Business and industry sometimes say they find students are not prepared for work – or the working world in general – when they graduate from college. Liberal arts institutions say they are preparing flexible and well-rounded students who are ready to tackle anything. How can this disconnect be bridged? Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and I explore the relationship between academia and industry in this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed.”
One might assume that academia and the business world have different goals and missions and would have trouble reaching consensus on what constitutes adequate preparation. But Ed actually calls that tension “superfluous” and believes academia and industry can achieve synergy if they set aside biases about each other and keep an open dialogue.
Listen on for our discussion about fostering healthy relationships between academia and industry. It is also time for the solution to last week’s puzzler. Are you still counting how many golf balls it would take to fill a school bus? There is actually a relatively quick and easy way to figure that out.
This episode was recorded on April 20, 2018.