The Future of Aging and Longevity - Flipbook - Page 40
Educa琀椀on for Longer Lives:
Building a Learning Society
Mitchell Stevens, PhD
William Gaudelli, EdD
Professor of Educa琀椀on and
Co-Director of Stanford
Center on Longevity,
Stanford University
CEO and Inaugural Dean,
College of Life琀椀me Learning,
Georgia Ins琀椀tute of
Technology
he last 10 years have witnessed a
sea change in how Americans think
about educa琀椀on a昀琀er high school. If
you were to ask just about any policy wonk or
ambi琀椀ous parent in 2016 about the best way
to prepare young people for a prosperous and
ful昀椀lling adulthood, they almost surely would have
emphasized the importance of obtaining a fouryear college diploma—ideally by the age of 25.
It was part of a longstanding cultural consensus
that educa琀椀on properly took place in the 昀椀rst
two decades of life and then receded into the
background of work and family life.
While that consensus has hardly eroded
en琀椀rely, it is considerably weaker today, for several
reasons. First, the baby boom genera琀椀on has now
moved into the stage of life long associated with
T
36
re琀椀rement. They are transforming the character
of later life with determina琀椀on and enthusiasm,
developing new ideas like middlescence, encore
careers, and rewiring (versus re琀椀ring) to make sense
of it. Second, the specter of ar琀椀昀椀cial intelligence
is raising signi昀椀cant new ques琀椀ons about what it
means to be a produc琀椀ve worker in virtually every
economic domain. Digital pla琀昀orms are making it
ever easier for people to inves琀椀gate new 昀椀elds of
knowledge, new capabili琀椀es, and poten琀椀al next
chapters of steadily lengthening lifespans. Third,
Americans have failed to solve the riddle of paying
for educa琀椀on a昀琀er high school; consumer debt 琀椀ed
to pursuit of postsecondary creden琀椀als now tops
$1.8 trillion and con琀椀nues to climb, even as many
never complete a degree or 昀椀nd themselves in a job
that doesn’t require one.
MIL K EN I N S T I T U T E | T H E FU T U RE O F AGI N G A N D LO N GEV I TY
