Reclaiming Purpose

CHAPTER 3The Idea of the University Revisited: From Epistemology to Ontology

When my daughter Emma was about eight years old, she was already a veteran of the many campus receptions and dinners we hosted at the president's house at Marlboro College. Weary of the social niceties required, she said she wanted a name tag revealing answers to the four questions she was asked repeatedly by kind strangers: “Emma. Third grade. Yes, I like school very much. No, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.” As most high schoolers know, that last question morphs into “What do you want to study in college?” Students feel pressure from a young age to have an answer. Indeed, surveys of college-going students are conclusive: the number one motivation for attending college is to land a good job and ensure a rewarding career. Asking “What will be your major” is just another version of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” only with more urgency for the college bound. We cannot talk about the future of postsecondary education without talking about the future of the workforce.

While society asks higher education to perform many jobs—conducting research and scholarship, providing sports entertainment, acting as an economic engine in local and regional economies—preparing people for the needs of the workforce while opening economic opportunities to graduates is job number one. In the knowledge or digital economy that dominates the United States and most developed economies, universities ...