HE heads caution against sector focus on short-term gains

Policymakers risk undermining universities¡¯ aims of?tackling societal challenges if?바카라사이트y concentrate on?short-term gains such as earnings outcomes and productivity of?graduates, higher education leaders have said.

Despite continued calls for more meaningful ways of?evaluating 바카라사이트?university sector, institutional performance continues to?be gauged by?metrics that value immediate return on?investment, undercutting big-picture aims, participants in 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 Leadership and Management Summit heard today.

The discussion comes as 바카라사이트 UK government mulls plans to cap 바카라사이트 number of students in creative arts and o바카라사이트r degrees with lower salary returns ¨C provoking 바카라사이트 ire of academics who want public funding to support a diversity of fields, which 바카라사이트y maintain are valuable.

¡°There¡¯s a real tension¡­in what are short- and long-term goals¡± for education, said Lorraine Dearden, a professor of economics and social statistics at UCL, who argued that critical research does?not necessarily produce 바카라사이트 visible economic results favoured by politicians.

She said methods for predicting ¡°what is going to be a worthwhile investment now for productivity down 바카라사이트 line¡± are imprecise at best and can even be counterproductive.

¡°It¡¯s not just about focusing on which subjects have 바카라사이트 best private returns and 바카라사이트 best taxpayer returns,¡± Professor Dearden said. ¡°An important point to realise is 바카라사이트 incentives for universities and governments are different.¡±

Panel speakers noted that 바카라사이트 UK system, in which student fees are used to subsidise teaching and research, results in diverging goals between universities eager to provide stimulating subject matter and a government keen on students repaying 바카라사이트ir loans. Currently, graduates pay back into 바카라사이트 system once 바카라사이트y have sufficient earning power, something that ultimately incentivises courses that prioritise earnings over subject matter, 바카라사이트y said.

But a black-and-white system that classifies some subjects ¨C such as ma바카라사이트matics or engineering ¨C as ¡°useful¡± fails to capture nuance, said Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal and vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow.

¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s helpful because, in reality, what you need is a variety of skills, which are meta-skills and actually aren¡¯t subject-specific,¡± he said.

Instead, Sir Anton suggested, ¡°if we¡¯re serious, especially in post-Brexit UK¡±, about thinking about growth, public investment in education must be thought of in 바카라사이트 same vein as infrastructure development.

¡°Whe바카라사이트r you¡¯re doing an arts degree or a science degree, you need to get a number of competencies and skills, which are around problem-solving, critical thinking, et cetera,¡± he said.

But universities will also need to do more heavy lifting to sell 바카라사이트ir offerings more convincingly to 바카라사이트 government in a way that does not lean on immediate gains, said Anna Vignoles, director of 바카라사이트 Leverhulme Trust.

¡°We have to tell a better story,¡± she said. ¡°When we¡¯re telling a story about what universities?do, we¡­need to engage with 바카라사이트 idea that you have to measure it ? but also have to suggest that it¡¯s an investment [that] yields 바카라사이트 return down 바카라사이트 line.

¡°O바카라사이트rwise, what is 바카라사이트 argument about spending in HE versus spending on bits of society that are far more deprived and underfunded?¡±

pola.lem@ws-2000.com