Tag: Resilience

Digital by design: a vision of resilience for the sector of 2030

This blog was kindly authored by Heidi Fraser-Krauss, Chief Executive of Jisc.

UK higher education is in a period of profound change. Artificial intelligence, data-driven research, and new models of learning are redefining what it means to deliver value to students and society. At the same time, institutions must navigate complex risks, from cyber threats to infrastructure demands, while responding to significant financial challenges and ensuring they remain agile, competitive, and a key delivery partner in supporting the government’s growth ambition. The question is not whether technology will transform education, but how we harness it to strengthen the sector for the long term.

Jisc’s 2030 vision was developed with these realities in mind. Designed not as a digital revolution but rather an evolution, it ensures that Jisc is focused on providing the tertiary education, research, and innovation sectors across the UK with the secure infrastructure, digitally empowered leadership, economic sustainability, and agility needed to meet the next decade head-on. Here’s how its four pillars align with the sector’s most pressing needs.

1. Sector leadership and strategic influence

For universities and colleges to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape, the sector needs a strong, informed voice influencing national policy. Decisions on AI governance, cybersecurity standards, and digital research infrastructure will shape the conditions for innovation and competitiveness. By ensuring these policies are informed by evidence-based research and insights into how digital, data, and technology are experienced and managed across education and research, the sector can secure investment, reduce risk, and create an environment where technology drives better outcomes for learners, researchers, and the broader economy.

That voice must also ensure smart use of data – where Jisc’s role as the designated data body, through its merger with the Higher Education Statistics Agency, helps reduce burden and improve insight. Strategic partnerships, such as the recent agreement with the Association of Colleges and collaborations with Colleges Wales, Ufi VocTech Trust, and Universities UK strengthen advocacy and ensure digital priorities reflect the needs of learners and educators across all nations. Over the next five years, Jisc’s deeper engagement with government, funders, and senior leaders will be critical to embedding digital thinking into policy and strategy across the UK.

2. Focus on sector-wide challenges

Digital infrastructure underpins everything from research breakthroughs to everyday learning. As demand for bandwidth and data grows, driven by AI, high-performance computing, and new learning models, the sector needs networks and security systems that can scale.

At the same time, financial pressures compound these challenges. Rising costs, resource constraints, and the need to keep pace with digital technology affects all institutions. Collective negotiations with major vendors can deliver significant savings, while shared services for cloud, cybersecurity, and data management reduce duplication and free up resources for teaching and research.

These efficiencies work only if the underlying infrastructure is strong. The Janet network remains the backbone for UK education and research. Projects such as the Isambard AI supercomputer at the University of Bristol highlight the scale of future requirements: vast data flows and advanced computing power that demands resilient, high-capacity connectivity. Sustaining and strengthening Janet, alongside robust cybersecurity measures, ensures institutions can innovate confidently, protect intellectual property, and remain globally competitive. This is about creating the conditions for progress, not just for today, but for the next decade.

3. Financial sustainability and commercial focus

To continue delivering value and protect essential services, Jisc must operate sustainably. For 12 years, Jisc has operated on flat cash funding, even as demand for digital infrastructure and services has grown exponentially. To continue meeting members’ evolving needs, Jisc is becoming more commercially focused, developing sustainable models and exploring new ways to support members. This approach ensures that collaboration continues to be at the heart of all that we do, and that every institution, regardless of size, can access the tools and infrastructure needed to succeed.

4. Operational excellence and agility

Embedding digital into strategy also means ensuring the organisations that support education are fit for the future. Jisc is investing in its own products, services, and back-office systems to deliver a more streamlined, joined-up experience for members. By removing silos and modernising processes, we aim to save money and provide greater value, while responding quickly to emerging needs. These changes are designed to make it easier for institutions to access the infrastructure, data, and expertise they need, without complexity or duplication, helping the sector focus on what matters most: teaching, research, and innovation.

Looking ahead to 2030

At Jisc, we are fully aware of the scale of the challenges facing the sector, and we take our supportive responsibilities seriously. The next five years will define how UK tertiary education responds to the accelerating pace of digital change. Our commitment is not only to help institutions meet those challenges, but to ensure they can seize the opportunities that digital and data present, helping students, researchers, and all of us across the UK to prosper in the future.

We will work with our members to create the right conditions for innovation: secure infrastructure, smarter use of data, and a culture that sees digital as integral to strategy, not an add-on. By working collectively and planning for scale, we can turn complexity into opportunity and ensure learners and researchers benefit from world-class technology.

The challenge is clear, and so is our ambition: to make digital transformation the foundation for the sector’s future.

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January 5, 2026
Structural Advantage and Financial Resilience in American Higher Education
Historically White Institutions (HWIs) occupy a distinctive position in the U.S. higher education landscape. Defined by their origins as institutions serving predominantly White students during eras of segregation, HWIs today include many of the nation’s most prominent colleges and universities. While often overlooked in discussions about equity, their historical and structural context provides key insight into why these institutions remain financially resilient even as other colleges, particularly smaller or more diverse institutions, struggle (Darity & Hamilton, 2015; Jackson, 2018).

Understanding HWIs

HWIs are schools founded to educate White students in a segregated society. Unlike Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or tribal colleges, HWIs historically excluded students of color. Today, they often enroll more diverse student populations than in the past, but their demographic and financial legacies remain.

Some of the largest and most prominent HWIs in the U.S. include:
- Brigham Young University (UT) — affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS); majority White enrollment; nationally recognized academic and athletic programs.
- University of Notre Dame (IN) — Catholic research university with a large endowment and historically majority White student body; high national profile academically and athletically.
- Boston College (MA) — Catholic research university; historically White, strong alumni networks, and notable national reputation.
- Marquette University (WI) — Catholic university; majority White; prominent regionally and nationally in academics and athletics.
- Select public flagships in predominantly White states — such as University of Wisconsin–Madison and University of Michigan, whose student bodies historically reflect state demographics and remain disproportionately White relative to national averages.
These institutions collectively represent a significant portion of the elite, high-profile U.S. higher education sector, and they share common financial and structural advantages rooted in their historical composition (Smith, 2019; Harper, 2020).

Financial Advantages Linked to Demographics

Several factors stemming from HWI status contribute to financial stability:
1. Alumni Wealth and Giving
  
  Historically, HWIs drew students from communities with greater intergenerational wealth. Today, this translates into strong alumni giving networks, major gifts, and multi-generational planned giving (Darity & Hamilton, 2015; Gasman, 2012). Universities like Notre Dame, BYU, and Boston College leverage these networks to maintain robust endowments and fund major campaigns.
2. Endowment Growth and Stability
  
  HWIs often have substantial endowments accumulated over decades. Early access to philanthropic networks and preferential funding opportunities during eras when colleges serving communities of color were systematically underfunded contributed to long-term financial resilience (Gasman, 2012; Perna, 2006). Endowments provide flexibility for scholarships, faculty hiring, campus infrastructure, and new initiatives — crucial buffers against enrollment volatility.
3. Religious and Regional Networks
  
  Many prominent HWIs are faith-based (BYU, Notre Dame, Boston College, Marquette). Their institutional networks foster recruitment, donations, and career placement. These social structures create operational and financial advantages that are difficult for newer or demographically diverse institutions to replicate (Harper, 2020; Museus & Quaye, 2009).
Comparative Risks: HWIs vs. Other Institutions

The financial and structural advantages of large HWIs become especially apparent when compared to smaller or mid-sized colleges that have closed or struggled in recent years, including faith-based and regional institutions with smaller endowments or more diverse student populations (Perna, 2006; Gasman, 2012). The historical demographic composition of HWIs — and the associated alumni wealth and networks — provides a buffer that allows them to weather challenges that might otherwise threaten institutional survival.

Challenges and Future Considerations

While HWIs enjoy structural advantages, they are not invulnerable. Changing demographics, particularly declining percentages of White high school graduates in key regions, present long-term enrollment challenges (Harper, 2020). HWIs that fail to diversify both their student bodies and donor bases may find these historical advantages eroded over time.

Moreover, institutions must balance financial stability with commitments to equity and inclusion. Over-reliance on historically White alumni networks can reinforce systemic inequities if not paired with active strategies to support students of color and broaden philanthropy (Smith, 2019; Jackson, 2018).

Legacies of Religion and White Privilege

Historically White Institutions provide a clear example of how demographic legacy intersects with financial resilience in higher education. Large HWIs such as Notre Dame, BYU, Boston College, Marquette, and select public flagships have leveraged endowments, alumni networks, and religious and regional structures to maintain stability and prominence.

Yet these advantages carry responsibilities: HWIs must adapt to shifting demographics, diversify both student and donor populations, and ensure that financial strength supports equity alongside institutional growth. Understanding HWIs is essential for policymakers, educators, and funders seeking to navigate the complex landscape of American higher education.

Selected Academic Sources
- Darity, W.A., & Hamilton, D. (2015). Separate and Unequal: The Legacy of Racial Segregation in Higher Education. In The Color of Crime Revisited.
- Gasman, M. (2012). The Changing Face of Private Higher Education: Wealth, Race, and Philanthropy. Journal of Higher Education, 83(4), 481–508.
- Harper, S.R. (2020). Racial Inequality in Higher Education: The Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion. Review of Research in Education, 44(1), 113–141.
- Jackson, J.F.L. (2018). Diversity and Racial Stratification at Predominantly White Colleges. New Directions for Higher Education, 181, 7–23.
- Museus, S.D., & Quaye, S.J. (2009). Toward an Understanding of How Historically White Colleges and Universities Handle Racial Diversity. ASHE Higher Education Report, 35(1).
- Perna, L.W. (2006). Understanding the Relationship Between Resource Allocation and Student Outcomes at Predominantly White Institutions. Review of Higher Education, 29(3), 247–272.
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December 21, 2025
A Professor’s Framework for Meaningful, Joyful, and Sustainable Work – Faculty Focus

One of the unexpected gifts of the pandemic was the clarity it brought. We need to care for ourselves in more substantial and intentional ways if we want to show up fully in the world. For me, that realization sometimes came uncomfortably, as I reflected on just how often I was drained and exhausted.  While I supported students through a first-year seminar course called Becoming More Resilient, designed to help students navigate the challenges of the pandemic with a little more ease, I realized I hadn’t yet found a similar framework that resonated with me.

After moving through some challenging seasons of blurred boundaries and little time to focus on my priorities, I found myself drawn to the idea of some kind of daily rhythm that could support my well-being in a more intentional way. Over time, a simple framework began to take shape. It doesn’t solve everything, but it gently reminds me of what helps me feel more whole, more present, and more grounded in my life and work.

When I integrate this structure into my life, I’m not just more productive, I show up more fully for my students, my colleagues, and myself. What follows is the framework I’ve come to rely on: five key pillars of care and support that help me stay grounded and energized.

Emotional Resilience: Boundaries, Self-Compassion, and Self-Awareness

Emotional resilience isn’t about pushing through and bouncing back. For me, it’s about learning how to pause and listen to what I need. I’ve started using a simple journaling practice to reflect on my emotional highs and lows each week, which helps me notice patterns I might otherwise miss. I’ve also learned to be more deliberate with boundaries. I keep email and letter templates for common situations that tend to drain me, and I am generous with my office/student hours, which then allows me to close my door at other times during the week without guilt. When things feel especially hard, I’ve come to rely on a few quiet moments of self-compassion, reminding myself that doing enough is different from doing everything. I have sticky notes of mantras that I shared with students during the pandemic that I appreciate now, like “progress over perfection” and “I am enough.” While I don’t practice these as consistently as I would like, when I do, they’ve helped me show up with less stress and more grace.

How to Get Started:

Practice simple, kind ways to say no like: “It sounds like a wonderful opportunity but I’m at full capacity.”

Physical Well-being: Movement, Nutrition, Sleep

Physical wellbeing was the first thing I let slide when work became overwhelming, but I’ve slowly started to shift that pattern. I’ve learned that even small amounts of movement, like a walk on campus–bonus points for connecting with a colleague while walking–or even standing for online meetings, can reset my energy. I’ve also begun paying more attention to how I nourish myself during the day. I embraced intermittent fasting and rarely ate until 2 pm. This regular practice has many benefits, but it likely spiked my cortisol levels. Now I keep fruit, nuts, and simple salads on hand and a thermos of hot water for tea. And I’m finally protecting my sleep with a bit more intention: shutting down my screens earlier, winding down with a book, and starting my day in the early morning sun to reset my circadian rhythm. I don’t do it perfectly, but when I take care of my body, everything else feels more manageable.

How to Get Started:

Plan and pack some healthy foods to keep you fueled throughout your day. Limit the vending machine to emergencies.

Stress-Relief: Meditation, Rejuvenation, Relaxation

Finding ways to truly relieve stress—rather than just powering through it—has become one of the most important parts of my routine. My partner and I start our day with a morning meditation. This sacred time seems to create more space in my brain for the day ahead. I’ve also started building in short moments of stillness throughout the day, even if it’s just a few deep breaths. These tiny pauses help me reset, especially when the day starts to feel like a blur. I add some rejuvenating activities on my calendar: walking with my son, working in the garden, rolling out my Yoga mat. All are free and simple. Relaxation doesn’t always mean doing nothing; sometimes it’s music, journaling, or simply giving myself permission to stop working before I’m completely depleted. These small choices remind me that I’m allowed to move through my day with more ease.

How to Get Started:

Add a three-minute reset to your morning. Set the timer for three minutes, close your eyes and simply breath, allowing all thoughts to float by like clouds.

Meaningful Living: Joy, Connection, Creativity

I’ve come to realize that for me, meaningful living means making space for the things that fuel me—joy, creativity, and connection. It’s easy to let these fall to the bottom of the list when deadlines pile up, but when I protect them, everything else feels more doable. I carve out small pockets of time to do something creative and joyful like cooking something new, writing for myself, going to a farmers’ market or exploring a new bookstore or town. I try to stay connected to the people who matter, even if it’s just a quick check-in or a shared laugh. I also notice that I enjoy the time that I spend with my students when I am not overwhelmed with other aspects of my job. The classroom can be a joyful, connected space filled with creativity when we allow ourselves to be fully present and engaged. These moments remind me that life is about way more than productivity. These experiences bring me back to what I value.

How to Get Started:

Chart your best moment of the day in a journal. Soon you will have 365 best moments! I love this practice because even the worst days have a best moment.

Time and Energy Protection: Prioritize, Say No with Kindness, Focus

Saying no with kindness has been a practice, one that allows me to be more intentional about where my energy goes. I have many passions so saying no sometimes feels like a missed opportunity. The more I am aligned with my priorities and core values, the more I can empower myself to decline offers. I started a new practice in which I named one focus for the day. For example, I may be teaching a class on Wednesday, but my main focus is to revise an article, grade papers, or attend a complex committee meeting on that day. I give myself a high five for completing the focus and give myself grace if some loose ends remain from the day. One area where I need work is guarding space for creative work, the kind that needs unhurried thinking and a little room to breathe. It’s not always easy, but I recently had an epiphany about how focusing on what matters and saying no to all the rest allows me to bring my best self to my work.

How to Get Started:

Name your focus of the day. Prepare to tackle just that one thing well. Give yourself grace for whatever remains unfinished.

These practices didn’t come to me all at once; they’ve taken shape slowly, over time, through trial and error, losses and wins. What I’ve found is that caring for myself in these intentional ways isn’t separate from my work as a professor, it’s what makes the work sustainable, meaningful, and even joyful. By tending to the five pillars of the framework, I’ve created a rhythm that helps me show up more fully, celebrating small wins along the way.  It’s not a perfect system, but the structure that it provides makes my life better. And in this season of my life and career, that feels like enough.

Julie Sochacki is a clinical associate professor who has worn several hats at her university over the past few years including interim director of the university’s teaching center, associate dean of student academic services, and most recently, writing director. Check out her Substack with colleague, Patrick Allen: The Inspired Teaching Podcast.

Source link

December 15, 2025
A Professor’s Framework for Meaningful, Joyful, and Sustainable Work – Faculty Focus

One of the unexpected gifts of the pandemic was the clarity it brought. We need to care for ourselves in more substantial and intentional ways if we want to show up fully in the world. For me, that realization sometimes came uncomfortably, as I reflected on just how often I was drained and exhausted.  While I supported students through a first-year seminar course called Becoming More Resilient, designed to help students navigate the challenges of the pandemic with a little more ease, I realized I hadn’t yet found a similar framework that resonated with me.

After moving through some challenging seasons of blurred boundaries and little time to focus on my priorities, I found myself drawn to the idea of some kind of daily rhythm that could support my well-being in a more intentional way. Over time, a simple framework began to take shape. It doesn’t solve everything, but it gently reminds me of what helps me feel more whole, more present, and more grounded in my life and work.

When I integrate this structure into my life, I’m not just more productive, I show up more fully for my students, my colleagues, and myself. What follows is the framework I’ve come to rely on: five key pillars of care and support that help me stay grounded and energized.

Emotional Resilience: Boundaries, Self-Compassion, and Self-Awareness

Emotional resilience isn’t about pushing through and bouncing back. For me, it’s about learning how to pause and listen to what I need. I’ve started using a simple journaling practice to reflect on my emotional highs and lows each week, which helps me notice patterns I might otherwise miss. I’ve also learned to be more deliberate with boundaries. I keep email and letter templates for common situations that tend to drain me, and I am generous with my office/student hours, which then allows me to close my door at other times during the week without guilt. When things feel especially hard, I’ve come to rely on a few quiet moments of self-compassion, reminding myself that doing enough is different from doing everything. I have sticky notes of mantras that I shared with students during the pandemic that I appreciate now, like “progress over perfection” and “I am enough.” While I don’t practice these as consistently as I would like, when I do, they’ve helped me show up with less stress and more grace.

How to Get Started:

Practice simple, kind ways to say no like: “It sounds like a wonderful opportunity but I’m at full capacity.”

Physical Well-being: Movement, Nutrition, Sleep

Physical wellbeing was the first thing I let slide when work became overwhelming, but I’ve slowly started to shift that pattern. I’ve learned that even small amounts of movement, like a walk on campus–bonus points for connecting with a colleague while walking–or even standing for online meetings, can reset my energy. I’ve also begun paying more attention to how I nourish myself during the day. I embraced intermittent fasting and rarely ate until 2 pm. This regular practice has many benefits, but it likely spiked my cortisol levels. Now I keep fruit, nuts, and simple salads on hand and a thermos of hot water for tea. And I’m finally protecting my sleep with a bit more intention: shutting down my screens earlier, winding down with a book, and starting my day in the early morning sun to reset my circadian rhythm. I don’t do it perfectly, but when I take care of my body, everything else feels more manageable.

How to Get Started:

Plan and pack some healthy foods to keep you fueled throughout your day. Limit the vending machine to emergencies.

Stress-Relief: Meditation, Rejuvenation, Relaxation

Finding ways to truly relieve stress—rather than just powering through it—has become one of the most important parts of my routine. My partner and I start our day with a morning meditation. This sacred time seems to create more space in my brain for the day ahead. I’ve also started building in short moments of stillness throughout the day, even if it’s just a few deep breaths. These tiny pauses help me reset, especially when the day starts to feel like a blur. I add some rejuvenating activities on my calendar: walking with my son, working in the garden, rolling out my Yoga mat. All are free and simple. Relaxation doesn’t always mean doing nothing; sometimes it’s music, journaling, or simply giving myself permission to stop working before I’m completely depleted. These small choices remind me that I’m allowed to move through my day with more ease.

How to Get Started:

Add a three-minute reset to your morning. Set the timer for three minutes, close your eyes and simply breath, allowing all thoughts to float by like clouds.

Meaningful Living: Joy, Connection, Creativity

I’ve come to realize that for me, meaningful living means making space for the things that fuel me—joy, creativity, and connection. It’s easy to let these fall to the bottom of the list when deadlines pile up, but when I protect them, everything else feels more doable. I carve out small pockets of time to do something creative and joyful like cooking something new, writing for myself, going to a farmers’ market or exploring a new bookstore or town. I try to stay connected to the people who matter, even if it’s just a quick check-in or a shared laugh. I also notice that I enjoy the time that I spend with my students when I am not overwhelmed with other aspects of my job. The classroom can be a joyful, connected space filled with creativity when we allow ourselves to be fully present and engaged. These moments remind me that life is about way more than productivity. These experiences bring me back to what I value.

How to Get Started:

Chart your best moment of the day in a journal. Soon you will have 365 best moments! I love this practice because even the worst days have a best moment.

Time and Energy Protection: Prioritize, Say No with Kindness, Focus

Saying no with kindness has been a practice, one that allows me to be more intentional about where my energy goes. I have many passions so saying no sometimes feels like a missed opportunity. The more I am aligned with my priorities and core values, the more I can empower myself to decline offers. I started a new practice in which I named one focus for the day. For example, I may be teaching a class on Wednesday, but my main focus is to revise an article, grade papers, or attend a complex committee meeting on that day. I give myself a high five for completing the focus and give myself grace if some loose ends remain from the day. One area where I need work is guarding space for creative work, the kind that needs unhurried thinking and a little room to breathe. It’s not always easy, but I recently had an epiphany about how focusing on what matters and saying no to all the rest allows me to bring my best self to my work.

How to Get Started:

Name your focus of the day. Prepare to tackle just that one thing well. Give yourself grace for whatever remains unfinished.

These practices didn’t come to me all at once; they’ve taken shape slowly, over time, through trial and error, losses and wins. What I’ve found is that caring for myself in these intentional ways isn’t separate from my work as a professor, it’s what makes the work sustainable, meaningful, and even joyful. By tending to the five pillars of the framework, I’ve created a rhythm that helps me show up more fully, celebrating small wins along the way.  It’s not a perfect system, but the structure that it provides makes my life better. And in this season of my life and career, that feels like enough.

Julie Sochacki is a clinical associate professor who has worn several hats at her university over the past few years including interim director of the university’s teaching center, associate dean of student academic services, and most recently, writing director. Check out her Substack with colleague, Patrick Allen: The Inspired Teaching Podcast.

Source link

December 15, 2025
Report Cards, Reshuffles, and Resilience: What Ofsted’s new model could mean for higher education
This blog was kindly authored by Dr. Ismini Vasileiou, Associate Professor at De Montfort University.

The UK Higher Education sector is at a crossroads. With the government’s skills agenda being reshaped, institutions under growing financial pressure, and the first-ever merger between two English universities announced, the landscape is shifting faster than many had anticipated. Into this mix comes Ofsted’s new Report Card for Further Education & Skills (September 2025), which introduces a sharper accountability framework for further education providers.

The report card grades institutions across areas such as Leadership & Governance, Inclusion, Safeguarding, and Contribution to Meeting Skills Needs. At programme level, it assesses Curriculum, Teaching & Training, Achievement, and Participation & Development against a tiered scale ranging from Exceptional to Urgent Improvement.

While this is designed for further education and skills providers, its arrival raises an uncomfortable but necessary question for universities: what if higher education were graded in the same way?

The case for simplicity and transparency

Universities are already subject to layers of oversight through the Office for Students (OfS), the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), the National Student Survey (NSS), and graduate outcomes data. Yet, as I noted in the recent Cyber Workforce of the Future white paper, these mechanisms often appear fragmented to policymakers and incomprehensible to the public.

By contrast, the further education report card is direct. A parent, student, or employer can understand at a glance whether a provider is exceptional, strong, or in urgent need of improvement. Were higher education to adopt a similar model, judgments might cover:
- Leadership & Governance: financial resilience, strategic direction, governance quality.
- Inclusion: widening participation, closing attainment gaps, embedding equity strategies.
- Safeguarding/Wellbeing: provision for student welfare, mental health, harassment and misconduct.
- Skills Contribution: alignment with regional economic needs, national priorities in AI and cybersecurity, and graduate employment outcomes.
At the programme level, Achievement and Participation could map onto retention, progression, and graduate success, offering students and employers a clear view of performance.

Risks and rewards for higher education

Of course, importing a schools-style accountability regime into higher education carries risks. Universities are not homogeneous, and reducing their diverse missions to a traffic-light system risks oversimplification. A specialist arts institution and a research-intensive university might both be rated ‘Needs Attention’ on skills contribution, despite playing very different roles in the national ecosystem.

There is also the danger of gaming the system: universities optimising for ratings rather than long-term innovation. And autonomy, long a cornerstone of higher education, would be at stake.

Yet there are potential rewards. Public trust in higher education has been under strain, with questions over value for money and financial viability dominating the narrative. Transparent, comprehensible reporting could rebuild confidence and demonstrate sector-wide commitment to accountability. It could also strengthen alignment with further education at a time when government is explicitly seeking a joined-up skills system.

A shifting policy landscape

The September 2025 government reshuffle underscores why this debate matters. The resignation of Angela Rayner triggered a wide Cabinet reorganisation, with skills responsibilities moving out of the Department for Education and into a new ‘growth’ portfolio under the Department for Work and Pensions, led by Pat McFadden. This shift signals that some elements of skills policy are now seen primarily through an economic and labour market lens.

For Higher Education, this presents both challenges and opportunities. As argued in Bridging the Skills Divide: Higher Education’s Role in Delivering the UK’s Plan for Change, universities must demonstrate that they are not just centres of academic excellence but engines of workforce development, innovation, and regional growth. A report-card style framework could make these contributions more visible, but only if universities are part of its design.

Structural Change: The Kent–Greenwich merger

The announcement that the Universities of Kent and Greenwich will merge in autumn 2026 to form the London and South East University Group is a watershed moment for the sector. It is the first merger of its kind in England, driven by financial pressures from declining international student enrolments, static domestic fees, and mounting operational costs.

The merged entity will serve around 28,000 undergraduates, retain the identities of both institutions, and be led by Greenwich Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane Harrington. Yet concerns remain. The University and College Union (UCU) has warned that ‘this isn’t a merger; it is a takeover’ and called for urgent reassurance on staff jobs and student provision.

In a system with Ofsted-style ratings, such a merger would be scrutinised not just for its financial logic but also for its impact on governance, inclusion, and skills contribution. A transparent rating system might reassure stakeholders that the merged institution is not only viable but also delivering quality and meeting regional needs.

Building on skills agendas

National initiatives like Skills England, the Digital Skills Partnership, and programmes such as CyberLocal demonstrate how higher education can contribute to workforce resilience at scale. The Ofsted report card reinforces this agenda. Its emphasis on contribution to meeting skills needs aligns directly with the notion that higher education must play a central role in the UK’s skills ecosystem, not only through degree provision but through continuous upskilling, regional collaboration, and adaptive curricula.

Shaping the framework before it shapes us

Ofsted’s further education report card is not just an accountability mechanism; it is a signal of where education policy is heading, toward clarity, comparability, and alignment with skills needs.

For higher education, the choice is stark. Resist the model and risk having it imposed in ways that do not fit the sector’s diversity. Or lead the design, shaping a framework that balances accountability with autonomy, and skills with scholarship.

As Universities confront financial pressures, policy reshuffles, and structural change, one thing is clear: the sector cannot afford to sit this debate out. The real question is not whether Higher Education should be graded, but what kind of grading system we would design if given the chance.
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October 16, 2025
The Possibility of Our Problems: Educating for the Futures Our Students Will Face – Faculty Focus
“Colleges are now closing at a pace of one per week. What happens to the students?” Jon Marcus asked in a recent Hechinger Report piece. It’s not a rhetorical question — and it doesn’t have an easy answer. As educators, we’ve read the headlines, seen the numbers, and felt the pressure. Undergraduate enrollment is down. Student confidence is eroding. The enrollment cliff looms.

But instead of asking when higher education will fail, we might ask: What if this is a market correction — not a collapse? What if the problem isn’t higher education itself, but how we’ve framed its value and how we’ve taught? What if this moment is less an ending and more a beginning?

In the face of uncertainty, it’s tempting to focus on control: measurable learning outcomes, career-ready skills, standardized assessments. But today’s students are entering a competitive job market — and a world defined by accelerating change, emerging technologies, and challenges we haven’t yet named. That means our teaching needs to prepare them what’s likely and for what’s possible — and even what’s unknowable.

Ronald Beghetto’s framework for “educating for unknowable futures” offers a helpful lens. He proposes three levels of preparation:
1. Educating for likely futures: equipping students with foundational skills and durable knowledge.
1. Educating for possible futures: helping students build agency, creativity, and adaptability.
1. Educating for unknowable futures: inviting students to grapple with uncertainty through reflection and imagination.
Each level requires a shift in how we think about learning and a new set of pedagogical commitments.

1. Educating for Likely Futures: Redesigning Assignments Around Students’ Real Lives

Career readiness remains a core concern. But often, our tools for building it are misaligned with students’ actual experiences. Take the classic business case method, for example: many cases center Fortune 500 CEOs or global crises, which can feel abstract or inaccessible to undergraduates, especially first-generation students.

That’s why I now write my own cases: short, specific, and grounded in contexts my students know. In one recent one, I explored a conflict between student-athletes and faculty at a nearby Division III college. For my mostly student-athlete class, this was familiar and therefore grounding. Their analysis shifted. So did their engagement.

Designing assignments that reflect students’ likely futures — their majors, their industries, their regions — signals that their lives are valid sites of learning. It builds relevance. And it reminds them that professional decision-making doesn’t start “out there.” It starts here.

2. Educating for Possible Futures: Using EdTech with Purpose

Students also need to develop adaptive skills: how to think critically, navigate ambiguity, and evaluate tools in evolving environments. EdTech is a perfect place to practice this.

Today’s education market is flooded with tools — over 370 vendors across over 40 market segments, according to Encoura. But quantity isn’t quality. Too often, we adopt tools based on novelty or institutional trends rather than instructional value.

To support students in building discernment, we must model it ourselves. That means asking: Does this tool solve a real problem in my class? Does it deliver on its promises? Does it support learning equitably and sustainably?

In other words, we must shift from passive adopters to intentional evaluators and invite students into that evaluative process. Helping them think about how technology shapes learning (and their own agency within it) equips them for any environment, not just the one we’ve built.

3. Educating for Unknowable Futures: Making Space for Reflection

Preparing students for the truly unknown requires something more radical: making space for performance, yes, but also for reflection.

In a recent MBA course on negotiation and conflict, I made a bold move: I assigned weekly reflection journals — raw, stream-of-consciousness entries that linked course themes to students’ lived experiences. Some students resisted at first. But by the end, many said it changed the way they approached class and life.

Reflection is often treated as an add-on, something optional or “soft.” But it’s essential. It helps students surface assumptions, interrogate choices, and practice metacognition. And in a world where knowledge and skills are constantly evolving, the ability to learn how to learn may be the most durable skill of all.

Possibility Thinking, in Practice

If our current moment is a reckoning, then our response must be one of responsibility. We cannot guarantee our students a particular future. But we can offer them the tools to shape one.

Beghetto calls this “agentic awareness” — a belief in one’s ability to influence outcomes. It’s a curriculum and a posture. And it’s something we can model by how we teach: with creativity, clarity, and curiosity.

So the next time you see another headline about higher ed’s collapse, ask yourself: What if we treated this as a moment to reimagine rather than as a crisis to survive?

That’s resilience, and it’s possibility thinking in action.

Three Small Shifts You Can Make This Semester

Now is the perfect time to start leaning into the possibility of our problems. To do so, try:
1. Redesigning one assignment to reflect your students’ actual career goals or lived experiences. Meeting students where they are will help them better envision where they’re headed.
1. Asking your classroom technology better questions. Push beyond features to real learning outcomes when you choose to invite EdTech into your classroom.
1. Making reflection part of the grade. Don’t treat it as busywork but as weighted, important meaning-making.
Higher education may be facing unprecedented disruption, but disruption doesn’t have to mean decline. In fact, the classroom may be one of the last places where we still have real influence over what comes next. Each lesson we design, each conversation we facilitate, each moment we create for reflection — these are acts of future-building.

Educating for unknowable futures doesn’t mean we need to predict what’s next. It means we help students learn to ask better questions, adapt with confidence, and recognize their own capacity to shape change. And it means we embrace that same mindset ourselves.

The future of higher education won’t be saved by sweeping reforms or silver-bullet technologies. It will be co-created — one thoughtful assignment, one intentional choice, one student at a time. And that work starts not in distant policy meetings, but right here, in our classrooms.

Laura Nicole Miller, DET, is an assistant professor in the Grenon School of Business at Assumption University, where she teaches organizational communication, marketing, and management. A first-generation college graduate and former EdTech executive, she studies how communication practices shape equity, trust, and student success in high-stakes environments.

References

Bauman, D. (2024, February 7). Colleges were already bracing for an ‘enrollment cliff.’ Now there might be a second one. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/colleges-were-already-bracing-for-an-enrollment-cliff-now-there-might-be-a-second-one

Beghetto, R. A. (2023). Broadening horizons of the possible in education. Possibility Studies & Society, 1(4), 414-426. https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699231182014

Binkley, C. (2023, March 10). Why more Americans are skipping college. PBS News. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/why-more-americans-are-skipping-college

Craft, A. (2015). Possibility thinking: From what is to what might be. In R. Wegerif, L. Li, & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of research on teaching thinking (pp. 15–26). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315797021

Encoura. (2023). Higher education technology landscape research. https://www.encoura.org/eduventures-research/evolve-your-online-strategy/tech-landscape/

Fry, R., Braga, D., & Parker, K. (2024, May 23). Is college worth it? Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/05/23/is-college-worth-it-2/

Marcus, J. (2024, April 26). Colleges are now closing at a pace of one a week. What happens to the students? The Hechinger Report. https://hechingerreport.org/colleges-are-now-closing-at-a-pace-of-one-a-week-what-happens-to-the-students/

Miller, L. N. (2025). “D-III students deserve better”: strategic communication with college stakeholders. The CASE Journal, 21(3), 493-516. https://doi.org/10.1108/TCJ-06-2024-0184

Miller, L.N. (2025). We need to ask smarter questions of ed tech. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2025/07/30/we-need-ask-smarter-questions-ed-tech-opinion
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October 10, 2025
The Possibility of Our Problems: Educating for the Futures Our Students Will Face – Faculty Focus
“Colleges are now closing at a pace of one per week. What happens to the students?” Jon Marcus asked in a recent Hechinger Report piece. It’s not a rhetorical question — and it doesn’t have an easy answer. As educators, we’ve read the headlines, seen the numbers, and felt the pressure. Undergraduate enrollment is down. Student confidence is eroding. The enrollment cliff looms.

But instead of asking when higher education will fail, we might ask: What if this is a market correction — not a collapse? What if the problem isn’t higher education itself, but how we’ve framed its value and how we’ve taught? What if this moment is less an ending and more a beginning?

In the face of uncertainty, it’s tempting to focus on control: measurable learning outcomes, career-ready skills, standardized assessments. But today’s students are entering a competitive job market — and a world defined by accelerating change, emerging technologies, and challenges we haven’t yet named. That means our teaching needs to prepare them what’s likely and for what’s possible — and even what’s unknowable.

Ronald Beghetto’s framework for “educating for unknowable futures” offers a helpful lens. He proposes three levels of preparation:
1. Educating for likely futures: equipping students with foundational skills and durable knowledge.
1. Educating for possible futures: helping students build agency, creativity, and adaptability.
1. Educating for unknowable futures: inviting students to grapple with uncertainty through reflection and imagination.
Each level requires a shift in how we think about learning and a new set of pedagogical commitments.

1. Educating for Likely Futures: Redesigning Assignments Around Students’ Real Lives

Career readiness remains a core concern. But often, our tools for building it are misaligned with students’ actual experiences. Take the classic business case method, for example: many cases center Fortune 500 CEOs or global crises, which can feel abstract or inaccessible to undergraduates, especially first-generation students.

That’s why I now write my own cases: short, specific, and grounded in contexts my students know. In one recent one, I explored a conflict between student-athletes and faculty at a nearby Division III college. For my mostly student-athlete class, this was familiar and therefore grounding. Their analysis shifted. So did their engagement.

Designing assignments that reflect students’ likely futures — their majors, their industries, their regions — signals that their lives are valid sites of learning. It builds relevance. And it reminds them that professional decision-making doesn’t start “out there.” It starts here.

2. Educating for Possible Futures: Using EdTech with Purpose

Students also need to develop adaptive skills: how to think critically, navigate ambiguity, and evaluate tools in evolving environments. EdTech is a perfect place to practice this.

Today’s education market is flooded with tools — over 370 vendors across over 40 market segments, according to Encoura. But quantity isn’t quality. Too often, we adopt tools based on novelty or institutional trends rather than instructional value.

To support students in building discernment, we must model it ourselves. That means asking: Does this tool solve a real problem in my class? Does it deliver on its promises? Does it support learning equitably and sustainably?

In other words, we must shift from passive adopters to intentional evaluators and invite students into that evaluative process. Helping them think about how technology shapes learning (and their own agency within it) equips them for any environment, not just the one we’ve built.

3. Educating for Unknowable Futures: Making Space for Reflection

Preparing students for the truly unknown requires something more radical: making space for performance, yes, but also for reflection.

In a recent MBA course on negotiation and conflict, I made a bold move: I assigned weekly reflection journals — raw, stream-of-consciousness entries that linked course themes to students’ lived experiences. Some students resisted at first. But by the end, many said it changed the way they approached class and life.

Reflection is often treated as an add-on, something optional or “soft.” But it’s essential. It helps students surface assumptions, interrogate choices, and practice metacognition. And in a world where knowledge and skills are constantly evolving, the ability to learn how to learn may be the most durable skill of all.

Possibility Thinking, in Practice

If our current moment is a reckoning, then our response must be one of responsibility. We cannot guarantee our students a particular future. But we can offer them the tools to shape one.

Beghetto calls this “agentic awareness” — a belief in one’s ability to influence outcomes. It’s a curriculum and a posture. And it’s something we can model by how we teach: with creativity, clarity, and curiosity.

So the next time you see another headline about higher ed’s collapse, ask yourself: What if we treated this as a moment to reimagine rather than as a crisis to survive?

That’s resilience, and it’s possibility thinking in action.

Three Small Shifts You Can Make This Semester

Now is the perfect time to start leaning into the possibility of our problems. To do so, try:
1. Redesigning one assignment to reflect your students’ actual career goals or lived experiences. Meeting students where they are will help them better envision where they’re headed.
1. Asking your classroom technology better questions. Push beyond features to real learning outcomes when you choose to invite EdTech into your classroom.
1. Making reflection part of the grade. Don’t treat it as busywork but as weighted, important meaning-making.
Higher education may be facing unprecedented disruption, but disruption doesn’t have to mean decline. In fact, the classroom may be one of the last places where we still have real influence over what comes next. Each lesson we design, each conversation we facilitate, each moment we create for reflection — these are acts of future-building.

Educating for unknowable futures doesn’t mean we need to predict what’s next. It means we help students learn to ask better questions, adapt with confidence, and recognize their own capacity to shape change. And it means we embrace that same mindset ourselves.

The future of higher education won’t be saved by sweeping reforms or silver-bullet technologies. It will be co-created — one thoughtful assignment, one intentional choice, one student at a time. And that work starts not in distant policy meetings, but right here, in our classrooms.

Laura Nicole Miller, DET, is an assistant professor in the Grenon School of Business at Assumption University, where she teaches organizational communication, marketing, and management. A first-generation college graduate and former EdTech executive, she studies how communication practices shape equity, trust, and student success in high-stakes environments.

References

Bauman, D. (2024, February 7). Colleges were already bracing for an ‘enrollment cliff.’ Now there might be a second one. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/colleges-were-already-bracing-for-an-enrollment-cliff-now-there-might-be-a-second-one

Beghetto, R. A. (2023). Broadening horizons of the possible in education. Possibility Studies & Society, 1(4), 414-426. https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699231182014

Binkley, C. (2023, March 10). Why more Americans are skipping college. PBS News. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/why-more-americans-are-skipping-college

Craft, A. (2015). Possibility thinking: From what is to what might be. In R. Wegerif, L. Li, & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of research on teaching thinking (pp. 15–26). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315797021

Encoura. (2023). Higher education technology landscape research. https://www.encoura.org/eduventures-research/evolve-your-online-strategy/tech-landscape/

Fry, R., Braga, D., & Parker, K. (2024, May 23). Is college worth it? Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/05/23/is-college-worth-it-2/

Marcus, J. (2024, April 26). Colleges are now closing at a pace of one a week. What happens to the students? The Hechinger Report. https://hechingerreport.org/colleges-are-now-closing-at-a-pace-of-one-a-week-what-happens-to-the-students/

Miller, L. N. (2025). “D-III students deserve better”: strategic communication with college stakeholders. The CASE Journal, 21(3), 493-516. https://doi.org/10.1108/TCJ-06-2024-0184

Miller, L.N. (2025). We need to ask smarter questions of ed tech. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2025/07/30/we-need-ask-smarter-questions-ed-tech-opinion
Source link
October 10, 2025
Resilience in Healthcare: A New Approach to Combatting Burnout
Burnout among nurses is reaching significant levels, making self-care, boundaries, and mental health support essential for sustaining a healthy workforce.

Valerie J. Fuller, Ph.D., D.N.P.

President, American Association of Nurse Practitioners

If I had a dollar for every time someone answered “stressed” when I asked how they’re doing, I’d have a full jar. And as nurses, we’d probably add our own dollars to it. While we are working tirelessly for our patients, it’s important to recognize we are not immune to the stressors around us and must share strategies to help each other and our patients.

Nurse practitioners and nurses enter health care with a passion to make patients’ lives better. Between work deadlines, family responsibilities, health concerns and the constant buzz of phones , the stress of our everyday lives can be compounding. It’s incumbent upon all of us to recognize that managing stress is an important component to our overall health and well-being. Drawing on our experience and clinical education, we know the value of recognition and understand how to best manage stress to prevent burnout.

Know the signs

Stress can also sneak up: tension, poor sleep, irritability, fatigue, appetite changes, headaches, or loss of joy.

What you can do

Even in the middle of a packed day, there are things you can do to promote wellbeing and prevent burnout:
1. Take time for yourself — Whether it’s 10 minutes of quiet, a walk, or your favorite show, it counts.
2. Set boundaries — Set realistic expectations and boundaries with work, with family and even with yourself.
3. Schedule time for joy —Add it to your calendar like any other appointment.
4. Ask for help —Getting support doesn’t mean you’re failing. It’s a path to better health.
5. Rest — Real, uninterrupted rest is vital to your health.
When to reach out

As healthcare providers and industry leaders, we need to apply our knowledge to ensure the provider workforce is better supported to prevent burnout. While stress is a part of life, it shouldn’t take over your life. Let’s stop glorifying burnout and start normalizing rest, boundaries and asking for what we need.

The future of healthcare depends on a healthy, supported workforce. By addressing burnout with compassion and strategy, we are ensuring that NPs remain exactly where patients need us: present, focused and ready to provide the very best care.
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September 12, 2025
Cost-smart campuses: Building financial resilience through strategic buying
Across higher ed, the financial squeeze is tightening. Between shrinking enrollment and uncertain funding, colleges and universities are scrambling to deliver value with far less cash. Every purchase, from lab beakers to toner cartridges, now faces intense scrutiny. After all, one way to uncover excess spending is to identify blind spots and inefficiencies in how organizations buy.

That drive for savings puts procurement teams squarely in the hot seat. Seven in ten procurement leaders rank cost management as their most critical capability today and for the years ahead, according to Economist Impact. Yet decentralized purchasing, patchwork systems, and limited spend visibility continue to drain institutional resources.

Savvy institutions are flipping that script, moving from reactive penny-pinching to proactive value creation by consolidating spend, leveraging supplier partnerships, and centralizing purchasing oversight.

From reactive buying to proactive value creation

Financial uncertainty now dominates the higher ed landscape. To navigate it successfully, universities must shift from tactical price checks to total-value management, leveraging lessons from other industries that have successfully implemented AI-powered automations to boost efficiencies and cut costs, University Business reports. It’s the difference between playing defense and offense—both matter, but one drives wins.

This strategic transformation requires three foundational moves: gaining real-time visibility into campuswide spending patterns, establishing centralized oversight without bureaucratic friction, and building supplier relationships that deliver value beyond the initial purchase price.

“Reducing spend is important, but increasing value matters more,” shares Rosie Grigsby, senior sales manager for higher education at Amazon Business. “When you’re looking at things only from a price perspective, you’re missing out on other value aspects like quality, lifecycle, support, training, and more,” she explains. “When thinking about total value, I’m thinking about how a supplier is enhancing student experiences while giving university employees time back through efficiencies.”

To make that possible, procurement leaders would be wise to prioritize the visibility problem: You can’t optimize what you can’t see. Gaining visibility into campuswide spending starts with breaking down the silos that keep procurement teams in the dark.

Visibility and control: Centralizing spend without adding bureaucracy

Imagine navigating unfamiliar terrain with a GPS that only shows you one street at a time. When departments buy in silos, institutions lose their ability to see the bigger picture, eroding spend leverage, killing negotiating power, and complicating compliance. Each isolated purchase decision chips away at potential savings and strategic control.

Consider the cascading impact: With fragmented purchasing, universities could be paying different prices for the same product across departments, missing significant volume discounts, and discovering duplicate software licenses only during audits. Worse yet, audits could reveal policy violations that were invisible until it was too late.

Unsurprisingly, research by the IBM Center for the Business of Government shows that centralized procurement correlates with higher savings, efficiencies, and compliance. Even so, many procurement leaders struggle with organization-wide visibility.

The solution isn’t building a bureaucratic fortress around every purchase decision. Rather, modern procurement solutions maintain centralized control while giving end users the flexibility they need, eliminating the process bottlenecks that drive departments to work around procurement entirely.

Solutions could be lying dormant in tools you already own. “Universities often underutilize e-procurement systems and automations they already have licenses for,” Grigsby notes. “Electronic catalogs, automated approval workflows, single sign-ons (SSOs), analytics—tools like these cut time from sourcing to receiving while enhancing compliance and reducing errors.” What once took days of spreadsheet analysis can now happen automatically, freeing teams to focus on strategy, not data entry.

Building strategic supplier relationships

Too many institutions treat suppliers as vendors, not partners. Transactional supplier relationships are short-term and price-focused: you buy something, and you’re done. Strategic supplier relationships, on the other hand, are ongoing partnerships built on trust and alignment with the university’s mission.

“Without strong supplier relationships, you’re missing out on partners who help you anticipate needs, drive innovation, and uncover creative solutions,” Grigsby explains. “True partners embrace your university’s mission as their own and work to maintain or increase service levels through collaborative, strategic sourcing.”

These partnerships prove especially valuable during budget crunches, Grigsby adds, citing the ongoing collaboration between procurement teams and Amazon Business account executives as an example. “Our higher ed clients often leverage the know-how, experience, and ideas we’ve gleaned from working with their peers across the nation,” she explains. “Whether they’re pursuing sustainability goals or 100% automation in procurement, we help them identify ideal partners or find solutions that have worked well for other institutions facing similar challenges.”

Real results at Emory University

Emory University faced the classic procurement challenge: fragmented purchasing and spend visibility. By adopting a centralized purchasing approach through Amazon Business, procurement leaders reclaimed oversight, optimized workflows for users across the organization, and uncovered dramatic savings.

Guided buying and integrated search features brought the intuitive Amazon Business shopping experience right into Emory’s purchasing system. These integrations drove adherence to procurement policies while giving users flexibility to conduct price comparisons and complete purchases directly within Emory’s existing system. Plus, buyers enjoyed savings through Business Prime shipping and tax exemption on eligible purchases.

The payoff was significant, averaging thousands of dollars in savings each month. “Pretty hefty savings,” as one administrator put it.

Roadmap to resilience

As institutions rework purchasing strategies to boost value and savings, how can procurement teams position themselves as problem solvers instead of gatekeepers? Grigsby recommends three essential practices:
- Proactive collaboration: Low collaboration with non-procurement buyers increases rogue buying risk, yet leaders currently rate collaboration as the least essential skill in procurement, according to Economist Impact. “When procurement reaches out to departments early to understand their pain points, especially in times of budget stress, they can engage, identify alternatives, and help internal customers reach their goals without being a blocker,” Grigsby advises.
- Streamlined processes: Efficient procurement automates mundane tasks like recurring orders, approval workflows, and spend analysis while centralizing oversight. “Customers want to source, reconcile, and receive products easily so they can focus on mission-critical tasks,” Grigsby points out.
- Broadcast successes: Procurement wins often go unnoticed despite their organizational impact. Share those wins—whether through newsletters, internal communications channels, or dashboards showing how much departments saved—to foster trust and collaboration.
Looking ahead, the financial pressures facing higher education make procurement transformation a necessity, not a luxury. Modern, cost-conscious procurement isn’t about saying no; it’s about finding better ways to say yes.

▷ Learn how Amazon Business can help accelerate your procurement goals: business.amazon.com/education
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September 8, 2025
Promoting and Sustaining a Growth Mindset in Online Classrooms – Faculty Focus

Educators have sought to understand why some students persist in overcoming challenges, while others do not. We present an exploration of growth mindset initiatives as factors that promote persistence and student success in online courses. This exploratory review focuses on the relevant literature, includes practical suggestions for classroom applications in online courses, and indicates avenues for future research.

Online college courses have surged post-COVID-19, but attrition rates remain high. Research highlights resilience, course design, institutional support, and faculty interaction as key factors in student persistence. Yang, Baldwin, and Snelson (2017) found that personal goals, community, family support, and time management were crucial for graduate students, while first-year students had different needs. Despite challenges, universities continue expanding online programs. Building a sense of community and supporting a positive mindset can help students manage stress and persist. Colleges are encouraged to integrate mindset and coping strategies into curricula to support online learners’ success.

This review examines how a growth mindset helps students persist despite challenges. Practical strategies are discussed to support students in managing stress and completing online classes. Research highlights the role of mindset, grit, and resilience in achieving long-term goals, though further study is needed. A growth mindset acts as a protective factor during stressful times, fostering confidence and adaptability. Crum et al. (2017) found that viewing stress as enhancing, not debilitating, improves positive affect and cognitive flexibility.

Literature

Selecting credible sources requires considering peer-review status, impact factor, publication date, and current trends. This exploratory review examined scholarly articles for accuracy, credibility, and methodological soundness, using databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, ABI Inform, and EBSCO. Including related works provides context, helping readers understand the connection between a growth mindset and college student persistence.

Mindset

Students with a growth mindset believe intelligence can improve through effort rather than innate talent (Dweck 2000, 2017; Hudig et al. 2022; Tirri and Kujala 2016; Yeager and Walton 2011). Dweck (2006) established a clear link between mindset and achievement, emphasizing that a growth mindset requires support from educators to develop necessary skills. Faculty can enhance motivation by reinforcing mastery, normalizing struggles, and providing resources (Dweck and Leggett 1988; Dweck 2017).

A fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence is unchangeable, leading to feelings of inadequacy and limited problem-solving abilities (Jegathesan et al. 2016; King 2017; Lee et al. 2018; O’Keefe et al. 2018). Karwowski (2014) found that a fixed mindset correlates with lower problem-solving skills. According to Yeager et al. (2019, 364), “the brain is like a muscle that grows stronger and smarter when it undergoes rigorous learning experiences.” This provides a relevant picture of the importance of a growth mindset.

Theoretical

A growth mindset, linked to student persistence, enables learners to set realistic goals and overcome challenges, viewing intelligence as malleable through effort rather than innate talent (Dweck 2006). This mindset encourages risk-taking and learning from mistakes rather than fearing failure. Research shows that resilience, grit, and a growth mindset positively impact learning (Calo et al. 2019). Fostering a growth mindset in college supports persistence by promoting adaptive, exploratory behaviors. A growth mindset can be a protective factor that enables college students to succeed during their educational journeys.

Authors’ Perspectives & Practical Classroom Applications

This exploration was an attempt to determine how growth mindset can help students persist in college online classes. Online classroom implications are significant. Regardless of what traits students bring to the classroom, instructors have an opportunity to facilitate and promote a growth mindset in their interactions with students. By focusing on opportunities to embrace change, normalize struggles, foster growth, and improve processes, instructors can help students to feel motivated, empowered, and able to overcome obstacles.

Instructors should provide resources such as tips on approaching tasks or advice about searching for solutions when stuck. This helps foster independence by teaching problem-solving skills that can be applied more broadly throughout life’s challenges and generalized outside of academia. Additionally, open communication between students and instructors allows for questions and comments without judgment. Students feel safe expressing themselves, leading to greater understanding and acceptance that struggle is part of the growth process, fostering a culture of belonging and inclusion in the classroom. Online instructors must be mindful as they compose feedback to promote a sense of purpose and potential growth.

Instructors promote growth mindset by helping students find meaningful value in what they are doing. They can encourage students to overcome obstacles and be resourceful. Ultimately, instructors can steer students away from the tendency to accept a fixed mindset and be willing to embrace challenges as opportunities to expand student thinking and accept that difficulties are part of learning. Instructors should emphasize that mistakes are necessary to achieve success. Sharing personal struggles and stories allows students to see that everyone has challenges in college, even their instructors. Acknowledging setbacks as opportunities instead of focusing on forms of perceived punishment reinforces the idea that effort will ultimately pay off with tangible results down the line, even if it does not happen immediately.

Recommendations for Future Research

Future research should examine other variables to determine the impact of creating a growth mindset culture in the classroom. Exploring how faculty mindsets mediate students’ success has been demonstrated in middle school (Schmidt et al. 2015). Haimovitz and Dweck concluded, “We also know little about how children themselves may affect socializers’ theories and behaviors. Examining these bidirectional processes will benefit our understanding of how a culture of growth can be developed and sustained” (2017, 1856). Little is known about the bidirectional processes of online instructors with their adult students.

Conclusions and Limitations

Since this review was exploratory, the findings were not generalized. The existing research may not represent all college students; that was not the goal. However, scholarly, primary, peer-reviewed studies were carefully selected for methodological soundness, validity, strength, and currency. Although research on growth mindset has been studied across domains and countries, few studies have included faculty mindsets. Another limitation is the lack of statistical strength.

Another limitation of this review is that past research may or may not apply to future students. Recent developments regarding COVID-19 and how it may have impacted students in online college education are just beginning to appear in scholarly databases. Many students who prefer traditional classrooms may opt to enroll in online programs because they view such programs as safer, healthier alternatives. Researchers need to learn how this change in a student’s sense of “normal” impacts the mindset of future students, at least for the foreseeable future.

Instructors forced into online education may have brought new ideas and/or confusion that could impact how online students were taught. It can be argued that there is limited or no research that has studied the impacts on students when the instructor and the students find themselves in an unexpected situation, like the unexpected worldwide pandemic.

Technology has allowed online education to grow and expand in ways that were not expected 20 years ago. Students start college with great expectations, and many of those expectations have been changed by the reality of college in an online environment. This exploratory review has presented some considerations for instructors to encourage students to develop and sustain a growth mindset and remain in their academic program. This may provide ways to help students grow as individuals while addressing the multiple demands of work and family since the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Dora C.D. Finamore joined Purdue University Global in 2004 and currently serves as a full-time instructor in the School and Business and Information Technology. She has 25 years’ experience in private practice as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. Dora earned her EdD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Sarasota and has been a professor of Business and Psychology for 21 years. She serves as a contributing editor for Journal of Education and Learning. Dora’s current research interests are in the areas of motivation, learning strategies, LGBTQ+ cultures, belonging, resilience, and growth and fixed mindset in business and education.

E. Valerie Hewitt joined Purdue University Global, in 2007 and currently is an adjunct instructor in the School of Business and Information Technology. She has over 30 years’ combined online and traditional classroom teaching experience. Valerie holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and a Master’s Degree in Higher Education with a secondary in psychology from Kaplan University. Her current research interests are in the areas of the retention of first-year online students and early engagement strategies.

Loretta “Laurie” A. Millam joined Purdue University Global in 2002 and currently serves as a Department Chair in the School of Business and Management. She has over 25 years’ combined experience in education. Prior to entering the education field, Loretta worked in Business Management for over 11 years. Loretta holds an MBA from St. Ambrose University and an EdS from Northcentral University. Loretta’s current research interests are in the areas of first-term student retention and early engagement learning strategies.

Michelle M. Reinhardt joined Purdue University Global as a full-time instructor in 2003 and currently serves as a course lead and faculty mentor in the school of Business and Information Technology. Michelle has over 25 years of combined online and traditional classroom teaching experience. She has designed courses, served on various college and university committees, and conducted online faculty workshops as well. Michelle holds a Master’s Degree in Communication Arts/English from Western Colorado University. Her current research interests are in the areas of entrepreneurship, motivation, and student learning and engagement.

Linda S. Watson joined Purdue University Global in 2006 and currently teaches First Term Experience classes in the School of Business and Information Technology. Linda has an MBA from Baker College with a double major in Leadership Studies and Human Resource Management. Her current research interests include the areas of student success and engagement, particularly for first-term students.

References

Calo, Marlena, Casey Peiris, Lucy Chipchase, Felicity Blackstock, and Belinda Judd. 2019. “Grit, Resilience and Mindset in Health Students.” The Clinical Teacher 16(4), 317-322. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.13056.

Crum, Alia J., Modupe Akinola, Ashley Martin, and Sean Fath. 2017. “The Role of Stress Mindset in Shaping Cognitive, Emotional, and Physiological Responses to Challenging and Threatening Stress.” Anxiety, Stress, & Coping 30 (4): 379–95. doi:10.1080/10615806.2016.1275585.

Dweck, Carol S. 2000. “Self-theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development.” Psychology Press.

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August 8, 2025