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PART I: WORKSHOP REPORT
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The Committee on the Impact of the Changing Economy on the Postsecondary
Education System held a two-day workshop to discuss the implications of emerging
trends and their relevance to the U.S. postsecondary education system. Participants in the
workshop on May 14-~ 5, 2001, sponsored by the National Research Council of the
National Academy of Sciences, discussed these issues, assisted by the presentation of
papers on various aspects of these matters. The first session of the workshop generated a
discussion that was not addressed by any of the papers. See Appendix A for the
Workshop Agenda for the chronology of presentations at the workshop. That is why the
central questions are raised later on and do not appear at the forefront of this introduction.
These papers form the essence of this volume. As intended for workshops in which an
issue is to be explored, the paper authors, assigned discussants, and invited participants
_
.. . . , ~ .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . .. . . ~ ~
o1u not ilnu themselves in immediate unammlty in oetermlmng the slgmilcance ot
changes in the amorphous and shifting "system" that encompasses postsecondary
education. The influence of the economy on these changes, while acknowledged, was not
the focus of the discussion.
American colleges and universities, believing themselves to be world leaders in
education, are finding that indeed other providers and alternative modes of instruction are
supplanting their traditional curricula and course organization with their characteristic
faculty autonomy and lack of assessment of student learning. Workshop participants
noted that many colleges and universities, particularly those without academically
selective admissions criteria, are moving to modify their curricula to what they perceive
as desirable by potential students and their employers. The institutions' agility in making
these adjustments is questioned by many critics, some from within academe and some
from other sectors.
Several workshop participants also acknowledged that the apparent monopoly of
colleges and universities in Providing nostseconciarv education is over. if. in fact. it ever
· , ~ ~ , ~ , ~ ,. . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ,— · , ~ . lo. ~ · ~
existed. even the term, postseconuary s1mplycet1nes experiences that occur anern1gn
school. It does not identify the organizations or institutions that provide them.
_ - ~ ... . ~ . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. .. . .
Traditionally, employers and unions also provided instruction, both explicit and Implicit,
in what one needed to know and be able to do to be successful in the unique culture of a
particular institution. Today it is less clear what the mix of providers of postsecondary
education will be and what means they will utilize to provide that education. The
"postsecondary education system" appears very unsystematic.
Debate continues to persist, particularly in the precincts of colleges and
universities, about what the balance between job skills training and broader academic
learning ought to be and for whom these opportunities should be provided. Traditional
definitions of colleges' missions have seven only limited attention to fob trainings though
- ~ ~ , ~
~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ . . ~ 1 1 ~ _ ~ ~ _ _ 1 ~ _ _ ~ _ _ _ _ _ t ~ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _
all have argued that the overall experience WOU1o enhance one-s employment prospects.
At the beginning of the 20th century' most U.S. colleges required a common curriculum
with individual concentration in an academic major subject. Now at the beginning of the
2 I st century, colleges offer curricula with highly differentiated studies often aligned with
apparent job skills. Conically the dominant call for reform in the elementary and
secondary schools pushes those institutions to demonstrate through assessments that their
The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary
Education: Report of a Workshop
Part I
2
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The Knowledge Economy and
Postsecondary Education
INTRODUCTION
During the last quarter century, the American economy has undergone
profound changes, initially in business leadership's confidence in the
ability of its institutions to compete effectively internationally, then
in a comprehensive restructuring of its organizations, and finally in
the remarkable growth in the use of new technologies. These efforts
have challenged the institutions with primary responsibility for formal
education, schools and colleges, to supply workers who are able to
assist their employers in meeting their new business goals. Initially
in the 1980s and l990s, the focus was on schools and their limita-
tions in providing graduates who could successfully undertake this
work. An argument made forcefully in 1983 by the National Com-
mission on Excellence in Education in A Nation at Risk alleged that
the entire country was threatened by the inadequacies of the Ameri-
can school system. The resurgence of the American economy in the
l990s suggested that the connection between schooling and subse-
quent worker productivity, while important, was not as direct or lin-
ear as had seemed to the authors of A Nation at Risk, because the
increase in academic performance of American school children was
considerably more modest than the rate of growth of the economy
and the performance of the stock market in the late l990s.
Today the focus has shifted in the United States and, as the World
Bank has observed, internationally, to the ability of the postsecondary
education system to prepare workers both effectively and efficiently
to meet the demands of organizations whose job requirements appear
both more complex and less static than previously. Beginning in the
1980s, baccalaureate graduates' employment became much better paid
than that of individuals with only some college, only high school, or
3
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only grade school experience (Hudson, this volume; Juhn, Murphy,
and Pierce, 1993~. Further, the wages of males with grade school or
high school only were no longer enough to keep a family above the
poverty line, as they had been in earlier decades. Coincident with
these recognitions, or perhaps because of them, U.S. college enroll-
ment rates grew for much of the population, particularly for women
(Hudson, this volume). The easy assumption was that going to col-
lege, and especially completing a degree, led to a job that paid better
than the job one would get without a college degree. The solution
seemed simple: more education equals more money. But what was
the college education really buying? What essence of the college
experience made graduates better compensated employees? Could
other institutions besides colleges provide that essence?
The Committee on the Impact of the Changing Economy on the
Education System held a two-day workshop to discuss the implica-
tions of emerging trends and their relevance to the U.S. postsecondary
education system. Participants in the workshop on May 14-15, 2001,
sponsored by the National Research Council of the National Academy
of Sciences, discussed these issues, assisted by the presentation of
six papers on various aspects of these matters. The first session of
the workshop generated a discussion that was not addressed by any of
the papers. (See Appendix A, Workshop Agenda, for the chronology
of presentations at the workshop.) Central questions raised later on
in this introduction reflect the workshop participants' concerns as
well as the issues in the workshop papers.
These papers form the
essence of this volume. As intended for workshops in which an issue
is to be explored, the papers' authors, assigned discussants, and invited
participants did not find themselves in immediate unanimity in deter-
mining the significance of changes in the amorphous and shifting
"system" that encompasses postsecondary education. The influence
of the economy on these changes, while acknowledged, was not the
focus of the discussion.
American colleges and universities, believing themselves to be
world leaders in education, are finding that indeed other providers
and alternative modes of instruction are supplanting their traditional
curricula and course organization with their characteristic faculty autonomy
and lack of assessment of student learning. Workshop participants
noted that many colleges and universities, particularly those without
academically selective admissions criteria, are moving to modify their
curricula to what they perceive as desirable by potential students and
their employers. The institutions' agility in making these adjust-
ments is questioned by many critics, some from within academe and
some from other sectors.
Several workshop participants also acknowledged that the apparent
monopoly of colleges and universities in providing postsecondary education
is over, if, in fact, it ever existed. Even the term "postsecondary"
simply defines experiences that occur after high school. It does not
identify the organizations or institutions that provide them. Traditionally,
4
WORKSHOP REPORT
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employers and unions have also provided instruction, both explicit
and implicit, in what one needed to know and be able to do to be
successful in the unique culture of a particular institution. Today it is
less clear what the mix of providers of postsecondary education will
be and what means they will utilize to provide that education. The
"postsecondary education system" appears very unsystematic.
Debate continues, particularly in the precincts of colleges and
universities, about what the balance between job skills training and
broader academic learning ought to be and for whom these oppor-
tunities should be provided. Traditional definitions of colleges' missions
have given only limited attention to job training, though all have
argued that the overall experience would enhance one's employment
prospects. At the beginning of the 20th century, most U.S. colleges
required a common curriculum with individual concentration in an
academic major subject. Now at the beginning of the 21st century,
colleges offer curricula with highly differentiated studies often aliened
with apparent job skills. Ironically, the dominant call for reform in
elementary and secondary schools pushes those institutions to dem-
onstrate through assessments that their students have met "academic
standards" in various subjects, thus pushing toward a common curriculum,
while colleges move toward increased specialization without much
assessment. What, in fact, are employers paying for when they hire
college graduates for higher wages?
Some of the explanation for lack of agreement among workshop
participants on these matters was based upon a difference in funda-
mental principles regarding the role of higher education in the United
States, particularly alternative views of its purpose. For example, the
participants recognized that they would not on this occasion resolve
the difference between those who sought public support for colleges
and universities that provide excellent education for both employ-
ment and citizenship at costs affordable to all and those who believed
that students (and their families) assume primary financial responsibility
for their education in order to enhance their employment prospects.
The degree to which strong postsecondary education benefits the nation
as a whole as well as the persons who participate in it, and what the
balance of the relative benefit to society and to the individual should
be, underlay much of the discussion about specific proposals.
STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT
What follows the Workshop Report (Part I) are the Workshop
Papers (Part II). In organizing the workshop and soliciting papers for
it, the committee believed that, first, members needed the best avail-
able demographic data to learn who was participating in different
kinds of postsecondary education. Lisa Hudson's paper, presented as
Chapter 1 in this volume, supplies this information. Second, we
believed that it was important to look at the traditional higher educa-
tion sector colleges and universities to ascertain the degree to which
THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY AND POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION
s
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different parts were modifying their programs and instruction to adapt
to the apparent changing skill requirements of employers. Thomas
Bailey's paper (Chapter 2) concentrates upon community colleges,
traditionally the higher education sector most immediately responsive
to employer needs. Carol A. Twigg (Chapter 3) surveys the ways in
which four-year institutions are attempting to modify their curricular
offerings and their pedagogy, often utilizing the resources of the Internet,
to adapt their offerings in ways that they and their students believe
will be more useful. In the paper presented here as Chapter 4, Brian
Fusser, on the other hand, reminds participants of the public's broader
interests in higher education, challenging the acceptance of the primacy
of job preparation for the individual and of the "market" metaphor as
an appropriate descriptor of American higher education.
The discussion stimulated by these papers raised many issues about
both the desirability of these changes in traditional colleges and uni-
versities and the likelihood that these institutions would, in fact, change
significantly. Other providers, particularly for-profit organizations
with significant capacities for distance or virtual learning, recognize
great opportunities for developing programs to serve students' need
for immediate focused instruction that will enhance job skills. During
the workshop, Brandon Dobell, who follows the business fortunes of
these companies for Credit Suisse First Boston, explained the popu-
larity of such organizations on Wall Street: their excellent customer
service, good business models, and effective management permit them
to meet their earnings estimates regularly.
The committee believed that it would be helpful to look in some
detail at one example of a for-profit company that was providing
instruction necessary for workers in its industry. Richard Murnane,
Nancy Sharkey, and Frank Levy investigated the experience of Cisco
Systems with its Networking Academies, which prepare students in
high school and community colleges to earn certificates testifying to
their information technology skills. Their findings are presented in
Chapter 5. Finally, the committee concluded that changes in postsecondary
education must be based on a deeper understanding of how learning
occurs and how it can be encouraged, particularly in cyberspace. John
Bransford and his colleagues, Nancy Vye and Helen Bateman, addresses
these issues in their paper, which appears here as Chapter 6.
FIVE MAJOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Five central questions emerged from the workshop presentations
and the discussions resulting from them:
How are job skills changing?
How does learning occur best?
3. Can we assess learning adequately?
4. What structural and organizational changes are taking place in the
provision of postsecondary education?
Who is participating and to what effect in postsecondary education?
6
WORKSHOP REPORT
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How Are Job Skills Changing?
What is the nature of these assumed changes in skills? Very little
evidence is cited that supports what is, in fact, a widespread public
conviction that such changes have occurred. Most discussions focus
upon increasing needs for technological skills, such as those in demand
in the information technology field. Many participants pointed to
requirements for much stronger literacy skills for understanding written
and oral instructions. Still others at the workshop stressed that demand
for effective workplace communication and cooperative team member
participation, often called "soft skills," has become ubiquitous. On
the other hand, recognition exists that certain skills are no longer in
high demand, such as the ability to compute change due or to add a
bill mentally, having been replaced by computers and other technology.
Undoubtedly job skill demands are shifting, as the economy and jobs
within it shift, but the nature of these changes and the impact of them
upon future preparation of workers are not well understood.
How Does Learning Occur Best?
Traditionally colleges and universities have addressed this question
by engaging in discussions about curriculum, course requirements,
and syllabi, and occasionally pedagogy, triggering familiar arguments
about the value of the 50-minute lecture versus seminar discussion.
Several participants noted that demand for admission to highly selective
institutions has risen steadily in recent years, presumably at least
partially on the basis that students there will benefit from regular
contact with others who have been similarly selected. These institu-
tions tout their pedagogy, but few engage in rigorous examination of
their students' learning. As John Bransford and his co-authors note
in their paper, recent advances in cognitive science married to emerging
knowledge of the uses of technology to enhance learning are creating
an important new opportunity to engage this issue. They observe that
the topic is shifting from pedagogy to learning. The focus, they
argue, has appropriately become the students and how they, each of
them, will master the material.
Formerly, the focus was upon the
instructors and how they delivered the material. Other workshop
participants also cited the importance of more complicated under-
standing of how we learn, how elements of learning can be isolated
or "modularized," and how learning in one setting can be utilized in a
different one. These are all part of the fundamental new investiga-
tions that focus upon learning itself.
Can We Assess Learning Adequately?
As many participants noted, assessment (a more comprehensive
term than "testing") is achieving a new salience in postsecondary
education. Already the subject of contentious discussion for elementary
THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY AND POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION
7
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and secondary schools, assessment is emerging as a major issue for
the postsecondary community as well. Formerly, the college degree
itself was thought to be assessment enough. Today the demand for
the degree or some other credential increasingly is supplemented by
some indication that the person has actually learned what the degree
or credential attests. This is not a novel development. Lawyers must
still pass bar exams, doctors who want recognition as specialists must
pass board exams, and elementary and secondary teachers, who became
licensed through examinations until the 1920s, are again increasingly
facing certification examinations. Institutions whose students fail the
teacher examinations in large numbers are being threatened by powerful
sanctions. Thus, assessment is creeping into institutions themselves,
rather than simply being the responsibility of the students to master
the material themselves, either through good pedagogy, self-study, or
some combination of both.
As Carol A. Twigg observes in her paper and as others noted in
discussion, systematic assessments are vastly enhanced by the imaginative
use of technology with immediate response to student effort. Such
careful and immediate analysis of student work is still relatively rare
but is clearly growing in both its accuracy and its applicability. Several
participants observed that one of the most profound effects of the
distance education and virtual learning movements, as well as the for-
profit providers of education, has been the increased use of and attention
to assessment. Since the traditional modes of college experience (and
the public confidence of accountability that the four-year residential
college provided) are not available to them, these organizations have
had to devise means to show that students were benefiting from their
experiences. The benefit was documented learning, a new idea for
most traditional colleges and universities. An additional point made
by many of the workshop participants is that while attention to assess-
ment has increased substantially throughout postsecondary education
recently, given the stimulus of the growth of cognitive science, tech-
nology, distance learning, and the for-profit education providers, the
adequacy of these new assessments remains a subject for additional
investigation and research.
I,,,
. ~ .
What Structural and Organizational Changes Are Taking
Place in the Provision of Postsecondary Education?
For-profit institutions and nonresidential instruction dominated dis-
cussions at the workshop of the organization of postsecondary education.
Yet what is most striking to the committee is the enormous increase in
the last 50 years in enrollments at U.S. colleges and universities, both
from U.S. citizens and from foreign nationals. Higher education has
experienced tremendous growth, traditionally believing itself to be a
separate species from the corporate sector. How separate are they?
Many at the workshop argued that a convergence is occurring with
traditional colleges and universities becoming more like companies.
8
WORKSHOP REPORT
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This phenomenon is often described as an acceptance of the "market
model" for higher education and hence a renunciation of its tradi-
tional isolation in an "ivory tower." Both descriptions caricature
reality, but the advent of unionized graduate student assistants; "revenue-
centered" budgeting in colleges; outsourcing of many staff functions,
such as the police or food service; and the provision of publicly
subsidized college courses designed to serve specific industries all
suggest to the committee an erosion of the eleemosynary nature of
higher education. An important dilemma raised at the workshop was
the determination of appropriate distinctions between for-profit institutions,
maximizing value to shareholders, and educational institutions, enabling
learning and investigations for the benefit of students and society.
Who Is Participating and to What Effect in Postsecondary
Education?
Although the tremendous growth in participation rates in U.S.
higher education in the last 50 years is well documented by Lisa
Hudson and others, the explanations for the differing participation
rates by gender, ethnicity, and age are not. Workshop participants
raised the question: Why have women, particularly White and Black,
increased their participation rates so markedly? Do women need the
degree or credential more than men? What is happening with the
category termed "Hispanic," whose participation rates in higher education
seem to be falling? "Hispanics," of course, include immigrants, multi-
generational U.S. citizens, rich, poor, and various racial mixes. Since
the 18-22 year olds devoting full-time to their college studies (the
traditional undergraduate population) now constitute considerably less
than half of all undergraduates, the balance of enrollees is important
but little understood. Workshop participants raised questions such as:
.
Do the remainder think of themselves primarily as employees
taking a few courses or students working to pay for their education?
If difficulty occurs in understanding enrollees in colleges and univer-
sities, then the problem in identifying and understanding the motivation
for persons enrolled in nontraditional forms of postsecondary education,
particularly distance learning and emerging for-profit and nonprofit
organizations that supply instruction, is immensely greater. Several
participants familiar with current U.S. government data collection
methods report that data from such institutions are difficult to encompass
in surveys, yet those activities are vital to our committee's under-
standing of the skill sets that individuals seek.
· Who will have access and at what cost to the emerging tech-
nologies, such as the benefits from the auction of the electromagnetic
spectrum?
· Finally, who is paying the costs of these educational activities?
Are individuals from low-income families increasingly attending courses
and institutions that limit their job options and ultimate economic
THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY AND POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION
9
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mobility, as the data for non-Asian minorities concentrated in two-
year community colleges would suggest (Hudson, this volume)? Has
the shift in U.S. financial aid policies over the last 25 years from
fewer grants to more loans had the effect of diminishing educational
opportunities to those living in low-income families who are under-
standably fearful of debt? Is stratification by family wealth increas-
ing in U.S. postsecondary education? Would it matter if it were?
The five questions formed the heart, but not the entire body, of
the workshop discussion. To explore the issues further, we commend
the papers themselves and the sources they cite.
REFERENCES
Juhn, C., Murphy, K.M., and Pierce, B. (1993~. Wage inequality and the rise in
returns to skill. Journal of Political Economy 101 (June): 410-442.
National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983~. A nation at risk: The
imperative for educational reform. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.
0
WORKSHOP REPORT
Representative terms from entire chapter:
job skills
