Connecting Workforce Development and Civic Engagement: Higher Education as Public Good and Private Gain

The shrinking public support for colleges and universities has helped to provoke a crisis in higher education across the country, and especially in Massachusetts. At the same time, dwindling public support has caused higher education to reexamine its public mission and has catalyzed an important debate about the values and role of higher education. This paper is meant to contribute to these deliberations about how higher education can be a steward of economic prosperity (private gain) and democratic practices (public good). Throughout this debate, at least two visions of higher education's role have emerged. The dominant view is that higher education's essential role in the global economy should be to prepare future workers, while an important re-emerging view is that colleges and universities should prepare future citizens to contribute to a diverse democracy. While these are often presented as alternative visions, we argue that these need not be separate or competing ideals. Colleges and universities can connect work and citizenship. Colleges and universities can be places where students learn to become both strong citizens and productive workers. Put simply, workforce development and civic engagement can be complementary visions for the future of higher education.