avoid the work they’ll outsource it and need wage arbitrage to profit. How does one retire in this day and age?

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