Letter from the Editor: The Business of Education

Education is a perpetual labour. It is also one of life’s greatest privileges, and perhaps eventually in the hopes of many, rights too. But right now it is not so. And even for those who are fortunate enough to have access to it, quality varies greatly and evaluations are often as arbitrary as they are ambiguous. For all of the impact that education will have on the future leaders of thought and action, in business and politics, we paused in this issue to approach some of these important questions and put forth possible solutions.

This issue seeks to illuminate areas where traditional education structures have failed and also where new ones might succeed. In “Grade Inflation: A Quiet Epidemic”, Yuting Pan explores the widespread institutionalization of grade inflation, and why it must be dismantled if universities are to truly serve as institutions of meritocratic achievement and progressive thought. In “Where Being Old School Fails”, Duncan Seston looks at how the U.S. has, at once, the world’s leading universities and some of the poorest primary and secondary educational outcomes in the OECD. Alex Dent argues in “Exporting Education” that in the midst of harsh rhetoric on immigration and closed borders in the U.S., Canada must view foreign students as a national asset, and leverage their skill sets for the betterment of its own economy. And in “MOOCs: The Disruptive Deal for Traditional Higher Education”, Linda Du discusses how new technologies are changing the landscape of learning.

Once properly educated, candidates take flight into the job market, battling the winds of hiring managers and discerning boards. In “Female Directors Falling Overboard”, Maddy Beaudry explores how a temporary blow to diversity could be the long awaited fracture in the glass ceiling. Soon, however, the hiring question might not be one of male versus female, but rather one of human versus robot. In “Humanity Redundant”, Tony Yu argues that the intersection of man and machine is closer on the horizon than many might think.

This is my final letter as Editor-in-Chief. I leave QBR even more convinced than when I joined it, that there is not just a place for such a publication at Queen’s University, but a need. From the art to the articles, the opportunity to help students of all varieties develop and publish their work has been truly rewarding. I have the distinct pleasure of handing off the reins to Sarah Fadel, who has previously served in a number of capacities within our organization, most recently as a member of the Editorial Team.

As always, thank you to all of our readership, sponsors, and supporters for bringing QBR to what it is today. We hope you enjoy reading this sixth installment as much as we enjoyed producing it.

Jonathan Claxton,
Editor-in-Chief