The Satisfaction Trap

An earlier post (Treating Students Like Customers is Irresponsible) examined problems that arise from thinking about education as a consumer purchase. Here we consider a particular danger -- The Satisfaction Trap. 

Satisfaction is based on expectations. Individuals whose expectations are met will be satisfied (and they will recommend others, continue to participate, pay more, etc.). Individuals whose expectations are not met will be dissatisfied (and they may leave, discourage others, write bad reviews). Guarantees are promises that expectations will be met, offered to attract attention in competitive markets. When expectations are met, companies succeed. 

However, the purpose of universities and libraries is not to merely meet expectations ... it is to expand horizons and change expectations. We are successful when students leave expecting more from themselves, their colleagues, their organizations, their communities, and their society. We succeed when students and partners see their dissatisfaction as a reason to be engaged (not indication that someone else has failed). 

When we fall in to the Satisfaction Trap, we enter a vicious, downward cycle focusing on smaller and smaller worlds -- ones in which we delude ourselves into thinking we can have certainty. Students become customers (or products for consumption by employers). Courses become mechanistic production activities. Clubs and events are fluffy 'extras'. Careers are disingenuously presented as structured 'pathways' that can be chosen with certainty early in life. Educational institutions become human resource 'factories' in which total quality management, six sigma, and other statistical management techniques should be applied to 'turn out' the 'best product'. 

Effective educational institutions, whether major universities or local libraries, avoid this this trap -- participating instead in a positive cycle of expanding horizons and increasing expectations. Students and employers are partners to be invested in. Courses and clubs are safe (but not too safe) places to explore potential directions and take next steps. Careers are presented as uncertain adventures to be prepared for and then lived. Educational institutions become ecologies of opportunity which have a responsibility to help everyone engage diverse, ambiguous, incomplete possibilities.

Educational institutions don't have the luxury of just meeting expectations. 

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The University of Maryland College of Information Studies (UMD's iSchool) is a vibrant ecology of opportunity. Whether in formal degree programs, research centers, or one-time events and activities we constantly seek to do more. Our best indicator of success is when our alumni (recent and not-so-recent) tell us that that wish they could "do it over" because there is so much more that they could do now.

For information about our educational programs or partnership opportunities, check us out at https://ischool.umd.edu/ or contact me at [email protected].