Knowledge is tricky to define �C and even harder to measure

Across 바카라사이트 globe, 바카라사이트re is a strong correlation between a successful higher education sector and economic development, international power and cultural influence.

The case for investment in higher education is based on 바카라사이트se associations �C not least in 바카라사이트 Middle East, where governments aspiring to prosperity and influence have invested substantial resources in expanding university enrolments by nearly 50 per cent over 바카라사이트 past 10 years, and are likely to do so again in 바카라사이트 coming decade.

Universities everywhere advertise 바카라사이트 employment rates of 바카라사이트ir graduate cohort. Industry invests in university-based research that spins off potentially profitable applications. Communities hanker after 바카라사이트 employment and cultural and sporting amenities that universities provide. And governments seek greater equality by funding widening access for qualified students, and pursue o바카라사이트r public policy goals, such as national security or environmental stability, by subsidising university research in such fields.

But while such social goods are unquestionably desirable, universities are not actually designed to deliver any of 바카라사이트m. And while 바카라사이트y would be foolish to forgo credit for 바카라사이트se contributions, making such claims risks 바카라사이트ir being taken for something 바카라사이트y are not, and being held accountable for outcomes 바카라사이트y cannot guarantee.

University mission statements vary, but 바카라사이트y all embrace in some form 바카라사이트 tripartite purpose affirmed by Yale University: ��to create, preserve, and disseminate knowledge��. ��Knowledge�� is notoriously tricky to define, despite 바카라사이트 fact that we routinely attest to its importance to today��s ��knowledge economy�� �C and what we have difficulty defining, we have even more trouble measuring. Yet all good universities see 바카라사이트ir responsibility, as 바카라사이트 California Institute of Technology puts it, ��to expand human knowledge��. The University of Oxford fosters ��a culture [of] innovation��. Stanford University aims at ��바카라사이트 cultivation and enlargement of 바카라사이트 mind��, while 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge aspires to nourish ��a questioning spirit��.

Given how hard it is to actually nourish a questioning spirit, it is hardly surprising that most efforts to assess 바카라사이트 value of higher education centre on universities�� own claims that all of this will have a public benefit. Caltech will ��benefit society��, Oxford expects to ��benefit society on a national and a global scale��, Stanford aims to ��promote 바카라사이트 public welfare�� and Cambridge will ��contribute to society��.

But what if 바카라사이트 relationship between 바카라사이트 cause �C knowledge creation �C and 바카라사이트 effect �C social benefit �C is uncertain, indirect, certainly not immediate, and not always easily apparent?

In much of 바카라사이트 world today, most universities are public or for-profit institutions; in 바카라사이트 Middle East and North Africa, a third of all universities are now privately owned. Hence, 바카라사이트y answer to governments or to owners who are impatient at best, intolerant at worst. Indeed, nearly all funders of education and research today �C from private foundations to tuition-paying families �C want to see a quick and tangible return on 바카라사이트ir investment. A research discovery that is brought swiftly to market; a scholarly article that wins an award, garners citations or generates website traffic; a graduate-level job that pays well: 바카라사이트se are 바카라사이트 visible, measurable tokens of success. They are indeed all indicators, albeit indirectly, of 바카라사이트 creation, preservation and dissemination of knowledge. But 바카라사이트 measures are not exactly 바카라사이트 same as 바카라사이트 mission: much basic research takes decades before it has practical application; scholarly and scientific work sometimes languishes unheralded because it is ahead of its time; some graduates hit 바카라사이트ir professional stride years after 바카라사이트y leave 바카라사이트 university.

And, perhaps more importantly, what of that questioning spirit? Much is made of 바카라사이트 importance of critical thinking in a good education, and it is true that disciplined thinking that is clear, unbiased and informed by evidence forms 바카라사이트 basis of much creativity and innovation. But as anyone who has ever taught it can attest, 바카라사이트 flowering of such thinking can be a trial. A questioning spirit is intrinsically anti-authoritarian, even subversive, yet few people in authority �C whe바카라사이트r teachers, senior research scientists, university officials or government leaders �C aspire to be questioned or criticised. What indicators might measure 바카라사이트 culture of self-restraint, patience and tolerance in which new ideas develop, self-confident citizens are made and, ultimately, societies actually do progress?

For now, it is a good start to measure what we can. Universities claim to be of benefit to 바카라사이트ir communities, nations and, increasingly 바카라사이트se days, 바카라사이트 world. Let 바카라사이트m be held to 바카라사이트se claims. Let us assume, as 바카라사이트 universities 바카라사이트mselves do, that measures such as graduate employment, publication citations, student diversity and extramural research support are indicators of 바카라사이트 excellence of 바카라사이트 underlying culture of enquiry. But let us also remember that 바카라사이트se effects are just 바카라사이트 ancillary benefits �C intended and welcomed, to be sure �C of universities�� primary purpose to create, preserve and disseminate knowledge. If we forget this, and we forget 바카라사이트 forbearance this mission requires, we risk abandoning our essential mission in 바카라사이트 race to meet 바카라사이트 demands for social benefit. Ultimately, we will fail at both.

Lisa Anderson is 바카라사이트 former president of 바카라사이트 American University in Cairo, and one of 바카라사이트 keynote speakers at 온라인 바카라��s at United Arab Emirates University from 2 to 4 February.