A REPORT BY
Board of European Students of Technology Dvoyn n kova, Dasha García García, Da l Gulhar, Dhruv Kac n Vod čar, Domen Anna Le Yıldırım, Al Yılmaz JUNE 2020
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Introduction In our fast-changing world, being able to adapt and anticipate changes is a key skill. In such a scenario, education has an important role not only in responding to the new challenges we face but primarily in leading the way towards a more sustainable future. As a dynamic non-governmental organisation run by students for students, education is a key area of interest for the Board of European Students of Technology. Through the work of a dedicated body, the Educational Involvement Department, and the contribution of its volunteers, BEST strives to raise awareness on educational involvement among students in Higher Education and make sure their input is spread to the relevant stakeholders. The data in this report was collected by three main activities: a survey tailored to address the initiative main questions, a focus group, and the reports from BEST educational research on diversity conducted in 2019. These various inputs have been consolidated in this report, starting from the overview of the current world and its challenges to then focus on the purpose of education and the futures of our learning environment.
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About BEST
Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) is a constantly growing non-representative, non-political, and non-profit voluntary student organisation, whose vision is empowered diversity and whose mission is developing students. Currently, BEST is present in 93 European universities across 34 countries, involving more than 3300 active students in technical specialties. BEST strives to foster exchange and connect European students by organising a wide range of events both at local and international levels. Every year since its establishment in 1989, BEST provides opportunities for STEM students aligned with the three core services of the organisation. » Complementary Education: Co-curricular activities, throughout international events such as the BEST Courses or the European BEST Engineering Competition, EBEC. » Career Support: Employability assistance, by means of the transversal platform BEST Career Centre and the job fairs independently organised by local BEST groups. » Educational Involvement: Education advocacy, carried mainly by the international focus groups BEST Symposia on Education (BSE), and the educational involvement activities independently organised by local BEST groups.
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BEST understands that the world is evolving and is taking up the challenge to lead students through those changes by fulfilling its purpose. Aware of the fact that students are one of the main stakeholders in the development of education, BEST strives to make their voices be heard by decision-makers, thereby filling the gap between them and institutional stakeholders. Through the Educational Involvement Department, BEST strives to gather students’ ideas regarding what can be changed in their universities, study programmes, or curricula, and disseminate it to the relevant stakeholders. It creates a platform for raising awareness of students on educational matters and to provide the input of students to the stakeholders of European STEM Education.
BEST strives to make students’ voices heard and fill the gap between them and institutional stakeholders. BEST performs multiple annual research on education, the Educational Involvement Programme, that aims to gather the input of European STEM students on a specific topic of interest for the education community. Throughout quantitative research, performed by surveys, and qualitative research, done in BSEs, the research team of the Educational Involvement Programme develops a study and disseminates it through international conferences on education, such as SEFI Annual Conference, the World Engineering Education Forum, or other platforms such as ICL, IACEE, EUA, etc.
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Futures of Education: BEST Edition As BEST, we did not want to miss the opportunity to join a global discussion on the future of education and thus a project was launched to gather and synthesise the ideas of our members to contribute to the “Futures of Education” initiative. The internal consultative process was divided into two areas: quantitative and qualitative input gathering. The former was conducted through a survey, through which answers from 67 students across 30 European countries were collected; the latter was carried out with three different focus groups that followed the guidelines provided by UNESCO, gathering a total of 28 students. The areas are merged into a broader narrative, giving students perspective: starting from the challenges that we are facing now and we will face in the future, moving later to the challenges and purpose of education, and finally reaching the vision of Higher Education by 2050. In addition, the results of our Educational Involvement Programme 2018/20 on diversity in STEM education have been included, given the connection between them and the vision for higher education by 2050.
Now Versus 2050: The Challenges We Face The need for change has always been instigated by pointing out and addressing challenges in the world. Recognising current problems enables us to establish a vision for the future and plan the necessary steps to reach it.
In order to identify these challenges and define a vision, a survey was conducted amongst members of BEST. Thanks to the input from 67 students coming from 30 European countries and enrolled in three phases of higher education (Bachelor, Master & PhD), we draw the conclusions presented in this section. First, respondents were asked to state and order the problems they see most relevant nowadays. The most relevant challenges in the world right now, shown in Figure 1, were identified as the following: » Climate change » Environmental crisis » Economic inequalities » Political extremism » Global health crisis
The second part of the survey focused on the vision for 2050. When asked to share how they envision the future, participants believe that a more interconnected world in terms of goals and opportunities is desirable. In such a scenario, countries work together to solve global problems like the ones mentioned above. In addition, the need for solidarity and empathy between countries was also emphasized, stressing out the importance of such values in order to solve global issues with unity and multilateralism. In a nutshell, the world in 2050 was envisioned as an equitable one, with basic human rights for everyone, technological advances, increased tolerance & compassion, and the absence of any kind of inequalities. In order to move towards a better tomorrow, one of the most fundamental tools which can be used for a positive change is education. In fact, as Nelson Mandela said:
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Figure 1: Challenges in the world
Afterwards, respondents were asked to think about a bigger horizon, namely 2050, and share what problems they think would be most important then. When shifting the view to the future, participants identified the same set of main challenges, with the addition of population growth as one of the most pressing issues to address. When asked to elaborate on the challenges in the survey’s open input section, participants pointed out that an increase in population would, in turn, put pressure on the climate and the society, making the challenges we will face more interconnected.
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In a changing environment, learning and education are some of the main drives to address, solve, and model the new realities we face every day. Yet, education is not only a tool to address our world problems, education is a powerful way to shape the future of our society and have a positive impact on the world. Education has been evolving significantly over the past few decades, however, in today’s world, our schooling system is still far from perfect. In the last section of the survey, participants were asked to reflect on their learning experience and identify the main improvement point in the current education world.
Such points, shown in Figure 2, resulted in the following challenges: » Flexibility of teaching methods » Absence of lifelong learning » Quality Assurance » Employability of graduates » Lack of equal opportunities
Respondents were asked to rank the top 5 challenges of education, as shown in Figure 3, leading to the following ranking: » Skills for work » Scientific Innovation » Social Cohesion » Active Citizenship » Economic Growth
The Purpose of Education In the previous section, we presented the main challenges that both society and education have. Having a particular interest in the latter, BEST members were asked through the aforementioned survey: “What is the purpose of education?” The traditional and simple answer to the question learning skills and knowledge transfer - has been questioned and discussed. Similar to our changing world, the purpose of education has different shades as our goals evolve. Today we are concerned about our future challenges, which are shaping the purpose of education.
» Skills and attitude for life-long learning: besides the work-related skills, education should aim for the improvement of self-learning skills in individuals. By learning how to learn, individuals can specialize in any skill outside their subject of study. » Critical Thinking: defined as being able to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe, critical thinking includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking and understand the logical connections between ideas. By actively focusing on developing such skills, universities can provide all-age students with a necessary tool to navigate our world, where the amount of information available is practically unlimited and decision-making more difficult.
Figure 2: Challenges in education
Education in 2050 was envisioned to be based more on critical thinking, open-mindedness, and more acceptance towards diversity. A strong emphasis was put on the teaching of necessary skills for practical work-related tasks, equal opportunities to learn, and flexibility in teaching. Education in 2050 should be student-centered and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.
In this direction participants elaborated on different purposes of education:
Figure 3: Purpose of education
According to survey participants, the purpose of education should have two main focuses: » Gaining path specific knowledge (skills required for work, scientific innovation) » Forming citizens who are able to actively contribute to society. Note that, there is no prioritisation among the two areas and both are considered equally important. In order to deep dive more into the university ecosystem of the future, an area our participants are experiencing themselves, we organized tailored Focus Groups to elaborate more on what should be the purpose of education towards 2050? According to participants, education should not consider students just as workers, but also as members of society who can think critically and make decisions. Education should not be focused only on skills related to work, but also on various aspects of our lives. ~3~
» Active Citizenship: as we are inherently part of a community, participants believe that being able to contribute to the society we live in and create a sustainable lifestyle should be thought and promoted in education. » Acceptance: as we live in more and more diverse communities, members of society should develop a mindset to embrace diversity among people, learn how to integrate these different perspectives, and ensure everyone feels part of the society we live in.
The main change is going from a once in a lifetime university period to a continuous learning process.
Higher Education in 2050: From Focus Groups In the previous section, we elaborated on the purpose of education and presented students’ vision for the future of universities. The main change from our current state to our vision is going from a once in a lifetime university period to a continuous learning process. This lifelong learning should provide adults with the necessary skills for self-learning as well as specific competencies needed in society. With this in mind, volunteers of BEST were asked how they imagined Higher Education in 2050. Through various group discussions and analysis of the educational research carried out in recent years, the following key points were frequently raised: » Where we should learn: participants pointed out that future universities should combine classroom teaching with “on-the-job” activities. It is important to increase the number of real-life scenarios as well as to promote parallel work and study concepts, to favour life-long learning. » How we should learn: participants found value in solution-oriented and project-based education with blended learning activities, as a more efficient way to learn than the traditional memorisation-based learning. » What we should learn: combine the specific skills of the study path with “non-core” courses that tackle relevant aspects for active participation in society, self-learning and self-development. Ensure that soft-skills development opportunities are provided with both complementary projects in classes and with specific courses on the topic
Later, participants suggested some ideas to be developed to adapt our educational ecosystem to the envisioned Higher Education in 2050: » Adapt teaching methods to be more efficient, open and tailored towards the learning needs of the students, allowing better mentoring and academic tutoring. » Make the curricula more flexible, personalising it to the interests and skills of each student. » Improve accessibility to the learning experience from an economic point of view (fees), a social one (age), and a personal perspective (disabilities and impairments). » Define standards of quality for the different academic paths to improve exchange opportunities and work recognition of diplomas. » Foster inclusiveness among diverse groups. Among the different challenges, the various groups who joined the discussion worked more in-depth on addressing the following topics, which were deemed to be of high importance: » Provide Adequate Support To The Teaching Bodies: Participants believed that some of the changes need to be pushed by teachers, but they should be prepared and supported to make them happen. Thus, participants suggested ideas like: …Promote innovation of teaching methods: a life-long learning path for teachers to ensure that new concepts (e.g. blended classes, project-based learning, etc) are taught to all relevant stakeholders, that their benefits and challenges are well understood, and that the steps to apply such methods are clear. …Establish a system for continuous evaluation and improvement in teaching engagement and contribution to research. …Ensure that professors can focus on the teaching domain by reducing the burden of administrative work. ~4~
» Wellbeing As A Priority: Participants pointed out that wellbeing is an influential factor for success and therefore activities related to it should be promoted. Some ideas to improve the wellbeing of students were: …Have regular workshops with counselors and sharing sessions with students about wellbeing and the importance of health. …Introduce modules to coach students on how to address the various challenges they may encounter and provide them with tools to ensure their physical and mental health can be sustained or regained. » Learning With A Purpose: Finally, participants stressed the fact that most of the students do not have a clear purpose for their work career, and that by helping them find one, their motivation would be boosted. Some ideas to help in this search for a purpose were the following: …Establish sharing channels among students at a different level to better understand the different career paths and possibilities. …Provide students with guidance in choosing their future path to make sure expectations and reality are aligned. …Develop mentoring programs with periodic evaluations on the process to improve students’ inner drive.
Participants stressed that most students don’t have a clear purpose for their career.
Higher Education in 2050: From BEST Symposia on Education Diversity means the presence of variety in different attributes of the community. These attributes, such as race and culture, identify people. In recent years, diversity has been one of the most discussed topics across the world, as the benefit of it began to be shared by relevant studies. Following this spotlight, many countries adjusted their goals and policies to aim for the empowerment of diversity and the integration of diverse groups within their jurisdiction. The same trend has been seen in the domain of education, with institutions and NGOs advocating for a more diverse and integrated world. BEST has as well decided to elaborate more on the topic of diversity by selecting ‘Diversity in STEM Higher Education’ as its research topic in the last couple of years. Within this scope, students’ input was collected through live events -BEST symposium Education (BSEs) 2019 (Athens, Aveiro, and Skopje). BSE participants examined different aspects of diversity in higher education: the benefits, current situation, and improvement points. The BSE reports from 2019 identify nine types of diversity: » race and ethnicity, » age and generation, » gender and gender identity, » sexual orientation, » religious and spiritual belief, » disability and ability, » socio-economic status, » thinking style, » personality and personal life experience. According to participants, the most relevant types of diversity in Higher Education are socio-economic status, thinking style and personality, race and ethnicity, age and generation, sexual orientation, religious and spiritual belief, disability and ability, personal life experience, and gender.
The BSE 2019 reports state that increasing diversity is suspected to have a positive impact on Higher Education. As a result of discussions, participants have elaborated on the positive impacts of empowering diversity in Higher Education: a decrease in inequalities, a more united society, broader students’ horizons, a better understanding of the society, increased level of tolerance, increased critical thinking and increased social capability, more open-minded students and a better preparation for entering society. RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY BSE Skopje examined the Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Education. According to BSE Skopje participants, teachers are one of the most important aspects of Higher Education. They have a significant impact on students, but they are not focused on engaging students. Participants agreed that teachers should be more welcoming towards foreign students. To reach future universities regarding racial and ethnic diversity, participants proposed the following actions: » more English courses, » more exchange study and internship programs, » raising awareness of foreign students, » providing a comfortable environment for students. The main goal of these actions is the development of relationships between local and foreign students. GENDER DIVERSITY During BSE Aveiro, participants discussed gender diversity barriers in Higher Education. As a conclusion of such session participants agreed that the current educational environment has multiple problems related to gender diversity among which the following were mentioned: » lack of equal opportunities, » discrimination, » lack of gender diverse role models, » sexism, » harassment. ~5~
In addition, participants appreciated that universities organized events to tackle gender imbalance, however, they also stressed out that this is not enough to tackle the issue. In order to empower gender diversity, BSE Aveiro participants proposed different actions for each problem. Discrimination: » anonymous exams, » mixed-gender working groups, » anonymous feedback system. Lack of Diversity: » organize events in high schools in order to make engineering popular among the female population, » advertise engineering courses with female role models. Lack of Role Models: » organize events with well known female engineers. CULTURAL DIVERSITY Cultural diversity in education is one of the most discussed topics. Entities are taking actions to empower cultural diversity. BSE Athens’ report focuses on cultural diversity in education. According to the BSE Athens participants, the inadequacies of university programs regarding cultural diversity are: segregation of students, no equal evaluation, lack of curiosity and interest from students, and language barriers for both students and professors. BSE Athens participants proposed the solutions below to empower the cultural diversity in Higher Education: » Throughout higher education, students take place in projects. In order to decrease segregation of students, culturally diverse teams should be formed in these projects, » Buddy programmes can be conducted to integrate local students and international students, » In order to increase the accessibility of master programmes for international students, the number of STEM Masters in English should be increased throughout Europe.
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Conclusion
With this written report, BEST wants to contribute to UNESCO's Futures of Education initiative, by sharing the student’s perspective on how education should look like in 2050. The activities used to gather the input of this report spanned across all our network, reaching more than 150 European STEM students from more than 30 countries.
Students envision education institutions in 2050 as places to practice real-life scenarios, to benefit from online and in-person teaching methodologies, and to learn specific skills of the study path with “non-core” courses that tackle relevant aspects for active participation in society, self-learning and development formation.
The key ideas extracted from the brief study where the following:
Students believe that there are three areas that need to be developed to achieve the envisioned education by 2050:
Students pointed out that the biggest challenges of humankind by 2050 are: » climate change, » the environmental crisis derived from it, » the economic inequalities, » the rise of political extremism, » global health crisis as experienced in the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak » the predicted overpopulation.
» the formation of teachers, to be able to prepare their students to succeed in career and life,
Respondents, despite being technical students, find that the purpose of education should go beyond teaching “skills-for-work”, and foster critical thinking, active citizenship, and acceptance, to build stronger democratic communities.
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» the wellbeing and the self-fulfilment of students, to foster their motivation, » the diversity in the educational ecosystem, as a way to embrace the differences and build a tolerant society.
“Human communities depend upon a diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability” ~ Sir Ken Robinson
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Hart, L. S., Manea, R., Marogel, S., Serafimoski, Z. Report of BEST Symposium on Education “Plato's Symposium Vol II: Diversity”, Athens, 13th-22th July 2019. Andreou, O., Garcia, D., Wojtkun, D. Report of BEST Symposium on Education “STEMbox: Open your eyes and see the diversity”, Skopje, 14th-22nd July 2019. Vulpe, A., Neiva, B., Garcia, D. Report of BEST Symposium on Education “Lights, Camera, educACTION”, Aveiro, 23rd-31st August 2019.