The big picture problem she raises. There may be two types of inefficiency at work: less research and learning then there could be; and maybe a bad mix. "Massive market failures within the University." #ACEA18 
And @franceswoolley talks about her favorite South Park episode and what it tells us about Universities. #ACEA18
Big challenge for Universities: the value of education (signaling vs human capital) not well known, nor is the productivity of inputs (i.e., profs) is also not well known.
Another big challenge: hard to know (and personalize, communicate) the benefits of education to students. Yes education increases earnings but hard to know how an *individual* will experience. #ACEA18
Lots of confusion too. 80% think they're in the top 25% of the ability distribution. Yup. #ACEA18
Universities may experience reputational spirals: if for a random reasons graduates have higher earnings, you'll get more applicants, can be more selective, get higher ability folks, who earn more, etc...
There's a lot of spending on higher education in Canada and the US relative to more other jurisdictions. Especially due to public funding for Canada. #ACEA18
As a consequence, Canada has a very high level of education overall in the population relative to most other regions. But, each province does its own thing. This creates structural rigidities since first-moving is hard, and hard to reallocate resources.
Her hypothesis: main way to reallocate resources is to grow. This compels Unis to do so, given the Canadian system. Unlikely to last. Why? Demographics. We've hit "peak student", notes @franceswoolley. #ACEA18
Education will be hit hard. Provincial budgets are not fiscally sustainable. She cites this PBO report pbo-dpb.gc.ca/en/blog/news/F… She notes "no one dies when you cut education spending".
Other demand reducing factors: males returns to education may have peaked. And there's changing perception of education (speculates about feminization of Unis and notes recent politics hostile to education)
On the supply side, Universities are unlike other sectors. Not a lot of exit, or M&A. Other pressures include de-skilling of teaching (slides, test software, etc).
To do better, hard unless we can measure things. How do we measure teaching excellence? Student evaluations are bull shit (my words, not hers... But I suspect the sentiment is that). And 'learning outcomes' are just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hard.
At the professor level: status is tied to research not teaching. Plus, a real collective action problem to changing curriculums.
One problem for Uni sustainability is the employment contracts. Reforming this is an option. High-cost, tenured profs maybe a model that should be reconsidered.
Another area for reform: PhD programs. There's too many, and too siloed, and little competition. And present outcomes for students are poor (jobs, mental health, etc). Points to Scotland as a potential option to consider (region level grad school).
And @franceswoolley ends on a solid note: We don't want to end up with a big pile of used underwear.
Thank you @franceswoolley for the excellent address. Thought provoking questions and issues that Uni's, profs, and students should all consider carefully. (Such a great presentation style too; so impressive.)
/fin
/fin
