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SANTIAGO INIGUEZ, president, IE University, talks to Karan Gupta, study abroad consultant, about the challenges facing higher education worldwide
What are the key challenges facing higher education today?
It depends on the region you analyse because we see that the focus has now moved from the Western hemisphere to Asia and so the problems in Europe and in the US are different from those that universities face in Asia or Latin America. For example, if you look at Europe and US, you'll find that we are attending to problems of governance at most universities, financing models and how to bring innovation into the reality and maximise the learning process of users and technology in the learning process. On the other hand, if you look at Asia or Latin America (which has a lot of similarities vis-a-vis higher education ), I guess that the challenges are how to build up prestigious accredited institutions with global status , how to develop their own research and contribution to knowledge from their distinctive perspective and how to build up sustainable models of universities that can transform the world of higher education. So both worlds are complementary and up until now Western universities have been to some extent an inspiration for Asian universities. In future, it may be reverse where Asian universities will become references for many Western universities.
Any steps that you have taken to help overcome the challenges?
One of the steps I have taken is to organise the Reinventing Higher Education conference. This conference aims at attracting different stakeholder groups. Traditionally, debates on higher education institutions have been confined to the walls of universities. We are very much in need of opening up this debate to representatives from companies, employers, opinion-makers , media, government and students. Education is not something that happens inside universities. Universities have to know that it is our duty to respond in the best possible way to the maximum benefit of society to produce not just valuable knowledge but also training good and competent professionals. So the first thing we are doing is running these conferences with the aim of providing references of good practices of new models that can transform higher education.
We are developing universities, which are changing the way higher education is perceived. For example, we are inserting modules and courses on management and humanities that are common to different disciplines . So we combine the best of the traditional liberal arts curriculum and specialised traditions which are more common in Europe. We are developing and nurturing a new class of faculty that sometimes are referred to as kangaroos. They are not only 'gurus' of knowledge but also are people who can jump from research to management. Hence, we are developing a new style of diversity that takes into account the new contribution from technology.
What is India's role in the global higher education scenario?
India is going to become the next giant of higher education. It will become the first market very soon in terms of demand because of its large population. Second, it is an English-speaking market, which will provide many opportunities for other international universities. And third, the talent that India is producing at the primary and secondary schools is exceptional. These circumstances make India probably the most attractive market for higher education in the future.
What do you think is the future of online education?
We are now in the second revolution of e-learning . The first one took place in early-2000 and at that time probably the market was not prepared for all the offerings that were coming from pioneering institutions. But now we are in the second tsunami in higher education which is being led by a number of institutions. In time, online education will affect the very nature of universities and change aspects of higher education.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/India-the-next-giant-in-he/articleshow/17645932.cms
What are the key challenges facing higher education today?
It depends on the region you analyse because we see that the focus has now moved from the Western hemisphere to Asia and so the problems in Europe and in the US are different from those that universities face in Asia or Latin America. For example, if you look at Europe and US, you'll find that we are attending to problems of governance at most universities, financing models and how to bring innovation into the reality and maximise the learning process of users and technology in the learning process. On the other hand, if you look at Asia or Latin America (which has a lot of similarities vis-a-vis higher education ), I guess that the challenges are how to build up prestigious accredited institutions with global status , how to develop their own research and contribution to knowledge from their distinctive perspective and how to build up sustainable models of universities that can transform the world of higher education. So both worlds are complementary and up until now Western universities have been to some extent an inspiration for Asian universities. In future, it may be reverse where Asian universities will become references for many Western universities.
Any steps that you have taken to help overcome the challenges?
One of the steps I have taken is to organise the Reinventing Higher Education conference. This conference aims at attracting different stakeholder groups. Traditionally, debates on higher education institutions have been confined to the walls of universities. We are very much in need of opening up this debate to representatives from companies, employers, opinion-makers , media, government and students. Education is not something that happens inside universities. Universities have to know that it is our duty to respond in the best possible way to the maximum benefit of society to produce not just valuable knowledge but also training good and competent professionals. So the first thing we are doing is running these conferences with the aim of providing references of good practices of new models that can transform higher education.
We are developing universities, which are changing the way higher education is perceived. For example, we are inserting modules and courses on management and humanities that are common to different disciplines . So we combine the best of the traditional liberal arts curriculum and specialised traditions which are more common in Europe. We are developing and nurturing a new class of faculty that sometimes are referred to as kangaroos. They are not only 'gurus' of knowledge but also are people who can jump from research to management. Hence, we are developing a new style of diversity that takes into account the new contribution from technology.
What is India's role in the global higher education scenario?
India is going to become the next giant of higher education. It will become the first market very soon in terms of demand because of its large population. Second, it is an English-speaking market, which will provide many opportunities for other international universities. And third, the talent that India is producing at the primary and secondary schools is exceptional. These circumstances make India probably the most attractive market for higher education in the future.
What do you think is the future of online education?
We are now in the second revolution of e-learning . The first one took place in early-2000 and at that time probably the market was not prepared for all the offerings that were coming from pioneering institutions. But now we are in the second tsunami in higher education which is being led by a number of institutions. In time, online education will affect the very nature of universities and change aspects of higher education.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/India-the-next-giant-in-he/articleshow/17645932.cms
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