Higher Education in 2022: Challenges and Trends

Over the past two years we have lived exceptional times, possibly the most challenging for our generation. The crisis resulting from the pandemic has tested our resilience, leadership and ability to manage organizations amid radical, ever-changing uncertainty.

However, it is precisely under these circumstances that universities are called upon to play a decisive role in the development of our societies. Our mission as trainers of tomorrow's leaders must be linked to several objectives: rebuilding?a global governance system that enables effective integration and can quickly deal with challenges such as pandemics, trade wars and populism; adopting norms and practices that promote sustainable economic activity; and achieving standards of freedom, equality and justice on all continents that allow for sustainable development that respects the environment.

In recent decades, the education industry has undergone profound changes as a result of irreversible globalization, the impact of technologies and social transformations. These changes have become more acute over the current crisis, where lockdowns have stretched the possibilities of virtual interaction and online training. Indeed, the pandemic has accelerated many changes in education that would have occurred much more slowly if they had come about organically.

Allow me to share with you some of the areas where I believe we will see positive transformation in higher education:?

1.The future is liquid learning

The future of education, and also of work, will be increasingly hybrid, blended. Face-to-face classroom learning will be complemented by multiple educational resources, synchronous and asynchronous, to facilitate greater flexibility and adaptation to the learner's personality and circumstances. In this transformed educational environment, education will have a greater impact on both developing global citizens and enhancing their employability.?

There is another major lesson to be learned from the pandemic. Contrary to the predictions that robots ould take over humans, lockdowns across the world have enhanced the role of technologies in bringing us closer by providing powerful platforms for group working, virtual meetings and delivering effective education programs.?

Indeed, the post-pandemic world enhances adaptation and change. Professionals will live blended lives and the work environment will become increasing hybrid and liquid. Professionals will work in teams face-to-face and on social platforms, from home or at their company offices, in a continuum that blurs distance, time and that increases productivity. They will increasingly deal virtually with colleagues from different hemispheres and time zones, making friends who belong to diverse cultures and possess different visions of the world.

Despite students have expressed their preference for attending classs in presence on campus, hybrid formats and various online forms of delivery are here to stay. Not just because social distancing and cross-border mobility may still pose problems for attending face-to-face classes on a regular basis, but rather because they provide better results than just traditional presential learning.?This flexibility will also be reflected through the creation and distribution of knowledge, teaching methodologies, and other university activities, including extracurricular experiences, which may become partly virtual.?

The main engine for the transition to a more flexible and adaptable learning world has to be, naturally, the faculty and staff at business schools and executive education centers. The key to success in any educational format is not the technology, nor the contents. These are necessary components of online learning, but they quickly become commodities. It is the experience orchestrated by the faculty, instructors and coaches, be it presential or remote, that makes the difference.????????

2.Balancing diversity with inclusion and intellectual freedom

We are seeing the formulation of a new relationship contract within the educational community, based on a progressive understanding of diversity. Though much has been achieved in recent decades to promote and embrace diversity, there is still ample room for growth.?

Embracing diversity doesn’t just mean a fairer balance in the composition of the different stakeholder groups within a university, from student body to faculty and management, it also requires showing mutual concern and respect for others, particularly in relation to gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, culture, religion, nationality, and more broadly of all visions of the world what constitutes the good life.?

We should remember that university has the same root as universal, meaning a space that can be shared by all. This approach brings richness to research, teaching and the whole learning experience.?

I am confident that the progress made in embracing diversity as a value is irreversible in our global society, regardless of efforts in some quarters toward limiting access to university, along with visa restrictions and other forms of discrimination, which I am sure will be short lived.?

3.?Blending the humanities, STEM and data sciences?

Higher education should pursue a holistic approach to educating the next generation of global citizens. This requires studying the humanities, bonding different areas of knowledge, providing depth and critical thinking skills, as well as connecting us with people of different ages and from other cultures.

At the same time, a solid grounding in digital skills, data sciences and technology is demanded by recruiters and knowledge of these areas is essential for would-be entrepreneurs.

Any lingering misconceptions about a supposed contradiction between the humanities and STEM should have been dispelled by now, both by academic research and the simple fact that any number of successful entrepreneurs and CEOs have degrees in the humanities.??

4.Greater emphasis on applied forms of learning

Reflecting the demands of recruiters, students increasingly want hands-on work experience as part of their studies, allowing them start work the first day after graduation. Introducing work assignments, consultancy projects, internships and other initiatives associated to real life challenges may enhance the acquisition of much-needed practical skills.

Ideally, applied learning projects will take place in different countries, stimulating cross-cultural adaptation and a better understanding of diversity. Also, the implication of students in projects with a social dimension strengthens their sense of identity and commitment as global citizens.??

5.?Lifelong?education

Given that most of us will continue working longer than previous generations, this is an area with significant potential in higher education, but I wonder if universities are taking it seriously. Addressing the educational needs of the senior segment of the population with the products they need requires further innovation in terms of formats, teaching styles, coaching, and combining learning with covering health and personal needs.

Undoubtedly, education will remain one of the most fascinating and challenging professions. But perhaps the more immediate question we should be asking is whether our universities have the capacity to adapt and transform to meet the new and rapidly changing needs of our main stakeholders, and whether regulators will allow the flexibility and autonomy our universities need to accomplish their mission.?

Photo: Graduation ceremony at IE University, 2019