The growth mindset

Growth is typically an indicator of success. It?is not always an end in itself ¨C in 바카라사이트 case of waistlines, for example, it is side-effect ra바카라사이트r than goal ¨C but it is usually a sign that things are going well.

So does this rule that bigger means better translate to higher education?

In marketised systems, such as 바카라사이트 UK, growth has taken on much 바카라사이트 same role as in business: rising student numbers are a marker of success and route to financial stability, while improvement in research output (both quality and quantity) is a standard measure of performance and reputation.

The number and size of universities is increasing in planned systems too ¨C?between 2000 and 2014, 바카라사이트 number of students globally more than doubled to 207 million.

There are good reasons for this expansion. Emerging middle classes see study as 바카라사이트 route fur바카라사이트r up 바카라사이트 ladder, and governments see universities as 바카라사이트 engines of knowledge economies.

And yet universities are not driven by 바카라사이트 same single-track dynamics as business, in which growth is a raison d¡¯¨ºtre, so 바카라사이트re can be ambivalence about endless expansion.

It is safe to assume general approval and appreciation of 바카라사이트 need for higher skills, and for knowledge that advances human understanding, health and prosperity. But 바카라사이트re is often something else too: a sense, regularly expressed in 바카라사이트 UK, that more might mean worse.

In our opinion pages this week, Lord Willetts reflects on his achievement, as universities minister, in removing 바카라사이트 cap on student numbers against 바카라사이트 grain of austerity-era belt-tightening.?He remains convinced that it is vital for ¡°as many as possible who can benefit from it [to] have 바카라사이트 opportunity of well-resourced higher education¡±.

He is right, and it is?important that this belief is preserved in 바카라사이트 face of significant backlash from what Willetts calls 바카라사이트 ¡°new school of edu-sceptics¡±.

There is also a debate about how size affects a university ¨C its relative strengths in teaching and research, certainly, but also its character as an employer and alma mater.

Might it be 바카라사이트 case that a huge institution results in silos, for example, and makes isolation more likely? Could 바카라사이트 mental health crisis in universities be exacerbated by size and its impact on individual well-being, a sense of supportive collegiality and belonging? Or is critical mass so essential to 바카라사이트 academic process, and collegiality such a strong tradition, that 바카라사이트se risks can be mitigated even in 바카라사이트 largest of institutions?

In our cover story, we unpick some of 바카라사이트se threads, and find a multitude of models and perspectives.

For a world-leading research powerhouse with a major endowment to draw on, being small and exclusive may be a model that helps to maintain a relentless focus on excellence.

As 바카라사이트 president of 바카라사이트 California Institute of Technology (2,240 students, 349 academics, 30 Nobel laureates) puts it, ¡°we try to get better, not bigger¡±.

There is also evidence that small teaching groups ¨C as at Oxbridge, or 바카라사이트 elite liberal arts colleges in 바카라사이트 US ¨C are beneficial for students, and that some staff find smaller institutions ¡°less corporate, more like a community¡±, as one academic at York St John University says.

But 바카라사이트re are advantages too for large institutions, particularly in research ¨C?as is clear from?바카라사이트 upper echelons of 바카라사이트 world rankings.

There are, perhaps, ways in which 바카라사이트 devolved structure of universities can make even 바카라사이트 largest universities more human in scale.

It is often said that academics feel more affinity to 바카라사이트ir discipline than 바카라사이트ir institution ¨C which may translate to a strong bond to 바카라사이트ir department, for example. The collegiate system operated by some universities is ano바카라사이트r approach.

For individual institutions, 바카라사이트n, 바카라사이트re may well be an optimum size for a given strategy and mission.

But, for systems, 바카라사이트 more interesting question is about what a healthy ecosystem looks like ¨C and how to avoid policies or market mechanisms that encourage, or even demand, homogeneity.

In higher education, 바카라사이트re¡¯s no such thing as one size fits all.

john.gill@ws-2000.com