‘Why do we still offer ivory towers?’: Bill Shorten urges university modernisation

The former Labor leader is one of the first university vice- chancellors to undertake public discussion about the demands of millennials and Gen Z from tertiary education institutions.

University of Canberra vice-chancellor Bill Shorten. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

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University of Canberra vice-chancellor Bill Shorten has urged universities to renew themselves from “cold institutions that talk about themselves” to modern institutions that cater to the practical, modern needs of students and the changing role of universities in broader society.

The former Labor leader is one of the first university vice-chancellors to undertake public discussion about the demands of millennials and Generation Z from tertiary education institutions.

He warned that a failure to adapt and engage amounted to a “breach of (universities’) social licence” and on Wednesday said the “brand of universities in Australia is under pressure” and there was “dissatisfaction”.

Writing in The Australian, Mr Shorten says “different values, different economic drivers and anxieties, and different consumption patterns” mean the expectations of universities on the part of millennial and Gen Z students has changed from previous generations.

He highlights the increased cost of education, fears about the job market, and the “trauma of Covid lockdowns” as key factors that have motivated these changes.

“The incoming generation of students sees a disconnect between that outdated version of an Australian university and them,” Mr Shorten writes.

“Too often millennials and Gen Z look at universities and see cold institutions that talk about themselves; obsessing over prestige or over rankings that give no indication of what is behind the curtain, of what the day-to-day experience is actually like. That information is critical to their choice, because what it is actually like has a lot of money, time and personal sacrifice riding on it.

“These young people do not want the overwhelming array of product information, in inaccessible forms and vocabulary. Nor the images of students – all aspirational and middle class – that simply don’t reflect how members of this new generation see themselves.

“They want a university that values and encourages a learning community, not a slick and soulless corporation that sees everything through the lens of revenue.”

Mr Shorten left politics at the end of last year and started as vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra in February.

Mr Shorten writes that tertiary education is now perceived as a “necessity, not an advantage” but that prospective students feel “heightened anxiety” over the financial impost of a degree and to finish it “mentally intact”.

“Universities must also be aware that the school-leavers coming to us are still dealing with the trauma of Covid lockdowns … they want their university experience to be an antidote to the isolation and dislocation of Covid,” he writes.

“They want connection. They want community.

“So why do we still offer ivory towers?”

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday on campus, Mr Shorten said universities also had to cater to more diverse types of students.

“A lot of students these days are not like students of prior generations,” he said.

“You have to hold down two or three jobs just to be able to make ends meet, which means that you can’t always get to your classes. Yes, some of these things are right. But the reality is the brand of universities in Australia is under pressure. There is dissatisfaction.

“We’ve also got to make sure that for adults, putting up glossy vanity TV ads showing your big buildings and kids just throwing frisbees on the lawn, sipping cappuccinos, turns off a lot of adults.

“They don’t have time for that. They need a university to be where they are.

“At the end of the day, when you’ve done the books, when you’ve got the kids to bed, that’s your study time. That’s your me time to study.

“We want to make sure that we’re there where the student demand is, not where it was 25 years ago.”