Higher Education Misconceived

These misconceptions are clearly evident in government leaders’ speeches over the past two decades. As former President Bill Clinton remarked in his : [W]e measure every school by one high standard: Are our children learning what they need to know to compete and win in the global economy? Since then, George W. Bush and Obama have echoed similar sentiments when speaking about their educational-policy goals.

The same attitudes are manifest in other countries as well. A telling example is the shift in jurisdiction over British universities since 1992 from the Department of Education and Science to the Department for Education and Employment, and, in 2009, to a new Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills.

This shrunken conception of the role of higher learning is unprecedented. It ignores what were long regarded as the most essential aims of education: strengthening students’ moral character and preparing them to be active, informed citizens. In light of this tradition, the recent shift to material objectives comes as something of a surprise. John Maynard Keynes prophesied in the 1920’s that as countries grew wealthier, people’s preoccupation with money and possessions would diminish. Instead, just the opposite has occurred.

Granted, democratic political leaders must be responsive to the people, and money and jobs are clearly on people’s minds. According to a , among first-year university students in the United States in 2012, 88% cited getting a better job as an important reason for attending college, and 81% listed being very well off financially as an essential or very important goal.

But it is also true that 82.5% of these freshmen sought to learn more about things that interest me as an important reason for attending college, and 73% wanted to gain a general education and appreciation of ideas. Among the objectives they considered essential or very important, 51% mentioned improving my understanding of other countries and cultures, 45.6% cited developing a meaningful philosophy of life, and substantial fractions listed such goals as becoming a community leader, helping to promote racial understanding, and becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment.

In the end, surveys suggest that what people want most is not wealth so much as happiness and the satisfaction that comes from a full and meaningful life. Money helps, but so do other things, such as close human relationships, acts of kindness, absorbing interests, and the chance to live in a free, ethical, and well-governed democratic society. A stagnant economy and lack of opportunity are undoubtedly problems, but so are low voting rates, civic apathy, widespread disregard for ethical standards, and indifference to art, music, literature, and ideas.

It is the responsibility of educators to help their students live satisfying, responsible lives. However well or badly universities perform this task, their efforts to succeed at it are worth fighting for and deserve their governments’ recognition and encouragement. After all, as Louis Brandeis : For good or ill, our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. If our leaders regard education merely as a means to jobs and money, no one should be surprised if young people eventually come to think of it that way, too.

Derek Bok is University Research Professor at Harvard University, where he was President from 1971 to 1991, and from 2006 to 2007. He is the author of Higher Education in America.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013.