EDITORS' CORNER
Students raise concerns about being told ahead of time who will be called on in class, never reading a book
Students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business are joining the throng of voices concerned about academic rigor in America’s most prestigious higher education institutions.
In a series of recent interviews with the Poets & Quants, a publication focused on business school news, students in Stanford’s MBA program said they do not want to be babied, and they believe professors should be focused more on teaching than research.
“We’re not learning anything,” a second-year student told the news outlet. “The brand is strong, but there’s nothing here to help you build discernible skills.” The publication did not include the students’ names due to concerns about repercussions.
While some of their complaints focused on what they described as outdated curriculum, other concerns had to do with academic expectations.
For example, one student pointed out that Harvard Business School professors call on students at random to answer questions about the lesson.
However, at Stanford’s business school, many professors send their students “a ‘Room Temp’ list the day before class, listing the five to seven people who may be called on in this manner,” according to the report.
“You know what that teaches the students?” the student told Poets & Quants. “It teaches them that they don’t have to read or prepare before class if they’re not on the list. It teaches us that we don’t have to learn.”
It’s not the first time students have raised academic concerns in recent months.
In December, Julia Steinberg, a student journalist for The Stanford Review, related a story about one of her peers who was about to graduate without ever having to read a whole book.
More recently, business students also have complained that some professors are more focused on their own research than on teaching their classes well – possibly a product of the pressure on scholars to publish new research.
As several students told Poets & Quants this month:
While some faculty members have been receptive and collaborative when students raise concerns, they say, others see teaching as a secondary priority, and administrators have been slow or reluctant to act. …
Several said that professors often treat teaching as a nuisance, a not uncommon critique at many B-schools because of the predominance of academic research. One faculty member reportedly told colleagues, “If you’re worried about the class you teach, you’re doing it wrong.”
The business school’s administrators assured the publication that they are listening to the students’ concerns, and making changes to address them is a “top priority.”
Students often have been on the receiving end of the blame for the downturn in academic rigor. Using AI to cheat, laziness, technology addictions, over-reliance on their parents, and cancel culture are real problems that professors struggle with regularly.
Still, institutions should take note that there are many students who do want a traditional, disciplined education – one that challenges them to think and grow, and prepares them for a future career.
It is on these students, not their loud, complaining peers — or, sometimes, their parents — that universities should focus their time and efforts. Because these are the students who want to develop not only their minds but also their characters and, in doing so, will be better prepared to become our future leaders.
MORE: Stanford professor keeps fighting to defend rigor in math curricula
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A female student leans over a book as she studies; UGL UIUC/Flickr
