Faculty perspectives on the future of higher education

Royal Roads' George Veletsianos received an SSHRC Insight Development Grant in 2020 to research the role of technology in future education environments.

How do faculty members imagine the nature of near future higher education in North America? What are their fears, anxieties, hopes, and aspirations? What is the role of technology in future education environments? And what does higher education look like in the context of broader forces? What does higher education in North America look like for example, if extreme weather events become commonplace and pervasive? What does it look like in an environment of transformative equity and economic prosperity for all? This research attempts to answer these kinds of questions while engaging North American faculty members in speculative thinking.

Prior research shows that technology is prevalent in higher education settings, and it is often described as both a disruptive and transformational force in shaping the future of higher education. Yet, much scholarship in the field of educational technology views technology with optimism and imagines it as a positive force. Educational technology advocacy contributes to this narrative, even when researchers note that postsecondary institutions are shaped by many other factors including political, social, economic, and environmental. Education futures therefore often focus on the role of technology while ignoring the broader sociocultural and sociopolitical forces that shape such futures. To the detriment of higher education institutions and society, such futures often lack diverse voices, most notably the voices of faculty members. To address these issues, this mixed methods investigation seeks to (a) describe speculative futures for higher education; (b) identify faculty members’ hopes and anxieties about the future of higher education; and (c) understand the potential roles that technology may play in future higher education landscapes.

This research aims at furthering scholarly and societal knowledge/understanding of future forms of higher education, and provide future scenarios for individuals and institutions to explore as they are contemplating responding to challenges currently facing the higher education sector.