Scholar was thematically better in FFXI. They were basically a hybrid White/Black magic user similar to Red Mage in the mainline Final Fantasy games. Heal, support, and damage mage. Scholar is currently a robe of itself (Seraphism) in FFXIV.
https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Scholar
White Mage in FFXI was a pure support/healer job. All they did was heal. However, they were the best at it and the game was designed around that. In FFXIV, all you are doing is throwing rocks and balls of light. This game (FFXIV) is not designed around healing.
Hiromichu Tanaka will always be a legend for FFXI. It is unfortunate his vision for FFXIV never materialised, and they faced so many setbacks.