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Howard Gardner and Wendy Fischman | The Real World of College

Author Events・2 minutes read

Howard Gardner and Wendy Fishman's study on higher education in the US reveals a focus shift towards resumes and job prospects, offering recommendations to realign colleges as communities of learners. They found a correlation between mental models of college and higher education capital, advocating for a shift towards purpose-driven education over transactional approaches to prepare students for the real world.

Insights

  • Students in higher education prioritize resumes, job prospects, and earning potential over learning due to a shift in the core purpose of colleges in the US, leading to a misalignment in perspectives among students, faculty, and administrators.
  • The concept of Higher Education Capital (headcap) is introduced as a measure of the ability to engage with important issues, with a strong correlation between transformational mental models of college and higher headcap scores, emphasizing the need for colleges to refocus on intellectual development and purpose rather than extraneous activities and individualistic goals.

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Recent questions

  • What are the mental models of college?

    Four models: inertial, transactional, exploratory, transformational.

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Summary

00:00

"Reimagining Higher Education: The Real World"

  • Howard Gardner and Wendy Fishman conducted a study analyzing over 2000 interviews with various individuals related to colleges and universities to explore why students prioritize resumes, job prospects, and earning potential over learning.
  • They argue that higher education in the US has strayed from its core purpose and offer recommendations for colleges to become communities of learners open to change.
  • Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard, has authored numerous books, including "The Synthesizing Mind" and "Multiple Intelligences," and has received prestigious awards and honors.
  • Wendy Fishman, a project director at Harvard, has written about development and learning, co-developed a curriculum, and consulted on school reforms.
  • The authors present their book, "The Real World of College," which is based on a comprehensive study that involved 2000 interviews and aims to shed light on college students' attitudes towards ethical issues.
  • The study was conducted over ten years and involved interviews with students, faculty, parents, alumni, and job recruiters across ten different campuses in the US.
  • Despite expectations, students across different schools were found to use similar words and mental models to describe their college experiences.
  • Four mental models of college were identified: inertial, transactional, exploratory, and transformational, with most students falling into the transactional category.
  • Over the course of college, the percentage of students exhibiting a transformational mental model increased, indicating positive growth.
  • Faculty and administrators were more likely to express a transformational mental model compared to students, highlighting a misalignment in perspectives between different constituencies.

19:07

Assessing Higher Education Headcap Growth and Challenges

  • Higher education capital (headcap) is a measure of the ability to attend, analyze, reflect, and communicate on important issues.
  • Headcap is determined through a simple scale of one to three, with one indicating little to no headcap and three indicating a lot of headcap.
  • Headcap is assessed through blind coding of participants' responses to seven questions, focusing on the overall conversation rather than individual responses.
  • A bell curve distribution is observed in headcap scores, with most students scoring a two.
  • Graduating students show an increase in higher headcap scores compared to first-year students, indicating growth over time.
  • Some schools exhibit significant headcap growth, while others show stagnation, highlighting the need for improvement in the education sector.
  • Young alums score similarly to graduating students in headcap, suggesting a lack of post-college headcap development.
  • A significant relationship is found between mental models and headcap, with transformational mental models correlating with higher headcap scores.
  • Students recommend books focusing on self-help and personal development, with literary fiction also being popular choices.
  • Challenges in higher education include mental health issues, alienation, social tensions, and a focus on individualism over community, highlighting the need for institutional clarity and communication of mission.

38:28

"College Mission: Focus on Purpose and Preparation"

  • Colleges should focus on clearly communicating their mission through onboarding and intertwining experiences for students.
  • Institutions need to develop programs and initiatives that align with their mission, discarding those that do not.
  • Students often try to engage in numerous activities to enhance their resumes, but not all are essential to a college experience.
  • Colleges should curate their programs to prioritize academic missions over extraneous activities.
  • The emphasis should be on the purpose of higher education, focusing on the "why" rather than just the "what" and "how."
  • Specific recommendations are provided in the book for colleges to address encountered issues.
  • To fulfill the promise of higher education, students must understand and be prepared for the mission, supported by adults, faculty, administrators, parents, and trustees.
  • Institutions should reflect their mission in all aspects, from people to buildings, ensuring consistency from a student's first visit to graduation.
  • Suggestions are made for high school educators and parents to shift the focus from grades and resumes to the purpose and value of college education.
  • The idea of colleges being all-encompassing to cater to all needs is challenged, advocating for a more focused approach on intellectual development and higher education capital.

55:16

Shifting focus to higher education capital.

  • The focus is on escaping the numbers game in education, shifting from enrollment goals to higher education capital.
  • The idea is to change the evaluation criteria for schools, emphasizing the increase in higher education capital over student numbers or post-graduation salaries.
  • Drawing parallels with successful K-12 systems in Finland and Singapore, the goal is to make American higher education the envy of the world through systemic changes.
  • Emphasizing the need for a societal upswing and a commitment to change, the discussion touches on the importance of reclaiming education as a public good.
  • The ultimate goal is to develop minds and possibilities for a wide range of society, ensuring that education remains focused on training the mind rather than becoming solely transactional.
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