What ails higher education in the world ? - a deep analysis ..

Having been involved in the higher education industry for more than 30 years by now, I have always wondered when some innovative thinking would disrup
t this sector ?

Frequently I have been pained to understand how faculty members in top academic and elite institutions of the world neglect teaching and instead concentrate on research and grants. Even in the best Indian Institute of Technology at Mumbai where I was fortunate to pursue my studies, on few occasions, I found the teaching wanting. What this results in finally is a group of students who have not benefited from the talent and knowledge of the highly skilled knowledgeable professor and instead have to content being taught by graduate students or junior faculty members. This is very true in high ranking institutions .. 

Recently I happened to go through the November '19 Harvard Business Review article on why the global higher education scenario needs to be disrupted. 

Be it the west, East or Saharan Africa, higher education  is getting a fillip .. courtesy, UNESCO and Times.. 

The article does mention about the exceedingly high costs of higher education in different parts of the world.  Since US presently happens to be the hub of global higher education, it is interesting to know the case there. It is said that cost of higher education has increased by over 200% in the past 20 years. The student debt that has increased over 600 % over the past 20 years at $1.4 trillion is presently more than the credit card debt or vehicle financing debt. 

Another trend contributing to the high debts is the unreasonable demand by the students for the best expensive education and their dreams of hitting it big in corporate circles. Not everyone can finally become a CEO or a Chairman.  Students need to be realistic about their expectations.

Another area in higher education which needs disruption is the area of specialisation of students. Students frequently specialise in areas where they do not intend to continue in the future. So finally it is wasted resources spent on that student who has continued with his passion in other areas. Identifying one's passion early on in life and nurturing it is one way we can set right this anomaly and see that the right students get the right education to the exact depth to be able to specialise in the area and help the society and world at large. For example,   It is seen that students who want to study at the Harvard Business School on not getting admission entering the Kennedy School of government at Harvard, waste the opportunity by joining the corporate world, for other students who would have contributed in greater measure to social governance and administration.

Most of the present day jobs offered by employers are just focused on skills that help complete the jobs. In the short run, it is okay, but not in the long term planning for the organisation. There is a mismatch between this understanding between the new recruits and their employers. Jobs are not just getting some skills like accountancy, engineering design, manufacturing, quality control, building construction etc, it is helping identifying the right skill sets to add value to society and self in the long run.

The final area where our higher education system needs a major resurgence is the search among the students for jobs than the knowledge and exposure it brings. This comes through internships initially. These are taken lightly and results in students not being able to identify their passionate area of working. Students need to cultivate learnability of skills than displaying college credentials that do not add value to the tasks being carried out. Being able to acquire skills and additional knowledge through MOOCs or Khan academy is definitely a step in this direction.

I am sure in the coming years there would be enough disruptions that would help align higher education to the needs of the society and the world at large.

George