Earlier this month, former ANU Vice-Chancellor Ian Chubb raised questions about the shelf-life of degrees – how long a qualification provides useful knowledge before it is judged to be out of date and the importance of degrees that equipped graduates for the future.
The impact of generative AI on qualification efficacy has also been raised by President of Singapore Management University Lily Kong, arguing that the shelf life of knowledge is shortening.
“Three or four years of study at university can no longer sustain a 50-year career, or even a 60-year career as we live longer lives. What matters most is resilience: the ability to adapt, to keep learning, and to navigate change with confidence,” she said.
“The shelf life of domain knowledge is going to change very rapidly, much more rapidly than before, so we can't pretend that the knowledge that we are able to share and impart to our students is going to last them for life,” Professor Kong told University World News.
In a paper co-authored with Hamish Coates, Professor Kong notes that as people live longer, and technology is expected to change the nature of jobs in future, a single degree cannot be expected to equip an individual for life.
“Education, like employment, needs to be spread across a lifespan.
“Academic research, as well, needs to be more socially relevant. Research has been a
servant of university globalisation. But it has been stretched too much,” the authors said.
The authors argue the future-proofing of HE lay in adjusting priorities, by:
- “Going beyond the cognitive;
- Stimulating independence, exploration and experimentation;
- Accentuating the humanities;
- Fostering interdisciplinary depth; and
- Innovating education policy and strategies.”