Higher Education and Ideology - It Was Always There, But Now Might Be Like Debating How to Construct Deck Chairs for Titanic

 The New York Times, which leans liberal, details how teaching in higher education has become constrained by Trump administration policies. For example, professors have to think through the layers of interpretation and opinion they embed in the instruction. And, as some of the comments following the article hammer, maybe that's a good thing. 

Anyone who has succeeded as a student in the educational system - or even survived - knows that there was always heavyweight ideology. Rarely pure presentation of material. Ironically that's confirmed in the article by former professor of the history of healthcare at Emory Dr. Kylie Smith. She laments that in this new era: 

"There have been times in class where they have asked me hard questions, and I would normally get up on my soapbox ..."

Getting up on a soapbox? That should never have been. But it was. 

We students had to put up with it, actually feed that point of view back in blue-books exams and papers. A good grade frequently meant sizing up the professors' point of view. 

The penalty for resisting could be huge. Professors who perceived themselves as disrespected had the power to disrupt a doctoral student's career, as well as have funding cut off. Always scared, I never attempted to buck the system when inside it. Once out, I mutated into a critic of higher education.

Currently more consideration of ideology has to go into curricular planning, instruction, feedback, evaluation of student work and recommendations. In a sense some power is returned to students. In this article professors admit they are apprehensive about "being reported" by students. They should be, just as employees are apprehensive about being reported by superiors, clients and customers. That's fundamental accountability.

Accountability wasn't always there. In the late 1960s there broke out a movement in universities about student rights. The reform mantra was "Student as ..." There was the "N" word. The outcomes, though, were mostly superficial such as engaging more with students, including providing more feedback. As a graduate assistant for the big-name professors that's what I was told to do in grading student papers.

Essentially, though, professors still were allowed to operate on soap boxes. It was rare to have a Master-level seminar in literary criticism at the University of Michigan with Walter Clark Jr. where we were forced to think critically, with no predetermined answers hovering over us as the hidden agenda.  

Do students now have more of that opportunity to think critically? Maybe not since there seems to be an undercurrent of conservative thought. But finally students have venues for addressing what they experience as pontificating. 

Meanwhile, however, this issue of ideology may be downright irrelevant. A well-educated person may not be able to find a job in the economy driven by cost-efficiency, offshoring and AI. 

On the r/accounting subreddit, it's observed that corporations are not hiring accounting expertise with 0 to 3 years experience. The workplace is increasingly devoid of those under-35 years of age.

So, you may now be receiving a more balanced education but the odds are growing that you cannot leverage it to earn a living. In my former field of public-relations writing professors in that niche tell me it's heartbreaking that their students can't find work, not full-time, not part-time, not freelance.

From the time of the GI bill to several years ago, we could blow off the imperfections of higher education since the degree on the resume and maybe even the learning resulted in entering the middle class and movin' on up.

In coaching, since the carnage of 2008, I have been guiding job searchers about decisions to leave advanced degrees off their credentials.

Success is a mental game. Failure comes from being done in by the “committee” in your head.

Together, we liberate your thinking. Then we change your story. And, unleash success. Meanwhile, we focus on bringing in income. That puts you in a position of strength.

Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, becoming a solopreneur and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). Yes, test out the chemistry. Zero risk.

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