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I’m Grant Symons. I convene Transition Edge to help us understand how we can transition to a low carbon sustainable world using leading thinking and practices.

This week we share the love across academics and the academic system.

Before we do - why are we doing this again? Our intention through this series is to build a picture of what our young folks have experienced, are facing into now, and might be expected face in future. We have taken a provocative approach by critiquing what seems to be obvious flaws in the system that we all see, but just accept or normalise. 

Let's not forget that our emerging young are the ones who get to inherit the consequences of all that has gone before, without the real resources and experience they need to deal with it.

So far, the future is looking quite challenging. We have a group of the mature and well heeled, we called 'the oldies' that seem to be intent on knowingly skiving off, while we have 'the bureaucrats' in various parts of the government making the system bigger, messier and increasingly indebted. As an aside, subscribers wrote in and said we have only looked at the tip of the iceberg on these two! 

Our focus in this article is the tertiary education sector corporate end of town. The organisations that have relentlessly expanded their overseas student numbers, property portfolios and the overall size of their businesses - the mass education factories. All the time providing students with wonderful cookie-cutter experiences, but with little sense of certainty that their substantial financial and time investment will help secure them a career in a fast-changing world. 

Visit any government department in Wellington and there will probably be a young graduate receptionist (or three), toiling away just to make ends meet while trying to find a job for which their degree is relevant. Doesn't that suck? The students were customers who paid for a product and yet the supplier is unable to provide any assurance whatsoever they are not left stranded and in debt in the end. 

And how contemporary are the qualifications and tutors anyway? The systems which students are now the object of, seem more geared towards throughput, volume, efficiency and profitability, than they do about the quality and fullness of the student's overall development. With less and less face time and more online delivery, while convenient for the academic system, possibly also increases student isolation, detachment and reduced opportunity to develop. 

There is also a class of academics for which 'it's all about me'. Choosing a career in which they can indulge themselves in subjects that it turns out are often not practically applicable in the real world, yet they continue to be funded. They may even attract or co-opt students to assist with development or enhancement of their theories...and who knows if they ever attribute advancements to the efforts of their students?

Competition between academics seems to be an accepted part of the territory, so it is not natural to see collaboration across institutions. Is this what should be role modelled by our supposedly best and brightest? And how much collective intelligence and impact is being wasted away while the 'look at me' game goes on and on?