What does the future of higher education look like, Economist?
What does the future of higher education look like, Economist?
A daily chat about tomorrow / #25
E: Good morning, Photographer.
P: Good morning, Economist.
E: Did you go to college or university when you were young?
P: Why do you ask?
E: Otherwise, you would be outnumbered.
P: I like minorities.
E: More and more people enroll in higher education in Germany, a trend that can be seen in many countries. Here in my home country, in 2021, there were more than twice as many students (2.9 million) as trainees (1.3 million). This means that there were 4.3 trainees for every ten students. In 1950, in West Germany, the ratio was completely different: there were 75.5 trainees for every ten students. At that time, 971,000 people were doing an apprenticeship, whereas only 129,000 were enrolled in higher education.
P: Many but also impressive numbers. Why this change?
E: Because education pays more and more. Plus, access to higher education is becoming increasingly possible for most of the people.
P: Will this trend continue?
E: Education, like going to university, remains important. But not in the form of the classic career path from school, then college or university, then permanent employment. Knowledge becomes obsolete faster, and we change professional positions more frequently. Therefore, lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important.
P: You're not the first to say that. How does the end of the run-of-the-mill career affect how we'll study in the future?
E: The possibilities become more diverse. For example, some students will want and need to continue their education later after completing a basic part. Others like the learning content more closely adapted to their individual wishes. Individual learning modules then form logical units but can be combined individually. And still others want to break away entirely from a given structure and decide in which phase of life they study what, why and how.
P: Learning will become more confusing.
E: Learning will become manifold. The challenge will primarily lie with the learning providers. They must be flexible in designing study segments and degrees to be noticed and their offers accepted.
< silence >
P: Do you think, Economist, I could also study again?
E: Sure. That's precisely the nice thing about the new world of learning. You are rarely too old.
P: Have an educational day, Economist.
E: You too, Photographer.
Future Economist and Contemporary Photographer sometimes go their own ways – the economist here, the photographer there.
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