Universities and the Future of America

By Derek Bok

Since World War II, says the author, industrialized nations have come to depend so heavily on expert knowledge, scientific discovery, and highly trained personnel that universities have become "the central institution in postindustrial society." "If universities are so important to society and if ours are so superior, one might have thought that America would be flourishing in comparison to other industrialized countries of the world. Yet this is plainly not the case. . . . Our economic position in the world has deteriorated [and] we have climbed to the top, or near the top, of all advanced countries in the percentage of population who live in poverty, commit crimes, become addicted to drugs, have illegitimate children, or are classified as functionally illiterate." In light of these results, "it is fair to ask whether our universities are doing all they can and should to help America surmount the obstacles that sap our economic strength and blight the lives of millions of our people." Having posed this question, Derek Bok reviews what science can do to bring about greater productivity, what professional schools can do to improve the effectiveness of corporations, government, and public education, and what all parts of the university are doing to help students acquire higher levels of ethical and social responsibility. He concludes that Universities are contributing much less than the should to help the nation address its most urgent social problems. "A century after the death of Cardinal Newman, many university officials and faculty members continue to feel ambivalent about deliberate efforts to address practical problems of society. And though competition drives university leaders and their faculties to unremitting effort, what competition rewards is chiefly success in fields that command academic prestige rather than success in responding to important social needs." Bok urges academic leaders, trustees, foundations, and government agencies to work together to help universities realign their priorities "so that they will be ready to make their full contribution when the nation turns its attention again to the broad agenda of reform. . . . Observing our difficulties competing abroad, our millions of people in poverty, our drug-ridden communities, our disintegrating families, our ineffective schools, those who help to shape our universities have reason to ask whether they too have any time to lose."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822310368
• ISBN13: 9780822310365
• Release Date: May 1990
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.7" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

The Essence of Education in the present State of the Nation

"It is fair to ask whether our universities are doing all they can and should to help America surmount the obstacles that sap our economic strength and blight the lives of millions of our people." Derek Bok Reviving the Spirit: The continuing debate about the ills of academic education, with analytical discussion of its current problems, and prescriptions for their healing has been examined from different points of view. The American Council on Education claims, "Solutions for Our Future is a national initiative to establish a dialogue about the critical role colleges and universities play in serving the public, solving pressing societal needs, and preparing people for our country's future." In his book on Higher Education in America, entitled: 'Killing the Spirit,' historian Page Smith, while seeking to restore the spirit of the American Alma Mater has prescribed a rare combination of Christian tradition and secular democracy. Alfred N. Whitehead wrote, "The essence of education is that it be religious... A religious education is an education which inculcates duty and reverence. ... And the foundation of reverence is the perception that the present holds within itself the complete sum of existence, backwards and forwards, ..." Problem Statement: When Professor Bok stated the problems in the Sanford lectures at Duke 18 years ago, no body took his words as a prophecy of an epidemic that took over Corporate and Legislative America, that we all felt in the 21st century, Enron, Abramov and Katerina. He said, "Observing our difficulties competing abroad, our millions of people in poverty, our drug-ridden communities, our disintegrating families, our ineffective schools, those who help to shape our universities have reason to ask whether they too have any time to loose." W. J. Bennett, Regan's Secretary of Education, has argued that Americans should go back to the basics, students have to read and absorb the classic of Western civilization, rather than thinking critically about what history of science meant, or the impact of space travel and the Internet communications revolution, that rendered the world flat. Diagnostics: On December 18, 2005, Derek Bok wrote In The Boston Globe, under the alarming title; Are colleges failing? "Changing in the economy are forcing employers to pay increasing sums to remedy deficiencies in the writing and computational skills of the college graduates they hire. In addition, more and more work normally performed by college graduates is now being outsourced to other countries. Already, tax returns for several hundred thousand US citizens are being prepared in India; CAT scans are being analyzed in Poland; Microsoft is employing scientists in China; Boeing has engaged the services of engineers in Russia. As this process continues, American graduates will no longer be competing only with themselves but with hordes of ambitious, hard-working young people from countries such as India and China intent on claiming