Higher Education in Crisis: Whither the University - Assignment Example

?Higher education in crisis: Whither the Introduction Higher education is the goal of most individuals. They see it as a valuable means of establishing successful careers and of landing lucrative jobs in the employment market. Recently however, reports of difficulties in gaining higher education and of establishing rich careers from such an education have become apparent. This paper shall discuss what the university is for and what higher education is for. It shall discuss the role of the intellectual in the 21st century, including the issues and challenges associated with mass higher education. It shall also consider the apparent globalization of western management education. A discussion of the relationship between the labour market and the university sector shall be laid out, and the possibility of what it should be shall also be considered. Finally, this paper shall discuss the extent to what research is affected by the current crisis of Higher Education. Body What are universities for? In John Henry Newman’s book ‘The Idea of a University,’ he discussed that a university is a place where students come from different types of knowledge and a place where communication of thoughts can be promoted through personal interactions. It is where various individuals and intellectuals contribute and speculate on knowledge and where these students inquire and discover; it is where they expose errors with the collusion of the mind. It is the process of mutual education where the occupations of the society consult with each other through familiar intercourse. Different generations create ideas which are breathed in by students and where they operate on three principles: unity of research and teaching, freedom of teaching, and academic self-governance (Boulton and Lucas, 2008). The idea of universities have also been dominated by western mentality and these ideas have represented various opposing thoughts on these schools with some implications of tension in the liberal education of informed citizens – that there is a contradiction in free thought within the university setting. Universities, if these ideas were to be believed, are a place where ideas would be controlled. However, other scholars (Boulton and Lucas, 2008) are quick to point out that the university is a complementary to liberal thought and that they give a voice to man. From the Kantian point of view, attending universities is considered a duty, a means of gaining a strong position in society, and a common right which must be gained (McBride, 2006). It is also considered a means of gaining entry into an elite society, a major possibility for those graduating from ivy-league universities. Author Tennyson was said to have gained entry into society by attending Cambridge; living in the Cambridge undergraduate community was not enough to gain him the important rite of passage into elite society (McBride, 2006). The course enrolled or studied in the university is given more credence almost as much as where one is enrolled. Most of the time, a person’s acceptance into accepted society is based on where one has finished his course. A community college in a small US city is not the same as an ivy-league university (Hayton and Paczuska, 2002). Most students and graduates tend to associate their peer groupings based on where their friends graduate from, as well as what college traditions they follow or even what sports teams they support. Universities in this case serve a social purpose for students and their graduates. It helps them access specific exclusive societies, and for those with political ambition, it gives them an opportunity to brush shoulders with interest groups, political movers, and lobbyists (Jarvis, 2006). When universities are considered a means of gaining entry into certain areas of society, the apprenticeship gained in a certain company cannot compare with university education. In effect, while apprenticeships can be considered as a means of gaining technical knowledge in certain tasks; universities can be the means of gaining status in society. What is higher education for? Higher education is a goal of most individuals, and no matter the wealth of students, they should have an opportunity to enjoy this education (Schwartz, 2003). The goals of most individuals also include joining a unionized occupation, however, such occupations now comprise less than 7% of the private sector occupations; and in this context, the better option for economic security now seems to be on getting a four year degree. Higher education is therefore seemingly viewed as a means of gaining access to better employment opportunities (Schwartz, 2003). In the current applications of the democracy, higher education serves to provide a strong educational foundation for effective leaders (Olsen, Codd, and O’Neil, 2004). In its purest conceptualization, the ideals of democracy are fulfilled through higher education where merits are based on talents, intelligence, and skills, not on aristocratic designations. Leaders’ qualifications are therefore based on these objective merits, not endowed by aristocratic lineage. Moreover, higher learning are made possible through the research facilities in the universities which serve as opportunities for students to expand and critically appraise information (Olsen, et.al., 2004). In effect, the universities give a chance for students to learn about the world and to learn things about themselves which, if not learned in college, would not likely be learned at all. Higher education also provides an opportunity for individuals to interact with other people different from themselves (Schwartz, 2003). In the traditional setting, schools are sometimes racially and socially segregated. However, in the current context of universities, opportunities for the various students to interact with each other in a racially and socially diverse environment are made available. Moreover, these universities also assist students in seeking and nursing their passions and purposes (Olsen, et.al., 2004) Higher education provides a rich learning environment where students can gain access to various information and background knowledge on possible careers which they can later immerse themselves in and gain more knowledge from. What is the role of the intellectual in the 21st century? The intellectual’s role in the 21st century is to gain deep knowledge of one or several disciplines as well as the knowledge of other disciplines (Farahani, 2005). As such, these intellectuals must have a wide range of knowledge and a potential to engage in interprofessional working. In other words, these intellectuals must be able to coordinate with other professionals and draw out knowledge from these professionals to support his own decision and assessment of any subject matter (Peschar and van der Wal, 2000). Intellectuals in the 21st century are presented with the capacity to establish a thorough assessment of ideas, considering the varying elements of issues (Farahani, 2005, p. 514). They can also evaluate issues which may not be readily apparent to other intellectuals. As a result, these intellectuals provide a clearer evaluation of ideas and information and to identify weak or vague areas in any issue (Peschar and van der Wal, 2000) The current batch of intellectuals has a very important function in society as they fill in the numbers for scholars who are well-versed in various aspects of the academe and of the practical world. They also supply rich information available to all people, regardless of race, economic, or social background. They express their expertise as teachers, as lawyers, as doctors, as engineers, among others. And in the end, they impact greatly on other intellectuals within and outside their field (Montejo, 2005). Ideas generated by intellectuals often end up affecting the fate of nations, as well as civilizations. Those who have careers founded on the establishment of ideas have always had a role in various societies (Sowell, 2010). Whether such a role has made the people around them better or worse is one of the main issues which have to be resolved in our most current context. Just as the 20th century has been built-up by intellectuals as one filled with wars and genocides, the 21st century intellectual’s role is on how to usher in the globalized world, and a digitized one at that (Reed and Deem, 2002). The 21st century has gone far beyond the initial conceptions of the Industrial Revolution and the progress of development is now on a shorter scale with generation and development gaps spanning as short as 15 or even ten years (Reed and Deem, 2002). The intellectual’s role is on how to allow each learning process to unfold in a natural, enriching, and even scale to cover most areas of the globe and for a greater age span (Ritzer, 2002). True development and progress cannot after all unfold without it being experienced by most people within the global context. Issues and challenges associated with mass higher education There are various issues and challenges associated with mass higher education. For one, scholars argue that the standards of education cannot be maintained in mass higher education because resources would be limited and more students have to be involved in paid work as a means of supporting their access to higher education (Quality Research International, 2003). Mass higher education is also losing its functionality because employer needs and student outcomes are now vastly different from each other (Anderson, 2008). In other words, employers are having different demands on graduates and the graduates often cannot fill in these needs or demands (Bousquet, 2008). Mass higher education is also creating an undesirable practice in the academic scene through grade inflation which is allowing the poorly performing students to get through the system, thus impacting on the quality of graduates and of higher education itself (Quality Research International, 2003). Among the major issues which higher education is facing in the 21st century is the effect of the innovations on the traditional ways of gaining university education (Trow, 2000). This issue has a destabilizing impact on higher education with IT technologies impacting negatively on research universities. There is therefore, an uncertainty on the actual ability of mass higher education to survive in this age of IT technology. Another issue in mass higher education is on the fact that the escalating costs of higher education is causing a significant underfunding of higher education where productivity gains are based on the idea that students are being sent to universities for more or less the same amount of money (Trow, 2000). The increase in numbers without the related increase in state support endangers the quality of instruction. Issues with the globalization of western management education The western management of education has also been globalized. However, the process of westernization has not been favourable in some non-western nations because their culture does not blend well with the western ideals (Gabriel and Sturdy, 2002). This disparity is significantly apparent in the Asian region where the countries are steeped in traditions and cultural practices which are not adequately understood by Western nations. Instructions on sociology based on western ideals would not work well in Asia where cultural and gender-based taboos are prevalent (Yang, 2002). And yet, the labour and academic market potential in the Asian region is no less than the potential found in other western nations. Hence, it is important to tap into a globalized education set-up, one which would allow all students to discover their potential in the universities, and later in the labour market. Relationship between the labour market and the university sector Universities, in so many ways, serve as a source of labour. Governments have already acknowledged the fact that universities need to fashion their new programs to comply with the labour shortages (Owram, 2011). And yet, universities have not been efficient in assisting the labour market to fill in such shortages. Instead, these universities have persisted in graduating students who are not easily employable. In this regard, universities do not seem to evaluate the needs of the labour market and base their offered courses to help respond to such needs (Moleke, 2005). At times, the government has seen fit to establish changes within universities in order to target employable courses and graduates. Universities have sometimes found the prospect of employment for its graduates a favourable prospect, and the fact that the government is helping support these courses is an added incentive for universities to offer and support these courses (Owram, 2011). However, instances have still been seen on the failure of universities and labour markets to achieve favourable arrangements. For one, the labour market is very much erratic in its demands as it finds its needs increasing in one profession and later experience an oversupply in a few years time (Dunne, et.al., 2008). In is therefore not advisable for universities to focus their programs on certain careers when later, as the students graduate, they would later turn out to be unemployable (Moleke, 2005). In other words, the need may no longer be there. It also does not help that the labour market and the universities do not seem to have logical expectations of the other. The labour market may demand graduates which the universities cannot provide and the universities may be demanding employment for their graduates which the labour market cannot provide (Rutkowski, 1998). It is important for both parties however to understand that the impact of a university education may not be seen immediately. In fact, it may only be seen years after the need has manifested. This is a huge problem for four year (or more) university courses because the immediate need may not be filled by current prospective graduates and such needs may only be filled after the graduates are released from the universities (Dunne, et.al., 2008). Still, to a significant degree, universities and the labour market may find their bigger purpose and fulfilment as they work and coordinate their efforts and policies with each other. Research within the current crisis of higher education Due to the various issues being encountered by Higher Education, research is also significantly affected. As universities are now being affected by financial crises, allocations for research within the university setting have been reduced (Tinker, 2004). As a result, fewer initiatives towards research are being supported by the universities and are tried to a lesser degree by students (Curtis and Lipsett, 2009). This is an unfortunate circumstance considering the fact that research is an important contributor to the gathering of knowledge and establishment of new information. Moreover, research is also considered a source of clinical and practical applications in the actual practice of professions (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2011). With lesser initiatives in research, fewer improvements in the practice of professions can be introduced. In effect, few innovations and improvements in technology would be developed and conceptualized (OECD, 2011). In order to gain better status for universities, the practice of ranking has also impacted significantly on research because these rankings are affected by academic decision-making processes and related behaviours (Hazelkorn, 2007). Based on international studies, leaders in higher education believe that the high-achiever students consider the rankings of universities in order to narrow down their choices of universities, most especially in the post-graduate level. Moreover, these rankings are also used by company shareholders in deciding the institutions which they can send their support to (Griffith and Rask, 2007). Rankings of universities are considered a permanent part of the academic culture and the universities which are not in the higher rankings are the ones who are bearing the shortages of enrolees of competent and academically gifted students. Such a practice has a negative impact on research because the academic population would be mediocre at best and would not allow for the growth and coordination of a diverse and academically rich environment. Rankings often reward the larger universities who offer medical courses; in effect, the size of these institutions matter very much (Hazelkorn, 2009). This activity often ends up favouring the fields of sciences since it is an activity which is appropriately set in the international and publicly served and verifiable databases. The fields of humanities and social sciences are vulnerable in the context of this university crisis. Other disciplines like engineering, business, and education which do not exist within traditional peer-reviewed publications are also vulnerable (Tinker, 2004). There is no qualm for higher education institutions to review the costs linked with fields of disciplines which are not crucial to their profile or those which do not perform comparatively well with other fields. The option for these universities is to support their performance in the strong areas and to redistribute funding to the weaker areas, either working on these weaknesses or closing them down. Conclusion Based on the above discussion higher education is still a relevant academic and labour market element. However, its relevance is waning because of its failure to respond to the needs of the labour market. Nevertheless, adjustments are quickly being made by universities to improve their responsiveness to the labour market. It is still important to note however, that their responsiveness to the labour market is impacting negatively on other disciplines and on research in general, causing support for research to be reduced and for other weak disciplines to be gradually phased out. This dilemma has created a less diverse labour and professional market, one which may be focused only on the sciences and on the richly funded fields of discipline. The relevance of the university is now based on how it can adjust to the needs of the labour market, but its sustainability would also be based on its ability to retain its scholarly nature. Reference Anderson, G. 2008 Mapping academic resistance in the managerial university’, Organization, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 250-270. Bousquet, M. 2008, How the University Works: Higher Education and the Low-Wage Nation, New York: New York University Press. Boulton, G. & Lucas, C. 2008, What are universities for? League of European Research Universities, viewed 26 December 2011 from http://www.unige.ch/international/etudageneve/gisp/prog/Readings/Haessig_Universities.pdf Curtis, P. and Lipsett, A. 2009, Top universities face cuts in research funding, The Guardian, viewed 02 January 2012 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/05/university-research-funding Dunne, S., Harney, S., Parker, M. and Tinker, T. 2008, Discussing the role of the business school’, ephemera, vol. 8, no. 3: pp. 271-293, viewed 26 December 2011 from http://www.ephemeraweb.org/journal/8-3/8-3dunneetal.pdf Farahani, A. 2005, The shifting paradigm: Who is the intellectual of the 21st century?, International Education Journal, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 512-515. Gabriel, Y. and Sturdy, A. 2002, Exporting management: neo-imperialism and global consumerism’, in K. Robins and F. Webster (eds) The Virtual University? Knowledge, Markets, and Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 148-168. Hayton, A. & Paczuska, A. 2002, Access, participation and higher education: policy and practice, London: Routledge Hazelkorn, E. 2009, Impact of Global Rankings on Higher Education Research and the Production of Knowledge, UNESCO, viewed 26 December 2011 from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001816/181653e.pdf Jarvis, P. 2006, From adult education to the learning society: 21 years from the International journal of lifelong education, London: Taylor & Francis McBride, N. 2006, The Purpose of Universities, De Montfort University, viewed 26 December 2011 from http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~nkm/The%20Purpose%20of%20Universities.pdf Moleke, P. 2005, Inequalities in higher education and the structure of the labour market, South Africa: HSRC Press Montejo, V. 2005, Maya intellectual renaissance: identity, representation, and leadership, London: Routledge Olssen, M., Codd, J., & O’Neill, A. 2004, Education policy: globalization, citizenship and democracy, London: SAGE. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 2011, Higher Education in Regional and City Development Higher Education in Regional and City Development: State of Penang, Malaysia 2011, OECD Publishing Owram, D. 2011, Labour markets and universities, University Affairs, viewed 26 December 2011 from http://www.universityaffairs.ca/labour-markets-and-universities.aspx Peschar, J. & van der Wal, M. 2000, Education contested: changing relations between state, market, and civil society in modern European education, London: Taylor & Francis Reed, M. and Deem, R. 2002, New managerialism: the manager-academic and technologies of management in universities – looking forward to virtuality?’, in K. Robins and F. Webster (eds) The Virtual University? Knowledge, Markets, and Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 126-147. Ritzer, G. 2002, Enchanting McUniversity: toward a spectacularly irrational university quotidian’, in D. Hayes and R. Wynyard (eds) The McDonaldization of Higher Education, Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, pp. 19-32. Rutkowski, J. 1998, Welfare and the labor market in Poland: social policy during economic transition, Volumes 23-417, Poland: World Bank Publications Schwartz, S. 2003, The higher purpose, Times Higher Education, viewed 26 December 2011 from http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=176727 Sowell, T. 2010, Intellectuals and Society, National Review, viewed 26 December 2011 from http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/228901/intellectuals-and-society/thomas-sowell Trow, M. 2000, From mass higher education to universal access: The American Advantage, University of California Berkeley, viewed 26 December 2011 from http://cshe.berkeley.edu/publications/docs/PP.Trow.MassHE.1.00.pdf Tinker, T. 2004, The end of business schools?”: more than meets the eye’, Social Text, 22 (2): 67-80. Read More