Shows
Higher Ed SpotlightAuthor and Reformer Kathleen deLaski on What a Different Higher Ed Future Could Look LikeWith traditional higher ed getting more scrutiny than ever in 2025, Kathleen deLaski, author of “Who Needs College Anymore?”, wants us to think much more expansively about exactly how we define college. Her goal? To make it more relevant, and more accessible, to more people. Kathleen, a former TV correspondent and founder of the influential Education Design Lab, explains that she used to be on the “college for all” bandwagon. But she’s become persuaded that college isn’t right for everyone, and that we urgently need more and better alternatives for the “new majority learners” who she argues haven’t b...2025-03-2019 min
The World of Higher EducationThe Great Brain Race, 15 years later with Ben WildavskyJoin Alex Usher on the World of Higher Education podcast as he revisits 'The Great Brain Race' with author Ben Wildavsky. They explore the book's thesis on globalization in higher education, the trends of student and faculty mobility, and the phenomena of global university rankings and branch campuses. They also discuss the current status of the 'global war for talent' and the impact of global rankings and for-profit universities on education. Tune in for an engaging conversation on the progress and challenges in global higher education over the past 15 years.👉 Episode Links:Book: The Great Brain Rac...2025-02-0628 min
Apprenticeship 2.0Joe’s Trip to Germany: Insights and Reactions from Apprenticeship Thought Leaders In this episode of Apprenticeship 2.0, Joe and Kiko welcome back Ben Wildavsky, visiting fellow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and Paul Fain, a seasoned journalist focused on the intersection of education and work. Together, they discuss Joe’s recent trip to Germany, where he gained invaluable insights into the apprenticeship landscape in the country. Ben and Paul offer their reactions, leading to a discussion on varying apprenticeship models and approaches, including where the U.S. continues to fall short of its European counterparts. Music by Evgeny Bardyuzha from Pixabay. Sound Effect from Pi...2025-02-0352 min
Hardly Working with Brent OrrellBen Wildavsky on the German Model of Dual-StudiesBen Wildavsky is a veteran higher education strategist and writer, and host of the Higher Ed Spotlight podcast. He brings decades of experience in journalism and education policy, including leadership roles at Strada Education Network, the College Board, and US News & World Report. He is the author of The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections and an award-winning expert on education-to-workforce initiatives. In this episode of Hardly Working we explore the German model of dual studies, a unique blend of vocational training and academic education, and examine its implications for the US as industries continue...2025-01-0950 min
Career Education ReportMaximizing College Credentials and Connections for Career SuccessIn the realm of higher education, many believe there’s a necessary tradeoff between acquiring a degree and gaining practical job skills. However, Ben Wildavsky, host of the “Higher Ed Spotlight” podcast and author of “The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections,” challenges this misconception, making the case that higher education isn’t as simple as choosing between two binary options.Wildavsky argues that the traditional view of higher education as a choice between theoretical knowledge and practical experience is both outdated and limiting. He emphasizes that both elements are essential fo...2024-11-0622 min
Mindful Money103: Ben Wildavsky - The Economics of Learning: Insights on Higher EducationUpcoming Event!How Can Mindfulness Help You Reach Financial Independence?Do you want to reduce money anxiety, but don’t know who to trust?Would you like to learn how to set up and manage your own retirement plan?Do you want to know how we create a passive income stream you can’t outlive?If yes, join us and learn how to answer the 4 critical financial independence questions:Am I on track for financial independence?What do I need to do to get on track?How do I de...2024-04-1741 min
Higher Ed SpotlightHigher Ed Spotlight Returns for Season ThreeWelcome back to Higher Ed Spotlight, a podcast that explores the key questions shaping the future of higher education. In our third season, we continue to delve into major debates with the country’s leading thinkers, while also expanding our conversations internationally. Our biweekly podcast starts April 09, 2024. Hosted by veteran journalist and higher education policy expert Ben Wildavsky. Sponsored by Chegg’s Center for Digital Learning. 2024-03-2602 min
Apprenticeship 2.0Bridging the Divide Between College and Career In this episode of Apprenticeship 2.0, Joe and Liz chat with Ben Wildavsky, a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia and author of The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials & Connections. Together, they discuss why the use of “liberal arts” might just be a branding problem, why college continues to offer value for aspiring professionals, how non-college programs fit into the careers arts picture, how innovative institutions are closing the gap between “broad” and “targeted” skill development, and much more. Purchase The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials & Connections at bit.ly/3Imy9FG.2024-03-1859 min
Getting Smart PodcastMichael Matsuda on Over a Decade of Educating For Purposeful LifeThis episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is a part of our New Pathways campaign. In partnership with American Student Assistance (ASA), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Stand Together and the Walton Family Foundation, the New Pathways campaign will question education’s status quo and propose new methods of giving students a chance to experience success in what’s next. On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast we’re joined by Superintendent Michael Matsuda. Superintendent Matsuda has served in his role at Anaheim Union High School District for a decade and is also the author of the gre...2024-01-0327 minHardly Working with Brent OrrellBen Wildavsky on the Career ArtsRegrettably, the debate about post-secondary education has devolved into just another culture war issue with one camp saying “everyone go to college” and another saying “skip college learn a trade.” Today, Brent sits down with Ben Wildavsky, a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, who challenges this false dichotomy. In his recent book “The Career Arts,” Wildavsky argues that education, job, and career success require integrating broad-based skills (such as those acquired through a liberal arts and social science education) with more narrow, technical skills (such as those acquired through credent...2023-12-1458 min
The Academic LifeHow to Build a Career: A Discussion with Ben WildavskyOn this episode of the Academic Life, we dive into the book The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) by Ben Wildavsky, which makes a persuasive case for building career success through broad education, targeted skills, and social capital. People today expect to hold many jobs over the course of their lives, which is why they need a range of essential skills. The Career Arts provides a corrective to the misleading notion that there is a direct trade-off between going to college and acquiring practical job skills. Drawing on evidence-based research, illuminating case studi...2023-12-1451 min
New Books in Higher EducationHow to Build a Career: A Discussion with Ben WildavskyOn this episode of the Academic Life, we dive into the book The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) by Ben Wildavsky, which makes a persuasive case for building career success through broad education, targeted skills, and social capital. People today expect to hold many jobs over the course of their lives, which is why they need a range of essential skills. The Career Arts provides a corrective to the misleading notion that there is a direct trade-off between going to college and acquiring practical job skills. Drawing on evidence-based research, illuminating case studi...2023-12-1451 min
Princeton UP Ideas PodcastHow to Build a Career: A Discussion with Ben WildavskyOn this episode of the Academic Life, we dive into the book The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) by Ben Wildavsky, which makes a persuasive case for building career success through broad education, targeted skills, and social capital. People today expect to hold many jobs over the course of their lives, which is why they need a range of essential skills. The Career Arts provides a corrective to the misleading notion that there is a direct trade-off between going to college and acquiring practical job skills. Drawing on evidence-based research, illuminating case studi...2023-12-1451 min
New Books in Business, Management, and MarketingHow to Build a Career: A Discussion with Ben WildavskyOn this episode of the Academic Life, we dive into the book The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) by Ben Wildavsky, which makes a persuasive case for building career success through broad education, targeted skills, and social capital. People today expect to hold many jobs over the course of their lives, which is why they need a range of essential skills. The Career Arts provides a corrective to the misleading notion that there is a direct trade-off between going to college and acquiring practical job skills. Drawing on evidence-based research, illuminating case studi...2023-12-1449 min
New Books in EducationHow to Build a Career: A Discussion with Ben WildavskyOn this episode of the Academic Life, we dive into the book The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) by Ben Wildavsky, which makes a persuasive case for building career success through broad education, targeted skills, and social capital. People today expect to hold many jobs over the course of their lives, which is why they need a range of essential skills. The Career Arts provides a corrective to the misleading notion that there is a direct trade-off between going to college and acquiring practical job skills. Drawing on evidence-based research, illuminating case studi...2023-12-1451 min
Higher Ed SpotlightIs A Degree Still Worth It?In this bonus episode, we turn the tables. Ben Wildavsky discusses his new book, The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials and Connections. He makes the case for why degrees still matter, despite the popular rhetoric calling for skills-based hiring. Goldie Blumenstyk, a veteran reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, guest hosts this episode. Higher Ed Spotlight is sponsored by Chegg’s Center for Digital Learning and aims to explore the future of higher education. It is produced by Antica Productions2023-12-1230 min
The Mindtools L&D PodcastAI Conversations is changing how we practice power skills Historically, if you wanted to get better at having difficulty conversations, you had to take part in embarrassing roleplays or actual high-stakes conversations. Now, thanks to generative AI tools like ChatGPT, we can practice in a safe environment with realistic responses and in-the-moment feedback. That’s the premise for ‘AI Conversations’, a new digital learning offering from Mind Tools and Learning Pool. In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Ross Garner and Nahdia Khan are joined by Learning Pool’s Lindsey Coode to discuss: · How AI Conversations works2023-11-2836 min
Keen On AmericaHow to make the most of college: Ben Wildavsky on the art of using college to build a careerEPISODE 1845: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Ben Wildavsky, author of THE CAREER ARTS, about how to use college to successfully build a careerBen Wildavsky is a veteran higher education writer, strategist, and speaker, host of the Higher Ed Spotlight podcast and author of The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections. A frequent keynote speaker and moderator at education conferences and retreats, Ben cuts through the noise and anxiety surrounding this issue to offer sensible, clear-eyed guidance for anyone who is making decisions about education and career preparation with a...2023-11-0623 minNew Books in EducationBen Wildavsky, "The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections" (Princeton UP, 2023)Young people coming out of high school today can expect to hold many jobs over the course of their lives, which is why they need a range of essential skills. The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) provides a corrective to the widespread and misleading notion that there is a direct trade-off between going to college and acquiring practical job skills. Ben Wildavsky cuts through the noise and anxiety surrounding this issue to offer sensible, clear-eyed guidance for anyone who is making decisions about education and career preparation with a view to getting ah...2023-11-0129 minPrinceton UP Ideas PodcastBen Wildavsky, "The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections" (Princeton UP, 2023)Young people coming out of high school today can expect to hold many jobs over the course of their lives, which is why they need a range of essential skills. The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) provides a corrective to the widespread and misleading notion that there is a direct trade-off between going to college and acquiring practical job skills. Ben Wildavsky cuts through the noise and anxiety surrounding this issue to offer sensible, clear-eyed guidance for anyone who is making decisions about education and career preparation with a view to getting ah...2023-11-0129 minNew Books in Business, Management, and MarketingBen Wildavsky, "The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections" (Princeton UP, 2023)Young people coming out of high school today can expect to hold many jobs over the course of their lives, which is why they need a range of essential skills. The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) provides a corrective to the widespread and misleading notion that there is a direct trade-off between going to college and acquiring practical job skills. Ben Wildavsky cuts through the noise and anxiety surrounding this issue to offer sensible, clear-eyed guidance for anyone who is making decisions about education and career preparation with a view to getting ah...2023-11-0129 minNew Books in Higher EducationBen Wildavsky, "The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections" (Princeton UP, 2023)Young people coming out of high school today can expect to hold many jobs over the course of their lives, which is why they need a range of essential skills. The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) provides a corrective to the widespread and misleading notion that there is a direct trade-off between going to college and acquiring practical job skills. Ben Wildavsky cuts through the noise and anxiety surrounding this issue to offer sensible, clear-eyed guidance for anyone who is making decisions about education and career preparation with a view to getting ah...2023-11-0129 minGetting Smart PodcastBen Wildavsky on The Career Arts - Answering Big Questions About College and CareerOn this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Tom Vander Ark is joined by Ben Wildavsky to discuss his new book The Career Arts: Answering Big Questions About College and Career. This book makes the case for building career success through broad education, targeted skills, and social capital. Ben is also a visiting scholar at UVA and hosts the Higher Ed Spotlight podcast. Links: Amazon Link LinkedIn New Pathways Brookings Institution Higher Ed Spotlight Podcast Ryan Craig on Apprenticeships LinkedIn Study2023-10-2528 minHigher Ed SpotlightHigher Ed Spotlight ReturnsWelcome back to Higher Ed Spotlight, a podcast about the big questions driving the future of higher education. In our second season, we continue to wade into major debates shaping higher education with the country's leading thinkers. Our biweekly podcast starts March 28, 2023. Hosted by veteran journalist and higher education policy expert Ben Wildavsky. Sponsored by Chegg's Center for Digital Learning.2023-03-1401 minHigher Ed SpotlightIntroducing Higher Ed SpotlightHigher Ed Spotlight is a new podcast series hosted by veteran journalist and higher education policy expert Ben Wildavsky, and produced with sponsorship from leading online learning platform Chegg. The series takes a candid and unique look at the state of higher education today through conversations with the visionaries, academics and innovators on the frontlines shaping the future of learning.2022-04-2002 min
Lessons EarnedIntroducing Season 3How can we better equip learners with the skills they need for today's jobs? What roles should educators, employers, and policymakers play in transforming education after high school? And how do we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic with new insights about what's working and what's not? In Lessons Earned, Strada Education Network's Ben Wildavsky and co-host Aimée Eubanks Davis of Braven sit down with bold thinkers who are challenging the status quo and exploring ideas to help all Americans navigate between learning and earning. 2020-11-1701 min
Lessons Earned1. Freeman HrabowskiIt’s time for colleges and universities to take a hard look in the mirror, says University of Maryland Baltimore County President Freeman Hrabowski. Too many students don’t make it to graduation and others are faced with the false choice between pursuing a broad education and gaining technical skills, when they actually need both. At UMBC, he’s proving that with the right support, even the most challenged students will succeed. Hosts: Ben Wildavsky, Andrew Hanson2020-03-0321 min
Lessons Earned2. Oren CassOren Cass, author of The Once and Future Worker, says we’ve gone too far in our college-going culture, steering too many students down a postsecondary pathway that only serves about one-third of our population. It’s time, he says, to destigmatize vocational and technical education, to create and fund alternative pathways between high school and the workplace, and to fill millions of jobs that don’t, or shouldn’t, require a college degree. Hosts: Ben Wildavsky, Andrew Hanson2020-03-0320 min
Lessons Earned3. Lisa SchumacherMcDonald’s is one of the nation’s largest entry-level employers, and like a growing number of businesses, it provides extensive education benefits for front-line workers to improve opportunities for themselves and their families. Lisa Schumacher, Director of Educational Strategies at McDonald’s Corp., talks about how the fast-food giant supports workers as they earn and learn, through English-language training, money for college, and technology aimed at helping them explore their career options. Host: Ben Wildavsky2020-03-0321 min
Lessons Earned4. Tony JackAnthony Abraham Jack, a Harvard University researcher and author of The Privileged Poor, discusses his own experience as a low-income college student as well as the experiences of many of today’s learners who are navigating an unfamiliar affluent campus culture they struggle to understand, let alone join. He suggests simple things educators can do to make their campuses not only more diverse, but truly inclusive. Hosts: Ben Wildavsky, Pete Wheelan2020-03-0321 min
Lessons Earned5. Byron AugusteHow can we find better ways to measure and value the job skills possessed by Americans who don’t have a traditional college degree? Byron Auguste, a former White House economic adviser and current CEO at Opportunity@Work, says screening out job applicants who can’t check the degree box eliminates opportunity for millions of people who already have what it takes to do a great job. Hosts: Ben Wildavsky, Anna Gatlin Schilling2020-03-0320 min
Lessons Earned6. Van Ton-QuinlivanWhat can employers do to prepare today’s workers for the jobs of tomorrow? Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health and a former leader in the California Community College system, talks about how employers, labor unions, and educators can work together to help workers learn what they need to get better jobs. Education is not a one-time inoculation to prepare people for a lifetime of work, she says. Frequent booster shots are needed throughout our careers. Hosts: Ben Wildavsky, Anna Gatlin Schilling2020-03-0319 min
Lessons EarnedLessons EarnedAre we sending too many people to college — or not enough? How can we better equip learners with the skills they need for today's jobs? What role should business play in transforming education after high school? In Lessons Earned, Ben Wildavsky and his Strada Education Network colleagues sit down with educators, employers, and policymakers who are challenging the status quo and exploring bold ideas to help all Americans navigate the path from learning to earning.2020-02-0401 min
Talking Point (audio)The Great Brain Race: Rise of the Global Education MarketplaceBen Wildavsky's lecture, The Great Brain Race: Rise of the Global
Education Marketplace, tells the story of the transformation of the
global academic landscape in recent years. More than 3 million students
now study outside their home nations; globe-trotting faculty
hop from the United States to Singapore to Saudi Arabia; Western
universities create branch campuses in the Middle East and Asia; and new
or rejuvenated research universities in China, South Korea, Europe, and
beyond vie with American giants for the top spots in global education
rankings. In his critically acclaimed new book, Ben Wildavsky makes the
case that, despite worries...2011-05-3000 min
VoxTalk VaultsFree trade in mindsBen Wildavsky interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 12 November 2010
Ben Wildavsky of the Kauffman Foundation talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his book ‘The Great Brain Race: How global universities are reshaping the world’. Among other things, they discuss higher education funding and student finance, the rapidly growing international mobility of students and faculty, and the potential problem of ‘academic protectionism’. The interview was recorded at the London School of Economics in October 2010.2010-11-1226 min
Autumn 2010 | Public lectures and events | Audio and pdfThe Great Brain Race: Rise of the Global Education MarketplaceContributor(s): Ben Wildavsky | In a worldwide educational marketplace, international competition to build the best universities and attract the brightest minds is more intense than ever. In his lecture based around his book, 'The Great Brain Race', Ben Wildavsky argues that the globalisation of higher education should be welcomed, not feared. Ben Wildavsky is a senior fellow in research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation and author of The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping the World (Princeton University Press, 2010).2010-10-211h 26Autumn 2010 | Public lectures and events | VideoThe Great Brain Race: Rise of the Global Education MarketplaceContributor(s): Ben Wildavsky | In a worldwide educational marketplace, international competition to build the best universities and attract the brightest minds is more intense than ever. In his lecture based around his book, 'The Great Brain Race', Ben Wildavsky argues that the globalisation of higher education should be welcomed, not feared. Ben Wildavsky is a senior fellow in research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation and author of The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping the World (Princeton University Press, 2010).2010-10-211h 26
Thinking AllowedGlobal higher education - Homophobia and footballLaurie Taylor examines some new research about homophobia and football and talks to Professor Ellis Cashmore from Staffordshire University about how fans, players and management respond to the issue. They're joined by writer and broadcaster David Goldblatt who has a strong interest in sport.Laurie also discusses the growth of global higher education and talks to Ben Wildavsky whose new book charts the development of academic migration across the world- looking at the cross border movement of students, academics, faculties and the development of new universities in places like China, Asia and The Middle East....2010-10-2028 min
Zócalo Public SquareBen Wildavsky, How is Globalization Changing Higher Ed?As college degrees become an ever more essential qualification for earning a living, students are going further than ever before to get them — and creating a new and rapidly changing worldwide marketplace for higher ed. Nearly three million students leave their home countries to pursue college degrees, a 40 percent increase since 1999. American institutions have set up shop in over 40 countries and are accepting more international students than ever before — with USC leading the pack in matriculating foreigners. College rankings are internationalizing, which could mean American universities won’t stay at the top of the heap. How will worldwide competition for the be...2010-05-1056 min