6 reasons why higher education needs to be disrupted — from hbr.org by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Becky Frankiewicz
In our view, until the entire higher educational system prioritizes the classroom over the research lab, it will be a challenge for this dynamic to change.
Excerpts:
- Employers need skills, not just knowledge or titles:
- Students want jobs, not knowledge or titles:
- Students are paying more and more to get less and less:
- Students have unrealistic expectations (understandably) about college:
- Many elite universities prioritize research, often at the expense of teaching:
- Instead of boosting meritocracy, universities reinforce inequality:
The fundamental question we see is this: If a university claims to be a top educational institution, shouldn’t it admit the people with the lowest test scores, and turn them into the leader of tomorrow (as opposed to admitting the people with the highest income and test scores, who would probably rule the world tomorrow regardless of those three or four years in college)?
From DSC:
My hat’s off to those who teach in those institutions who “open wide” the gates of entry!!! They are the professors who have to work their tails off to help their students.
And shame on the elite institutions who continue to value research/grant $$ waaaaaay over teaching — all while charging more and more for less and less…and while many graduates students end up teaching a lot of the undergraduate students. Those graduate students most likely haven’t been taught how to teach either!
And what higher ed pays adjunct faculty members is a complete disgrace — while many coaches make millions of $’s. Full-time faculty members — and administrators/provosts/other members of leadership — who were suddenly put into the adjunct faculty member’s role/wages would be outraged and demand immediate change.