Higher Education Capital

Wendy Fischman and Howard Gardner in their book, 'The Real World of College: What Higher Education Is and What It Can Be' list Mission Sprawl, Projectitis and Misalignment as three interrelated problems which beset Higher Education in USA, based on more than 2000 interviews done with students, faculty, trustees, alumni and parents across ten campuses before the Pandemic. The primary objective of their research was to know if there is a higher level of Higher Education Capital (HIEDCAP - defined as, 'the ability to attend,analyze, reflect, connect, and communicate on issues of importance and interest') after the students finish their graduation. 

Regarding the Mission Sprawl, they rightly argue: '... the chief problem with collegiate mission statements is not variation; it is the multiplicity of missions within specific campuses.... they are trying to be all things to all people'. As they argue and as we know, the mission statements of HEIs, more often than not modelled on other HEIs, are terminology-heavy and jargon-centered, with minimal effort to live upto. Key thrust placed on at least one dimension, one area, will surely help focus and keep track, making singular outcomes possible. 

'Projectitis' is a term the authors coined to describe 'a frequent and distinctly unhelpful ramification of mission sprawl'. This state, as can be made out, is occasionally an offshoot of the crowded mission statements, as the HEI attempts to do too much but fails to focus long and hard enough on any single pathway to achieve success. Relevance and realism should be key parameters while listing and organising events and activities. The inherent strengths of the institution, the mission it shoulders and resources it possesses: these need to be the scales against which the calendar of acts are to be planned. The mis-emphasis placed on priorities leads to corrosion of HIEDCAP. 

Alignment of vision and mission, mission and actions are key for the success of any enterprise and an HEI can't distance itself on this count. Misalignment at multiple levels plague many of the HEIs, argue the authors on the basis of the research done for the book. Misalignments, like, for instance between the perception regarding academic and peer culture as per the projected mission of the college and that held by the student or adult constituency, are common. Or the misalignment caused by the transactional, career-only obsessed students and the transformation-minded faculty and trustees. Though perfect alignments are hard to achieve, close approximations are absolutely necessary. That's what the researchers prescribe too, though it must be added that certain misalignments will be stimulating too!

The primary goal of a Liberal Arts, Non-vocational, Higher education must be the the increase of Higher Education Capital for a life time, the book states. The students who end up at the campuses without being meaningfully 'on-boarded' contribute to the evident decline in HIEDCAP. Colleges offer unique space for the young entrants to prepare themselves for the complexities of life. The exploratory and transformative experiences that a college can offer, if judiciously put to use, will be a life-long ally for the young. The uneven emphasis laid on careers take away the mandatory intellectual development which the colleges should offer, making it a mere transactional exercise.  We need to be capable of making our students value college, 'as a place where they could grow, change, and reflect on the kind of person they want to be and might become'. 

This is neither a summary or a review but an invite to read a book which offers useful takes to all who belong to the various constituencies: students, faculty, trustees and leadership at different levels of HEIs. The US-based study offers useful insights to all, cutting across geographic barriers, as to where do the colleges stand and where we should move to.

Babu. P. K. Ph D.