Measure It, Improve It, Grow It, Essay Example

How do we change the metric of education from valuing job and graduate school placement of graduates and alumni salaries to something that reflects the mission of education institutions?

Increased accountability in higher education needs to not only be established by policies and a solid and functional metric system must be put in place.There needs to be long-term metrics for success rate established in order to discover the efficacy of higher education. In order to establish this, a hard look at the current policies is needed, as well as an analysis of where these new metrics will lead us. These metrics can be assessed through three steps (and sub-steps) as established by Gallup: workplace engagement, well-being, and alumni attachment with concentrations in purpose well-being, social well-being, financial well-being, community well-being, and physical well-being.

By re-assessing what higher education does on a functional level in each of these steps, a new metric can be established. These new metrics are being sought after by professors in four-year, two-year, private, and public schools (HCM, 2011, p. 3). Since these professors see a problem with the old metric, it stands to reason that their new policies are an answer to this problem. There is clear research and polls that support this thesis, as Gallup research indicates, “as of 2013, 29% of people in the U.S. are not thriving in any of these elements” (“Great Jobs Great Lives,” 2014, p. 4). Such research is necessary in order for colleges to expect performance levels to rise and increase in student population.

This increase in student population is (or should be) directly relational to building a new metric of standards so, the goal of education is job security: to make a graduate an outstanding choice as an employee and then to retain that job. These expectations, however, become mute, if the graduating population cannot achieve any of the expected steps as highlighted above. Gallup’s research further addresses the thesis statement by stating that their research “has the ability to provide colleges and universities with insight on how to improve the lives of current undergraduates in these key areas, which are within their control…institutions can provide their students with goals that are ultimately more fulfilling than income alone” (“Great Jobs Great Lives,” 2014, p. 4). In order for a new metric system to come into play, the universities must recognize that more is needed from them in order to fulfill the necessary steps (highlighted above) on student success. In fact, not only is a new metric needed, but a new way to consider what success is.

A new metric system would not only establish what success means, but will help students in all aspects of their lives. Gallup suggests that such an outline for success includes, “liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals, having strong and supportive relationships and love in your life, effectively managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security, the sense of engagement you have with the areas where you live, liking where you live, and feeling safe and having pride in your community, having good health and enough energy to get things done on a daily basis” (“Great Jobs Great Lives,” 2014, p. 4). None of these factors are currently included in the standard metric which can definitely attribute to the 29 percent of people polled stating that they’re not thriving in any of the mentioned elements.

In regards to the elements by which a metric of higher education should be applied, the Gallup-Purdue Index “will uncover which college experiences and perceptions are related to greater gains in the workplace and in well-being” (“Great Jobs Great Lives,” 2014, p. 5). This index will establish how well such metrics will do on a long-term basis. In fact, by establishing what elements of college are beneficial to life outside of college this Index will prove that metrics that measure graduation and job placement (the first job out of college only) are obsolete.

These metrics are obsolete as “just 6 % of graduates strongly agree they had a meaningful internship or job, worked on long-term project, and were actively involved in extra-curricular activities” (“Great Jobs Great Lives,” 2014, p. 6). That is a shockingly small percentage of graduates who measure their time in college as beneficial to their time outside of college. This means there needs to be a change in college that reflects these elements. This applies to outcome-based funding as well, something that may compel schools to manipulate their data, or to base their policies purely on graduation rate, which is something that such funding can be applied to (Maples, 2013, para. 6).

One impetus for this change in metrics is the change in worker needed in today’s workforce. The structure in college then should preemptive to the structure in the workforce. The current metric calls for emphasis in graduation rates. College should be emphasizing students’ skills and abilities so they can transfer them to the workforce; something that cannot be done if standardization is put on the forefront of the metric system, since standardization makes everyone the same but not equal, as Harewood states, “Learning must also be inclusive and learner-centered to motivate and facilitate creativity, innovation and produce innovative thinkers who will launch major products and services by transferring their knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes to those possibilities” (Harewood, n.d., para. 5). One way that this can be initiated is through cooperation between schools and corporations. Thus, a student’s preparation is dictated through workforce needs.

Reading these works has me second-guessing the way I view education; in fact, the way I viewed education seemed rather antiquated. My views were that I did my best to graduate and then my degree will help me land a good job. This view stems from the idea that a college education helps people get their foot through the door, but it seems that employers are looking for someone who has experience. This experience comes from an internship or working through the summers at a relevant job that a future employer will see as a boon to their community. Thus, graduation to me doesn’t seem like the be-all and end-all of the college experience but graduation is second tier to getting a job. It seems that in order to have a college degree work for students like me is to get an internship while still in school. Inquiring a corporation that I’m interested in if they offer summer internships, then try and network during my summers to land a job at that corporation can do this. This isn’t done by every student however, and most college students aren’t even aware that their degree may not work for them.

Something else I’ve learned through reading this literature is that the change in the metric system brought forth by certain professors and other policy makers behooves higher education in that it forces schools to re-evaluate their current system and how it isn’t working. I think there’s hope in this re-evaluation. Any system that seeks to improve itself, and is comprised of forward thinking workers such as professors and other policy makers stands a chance at changing for the better. The system however, needs to change at a much faster rate, as students in college right now aren’t benefiting from a stagnant metric system. A college degree simply isn’t enough, and colleges should be basing their numbers on far more than rate of graduation.

References

“A Better Higher Education Data and Information Framework for Informing Policy: The Voluntary Institutional Metrics Project.” HCM Strategies (2011): n. pag. Print.

Cohen, H., and N. Ibrahim. “May-June 2008.” Change Magazine. N.p., May-June 2008. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.

“Great Jobs Great Lives.” 2014 Gallup-Purdue Index Report 8.4 (2014). Print.

Maples, C. “Higher Education Metrics: Caveat Emptor, Caveat Venditor… Oh, Heck: Caveat Omnis.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. 14 Dec. 2014.

Harewood, E. “Measure It, Improve It, Grow It: Higher Education and Corporate Partnerships.” The EvoLLLution. N.p., 25 Sept. 2012. 14 Dec. 2014.