In June 2014, Zogby Analytics published its 2014 Global Survey of Students. The company polled a total of 20,876 students in 21 countries as part of a survey conducted for Laureate Education, Inc., which is the leading global network of higher education institutions and includes more than 75 institutions worldwide in 29 countries.

Most of the respondents were members of the Millennial generation, characterized as being “tech-savvy” multitasking experts who rely on social networking services and have a broad global outlook that includes politically progressive views and high expectations for the future.

The results of the survey indicated that the students envision a university of the future that has four salient characteristics:

Accessible   Almost half of the students surveyed (43%) believe that the university of future will:

• offer free online content for most courses
• maintain free online libraries containing books, course materials, and references for students to use (68%)
• include social media platforms that students use to learn and teach other students (59%)

Flexible  Over half (52%) of the students surveyed believe that courses offered by the university of the future will:

• be open 24/7 all day and night
• offer open-ended scheduling so students can establish their timeframe preferences (44%)
• issue specialized certifications over the course of the students’ academic career, allowing students to set their own pace rather than graduating within 2 – 4 year time spans

Innovative  More than half (54%) expect that the university of the future will:

• place more emphasis on innovative approaches that stress increased collaboration among students through group projects
• offer personalized and tutorial instruction online

Job-Focused   Sixty-one percent believed that the university of the future will:

• enhance training for jobs through courses designed by industry experts
• offer courses that will be in multiple languages (64%)
• teach career-oriented skills in addition to subject matter courses

A limited job market has forced students in the West into what has been termed a “gig economy” (O’Neil, 2014, p. A1) in which money is earned through gigs and short-term projects rather than through long-term careers. As a result, the traditional goal of obtaining a degree has shifted in favor of lifelong learning.  In a recent blog post, Richardson (2014, September 10) cited  a Harvard Business School survey of businesses in which almost half of the firms surveyed reported that they “prefer to invest in new technology to perform work rather than hire or retain employees” (para 2).  Further, almost half of the firms also reported that they “prefer to rely on vendors that can be outsourced rather than hire additional employees” (para 3).

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Recommendations:

1. As part of their long-term strategy, universities need to consider career-oriented certificate programs, refresher courses, and online mentoring that would be geared to students’ schedules.
2. Universities would benefit from establishing online training programs in affiliation with businesses and entrepreneurs – the “job creators and enablers” (p. 4) of the future
   

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   In her TED talk, Daphne Koller (2012) maintains that universities could benefit from offering free online courses as a means of gaining more insight about how people learn.

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References

Koller, D. (2012, August 1). What we’re learning from online education. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6FvJ6jMGHU

O’Neil, L. (2014, August 31).  Surviving the gig economy.  The Boston Globe, p. A1.  Retrieved from  http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/08/30/surviving-gig-economy/kNnzDGxgu7nvju8JhdAKVN/story.html

Richardson, W. (2014, September 10). The ‘coming gig economy’ is already here [Web blog post]. Retrieved from http://willrichardson.com/?wref=bif

Zogby, J. & Zogby, J. (2014). 2014 global survey of students. Retrieved from http://www.laureate.net/~/media/Files/LGG/Documents/About/Zogby%20Executive%20Summary.ashx