Most degree courses are primarily academic.
They produce graduates who have a high level of competence in their chosen field, but who may not have the skills needed to use their expertise effectively in an industrial context. Mathematics students are used to solving idealised problems which are put to them in mathematical language. They are expected to find a complete solution and to describe it mathematically to an examiner who is familiar with the area of mathematics involved. This is very different from an industrial situation where the problem may be presented by a colleague with limited mathematical knowledge, in a form which is not immediately amenable to standard methods of solution. It may be more important to produce a partial solution quickly than to spend time finding a more complete answer.