Discussing the Future of University Education

 

On July 25, Yonsei President Yong-Hak Kim attended the Future Education Society Forum, which was held in the Yonsei-Samsung Library. At the forum, he discussed the role of universities in nurturing talent with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. Other distinguished participants included U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert, Elsevier Chairman Young-suk Chi, and Sungkyunkwan University President Kyu Sang Chung.

 

In his speech for the forum, President Yong-Hak Kim emphasized the need for “universities to spearhead future education by understanding that providing knowledge alone in a fast-changing society is no longer useful.” He also highlighted the importance of “divergent thinking” in education to enable individuals to make new creations by applying existing knowledge.

 

President Jim Yong Kim, who served as president of Dartmouth College from 2009 to 2012, gave a presentation titled “Key to the Growth of Future Society.” In it, he offered his advice to Korean society. “Koreans have achieved tremendous growth in a short period through competitive education,” he said,“but in the future, Korean society has to eliminate discrimination relating to age, gender, and nationality.” He also spoke of the growing “importance of university-industry collaboration for universities,” citing the examples of Stanford University and University of Cambridge.

 

During the discussion session, the two presidents responded to questions raised by students in the audience, sharing their views on the future of Korean society and higher education. Both agreed that teaching “soft skills,” which stress communication and teamwork, is now more important than teaching simple knowledge and skills, as society is becoming ever-more complex due to changes brought about by artificial intelligence and other technological innovations.

 

Yonsei President Kim concluded by saying: “The university will give its utmost effort to instill in students the spirit of service. For the society of the future, it is our social responsibility to value empathy over self-interest, which is the basis of capitalism.”