Are There Common Grounds in Higher Education?

Many employers and critics of higher education think many colleges and universities focus too little on ensuring that their graduates thrive after they leave, and favor holding institutions accountable for how their students fare in the job market. That’s unpalatable to a lot of academics, who view a college education as about more than how much you earn. 

The guests in this week's episode, Wake Forest University’s Andy Chan and Christine Cruzvergara of Handshake, endorse the view that colleges and universities should be collecting and sharing data about how well they are preparing students for success in the workplace, given that that’s the primary reason many students go to college. 

But the set of common metrics they propose colleges use to measure their own performance is broad, and it includes such data as how much institutions expose students to experiential learning in college to graduates’ satisfaction with their jobs once they leave. 

Chan and Cruzvergara discuss the need for colleges to prioritize their students’ career readiness, and to move beyond tired debates pitting learning against vocation.  

Hosted by Doug Lederman, co-editor of Inside Higher Ed

This episode is sponsored by D2L.