A Look into the Future of Education

"How might the mission of a university change in the 21st Century?"  Three professors at Harvard Business School asked themselves this very question 6 years ago.

"Their eventual answer: Throw open the doors to older adults—and give them the tools to help change the world."

More specifically, they developed the Advanced Leadership Initiative almost three years ago, addressing what they term the "Third Stage" of education.  The program gives late-career professionals, think CEO level, access to just about all of the school's resources for the year of their fellowship with only one caveat -- they must develop a "social purpose project" addressing significant societal banes, such as education, health and the environment.

The initiative, truly of the 21st century, embraces open-source methodology, requires the discipline of a self-starter and hopes to spread to schools across the country.  How inspired!!

You can check out the full article on WSJ here, but one other interesting snapshot we thought to include is this simple bar graph created by Met Life/Civic Ventures illustrating the percent breakdown of those considering an "encore career."

 

So, what would be yours?

Posted in: Conscious Biz