Article Title: Star-studded CVs and moral numbness

Article Summary

In this article, the author questions and dissects prevailing wisdom is that well-trained professionals will contribute towards social welfare and environmental sustainability.

The answer, the authors feel, lies in the social norms and cultures of disciplining towards which educational spaces are geared today. It is in these spaces that potentially smart individuals are transformed into compliant “professionals”, who focus merely on executing instructions in the most efficient manner. The incentive structure is designed in such a way that the individuals lose interest in questioning the status quo, in seeking explanations, or in doing things differently — they look for standardisation, seek comfort in given structures, and limit themselves to task-orientation. Moreover, they feel that making any unethical choices has nothing to do with morals and it was purely a business strategy. That their foremost identity as an employee should be to take care of their employer’s interest. The authors wonder if instilling moral criticality through pedagogical interventions would be in line with corporate requirements or not, and their bigger worry is that not many seem to be asking this question.