New statistics show that lifelong learning at KTH appears to be a success, attracting a lot of applicants for the autumn semester.
KTH now provides almost 200 courses offering the latest knowledge in particular areas. Students can apply for these courses to update their knowledge and keep up with the competition, or simply to learn more and be inspired as their curiosity guides them. There is quite a variation between the different courses, with some attracting far more applicants than there are places, and others vice versa. The most popular course is programming in Python, BB1000, with 931 applicants for 100 places.
The autumn figures also show, for example, that KTH’s MSc Engineering programmes remain the most sought-after, even though there are slightly fewer applicants than last year. There are 4,995 applicants to these programmes and architecture this year, compared to 5,105 last autumn.
The gender distribution among applicants remains much the same as before, with just over 30% being female first-choice applicants. Interest in studying computer science engineering and electrical engineering is lower among women, while the proportion of female first-choice applicants to biotechnology and chemical engineering is slightly higher.
Lifelong learning entails ongoing professional development throughout an active career, whether in the form of short courses or longer programmes. Students may wish to enhance their knowledge in their current work area, or even move partly or wholly into a new field, give their career a boost and make themselves more attractive on the job market. KTH will continuously develop a range of options specifically tailored to this target group, who wish to go into, or return to, higher studies as mature students.
Sweden’s new student finance scheme for transition and retraining has vastly improved opportunities to study later on in life. The scheme is oversubscribed but will gradually be expanded over the coming years in an effort to achieve a better balance. For KTH too, this means that our lifelong learning offering is likely to increase in importance moving forward. It will also be important to strike a balance between upskilling and reskilling in the courses and programmes we offer.
We need to ask ourselves whether we should primarily strive to help people with an existing engineering degree, for example, to develop in their career, or enable those without a technical degree to start studying at more of an entry level. There are of course many opportunities for KTH to be an important player in this discussion as things develop.
Up until our 200th anniversary in 2027, the Future of Education change programme will characterise all education at KTH. It is a package of reforms based on a number of principles for revitalising our education programmes, encompassing aspects such as students’ abilities, pedagogy and campus environments.
One important lesson we learned during the pandemic is that we must build more flexible, student-centric lifelong learning, and lay an even better foundation for KTH to keep up with the competition. Higher education institutions took on the role of safety barrier to some extent during the pandemic, and overnight universities and colleges were forced to make changes to secure students’ education, partly using digital teaching and examination solutions. The key now is not to let things return to their original form but, through the Future of Education programme, to set our sights firmly forwards so that we can be open to a greater diversity of learning and education.
The new conditions for lifelong learning comprise another area that will place new demands on the education we offer in the years to come. We have to find new ways ahead both for pedagogy and for our range of courses and programmes, so that we can better reach the student groups who have already embarked on their careers.
The internationalization of our programmes also continues. We are already highly internationalized, accepting many students from other countries. It is important for the future evolution of our education that we apply the lessons we have learnt in this area.
Educational development, new forms for examination and new technology all bring fresh opportunities as well as new challenges moving forward. There is already a greater breadth of pedagogic models and forms for continuous learning in our programmes today, and it is important that we continue to make positive progress.
The Future of Education programme will include a number of change-oriented projects and will also be reviewed annually. Initiatives being launched in the near future include various kinds of development of our laboratory environments, forms for examination, our range of lifelong learning, extended recruitment, and development of our masters-level programmes, to name but a few.
To bring about change and solve actual problems in the world today, education and innovation need to come together. The way to achieve this is through challenge-driven education, an approach whereby courses and programmes are shaped around genuine societal challenges. The education is often project-led, and can relate to anything from urban planning to clean water and ergonomics.
This challenge-based approach is the main focus of the Global Development Hub, GDH, which began in 2017 in association with four African universities: University of Rwanda, University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Strathmore University (Kenya) and Botho University (Botswana). Together, we have run several courses, held student exchanges and also teacher training. This also makes the GDH a focal point for our presence on the African continent.
Signing a MOU between between KTH and University of Rwanda, Rwanda Polytecnic, Rwanda Development board and National Council for Science and Technology.
In addition, last week we were able to extend our collaboration with the University of Rwanda by signing a Memorandum of Understanding, or MoU. The MoU also includes other parties in Rwanda and a broader portfolio of activities than before, including participation in research and innovation.
Rwanda is a small country in East Africa that has developed rapidly over the past 20 years, and is in different ways a fulcrum for innovation activities, enterprise and societal development in its region. The university has also received ever-better resources for its activities in recent decades, so extending our partnership with it is the right move strategically.
The challenge-driven education model is, as mentioned, pivotal to work within the GDH, but it can of course also be used for activities on campus in Stockholm.
The basic idea is the same: to find potential solutions to societal challenges by combining the challenge in education with innovative solutions. One example is OpenLab, which is run by KTH alongside several higher education institutions in the region, the City of Stockholm and Region Stockholm. It presents an opportunity for our partners to place their concrete challenges in the course and project environment provided by OpenLab.
In the past few weeks, I have had the privilege to meet the newly elected Student Council of the KTH Student Union (THS). The Student Council is elected by the chapters and constitutes the very backbone of the democratic order on which THS is based.
Student involvement in the Student Union, chapters and associations is important to KTH. Not only is it the primary driver for student influence, it is also an important factor in creating a shared study and work environment for the students, one that’s both inclusive and enriching.
For more than ten years now, membership of a student union has been optional at state-run universities, having been mandatory for a long time. This means that student unions now have to actively recruit their members, and doing this obviously depends on having a well-run operation.
THS managed well in the transition to optional membership and today has a far-reaching field of operations beyond active student influence. This includes important reception activities, careers support, and a wide range of social and academic activities for students. It is good to know that THS is there as a close collaboration partner to KTH.
I have mixed emotions when I think back to student council meetings at my own alma mater, further north in Sweden, where our discussions were dominated by political debate and argument well into the small hours. At the time student union politics was strictly party political, and the council’s work was governed accordingly. Discussing matters that were relevant to university studies was far more uncommon.
Student Union Council work at KTH today seems to be quite different, with a clear focus on promoting academic success and developing KTH’s and the Union’s operations.
Positive collaboration is a guarantee of quality development in KTH’s operations in general, and education in particular. Like all other universities, KTH supports its Student Union with more than we receive in state grants. That is problematic.
A student union should be independent of the university in which it operates. A well-intentioned proposal is therefore being submitted to the government: why not double national funding for student influence from SEK 55 million to SEK 110 million? Government funding for student influence must increase to levels equivalent to before mandatory student union membership was abolished.
As globalisation has increased, so the world has got smaller. It has also grown more complex, as have the societal challenges we are all facing. As a university, of course we want to embrace openness and internationalization in research and education. But we want to do this with responsibility.
International collaborations in research and education, and exchanging knowledge across national and disciplinary boundaries, are not only incredibly stimulating and exciting – they are necessary.
Even so, it is important not to be naive in the face of tyrannical rule by authoritarian regimes, or to close our eyes to the geopolitical tensions that exist around the world. Knowledge and research can end up in the wrong hands or be used for unintended purposes, such as military purposes. The remedy for this is knowledge of the country or region in question, careful control of any risks, and good judgement to facilitate analysis and consideration of different international collaborations.
It is not an easy balance to achieve, and as a university, it is important that we have the aspects of what we call responsible internationalisation in mind on every level within the organisation.
Should we have a collaboration or exchange with the country or regime in question? Sometimes it is reasonable to stop a collaboration, but openness could also strengthen democracy in the long run in countries where it is otherwise hard to come by. Or at any rate provide inroads for democracy on an individual level – where we have a lot to learn from each other, with our different points of reference or even our disparate world views. And it is important here to distinguish between nation and individual. If a researcher comes here to study, we cannot put the blame on them for the regime they grew up in. So responsible internationalization is also about supporting researchers in countries where it is hard to practise free and independent research and education.
Ultimately though, it is important that KTH nurtures and protects all its students, researchers and staff, whatever their nationality or background.
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