Changing Post Secondary Education to Meet The Needs of A Global Economy
Panelists:
Greg Cappelli, Managing Director, Senior Research Analyst, Credit Suisse
Edward Guiliano, President, New York Institute of Technology
Ted Sanders, Executive Chairman, Cardean Learning Group; former Acting U.S. Secretary of Education
Moderator Ted Mitchell, President and CEO NewSchools Venture Fund
There are a variety of challenges involved in educating American students for the global future. This panel focused on pitting our current educational system against China's growing educational needs. China currently has around 110 million people between the ages of 18-22 and Chinese consumer spending is on the rise. Plus the Chinese youth have a benefit called the "little emperor" phenomenon, which is that there are usually six adults working toward one child's education (four grandparents plus parents). In China, education is the top reason for saving and 21 million people are currently enrolled in post-secondary school. What's more staggering is that there are 230 million people studying English in China.
The demand for higher education is on the rise and
will exceed capacity in many countries as well as some states in the U.S. The biggest changes and opportunities in
higher education will take place outside the U.S. in the next decade or two. In the Middle East universities are only
about 20 years old, in China 80 years old is an old university both areas are investing heavily in educational systems.
For the Middle East the question is about investing in a future beyond oil. The big question is whether or not American students feel the same sense of global urgency that the Chinese students do. The panelists seem to think not. Some grim statistics:
one in five Americans has a passport
87% of college-educated Americans cannot find Iraq on a map
65% of college-educated Americans cannot find France on a map
less than 1% of American college students study abroad
fewer than 40,000 students study Chinese which is spoken by 1.3 billion people
for now English is the language of commerce but this could change
as China learns English they have the potential to be the world's largest country of English speakers
What is needed to make American students ready for the global future? Fluency in a second language and a greater knowledge of global current events/history. There are also needs to be more math and engineering focus.
Where do we find people who are going to create the new global education? The panelists don't see the future of education in older universities like Harvard, Stanford,etc. or through public universities. They also find that American universities are resistant to having a large number of foreign students.
Edward Guiliano has coined the term "Glocalization" which he defines as thinking globally but serving locally. He sees this as creating information and distribution networks that are global or transregional but also locally sensitive to culture,economics, government, language and more. The future of education lies in a hybrid model that involves both bricks and mortar and online options.
One interesting question raised was the fact that the Europeans are moving to a 3-year baccalaureate model and whether or not this will this work for the US. So far American universities have been resistant to this idea.
