Saturday Edition

dispatches from the new world of work

Hmmm!

Snow in January

The Sunday New York Times had a special section called "Education Life." One article, "Career U.," describes some of the changes we might expect in university education. For example, the president of the University of Michigan was surprised (to put it mildly) when she learned five years ago that 10% of incoming freshmen, some 600, had started their own businesses while in high school. She and her colleagues responded by creating about 100 entrepreneurship courses. The article tickles our imagination by describing a few of the more inventive new master's programs:

Learning to listen. (Narrative medicine.)
Homeland security.
Cybersecurity.
Urban environment. (Sustainability.)
Sustainable cultures. (Beyond environmental sustainability.)
Education leadership.
Cars of the Future.
Construction management. (Hmmm, I got one of those from Cornell in 1966, with the diploma coming by mail to Hue, South Vietnam, where I was doing, yes, construction management for the U.S. Navy. What goes around comes around, I guess.)
Specialized MBAs. (E.g., market research, energy, pharmaceutical management, wine and spirits at ESSEC B-school near Paris.)
New media.

All in all, a worthwhile read.

[Above, snow, 3 January 2010—about a 2-foot accumulation.]

Tom Peters posted this on 01/05/10.

Comments

I hope they bothered to learn, in depth, about the thoughts, processes and experiences of those 100 "already entrepreneurs", and not just go by "same old, same old". Please tell me they did....

Posted by Randy Bosch at January 5, 2010 4:26 PM

"responded by creating about 100 entrepreneurship courses."
Great idea! Those 60 entrepreneurial students can teach the fuddy-duddy professors about how to set up and run a business, interact with customers, etc.
This reminds me of the computer-science courses I experienced as a student. It was soon obvious to those students "in the business" that the professors had no experience of real-life computer applications.

Posted by Mike L. at January 5, 2010 8:27 PM

"Consider the change captured in the annual survey by the University of California, Los Angeles, of more than 400,000 incoming freshmen. In 1971, 37 percent responded that it was essential or very important to be “very well-off financially,” while 73 percent said the same about “developing a meaningful philosophy of life.” In 2009, the values were nearly reversed: 78 percent identified wealth as a goal, while 48 percent were after a meaningful philosophy."

Times may be tough, but I'd hope that the pendulum swings back again soon.

Posted by RobCH at January 6, 2010 3:54 AM

How about a module on basic decency: saying "Thank you," saying "Well done," saying, "I got this great idea from talking with X and Y," saying "I don't know but I'll talk to a few people and find out," saying, "That was my mistake - sorry," saying "On reflection, I think your idea would work better than mine so let's do it" and saying "Thank you (again)."

Posted by Mark JF at January 6, 2010 4:57 AM

I'm retired military, CPA & MBA, have spent 10 years in the private sector, recently acquired a position in accounting in a research organization at a University. I have to agree with the comment about fuddy-duddy professors. I am shocked and disappointed at how insulated from the real world many in Academia are. It appears that the only progress in instruction methods and curriculum, (and attitude) at Universities since medieval times has been the introduction of colored chalk. Too bad - the concept of students as "customers" is too radical for most Universities. Eventually there will be a day of reckoning - I for one will derive sick pleasure watching the bloodshed.

Posted by Robert Williamson at January 6, 2010 12:20 PM