Facilitating Current Higher Education Trends With Behavioral Strategies

Abstract

Higher education is a major social institution with a multifaceted influence as for instance it increases the literacy and critical thinking level of the general population, it is one of the primary means of social mobility, and it provides the highly skilled personnel necessary to maintain and increase the technological momentum which is fundamental in contemporary societies. Nevertheless, the majority of the elements comprising the strategic culture of higher education have been forged with different objectives in mind. Therefore, in order for higher education institutions to remain highly relevant, a thorough review and renewal of this culture is required. This potentially radical transformation can be greatly facilitated through a set of behavioral techniques explicitly designed to encourage the shift from an outdated but familiar situation to a beneficial but unknown one. To corroborate the validity and feasibility of the proposed transition methodologies, successful applications of behavioral principles to all levels of education around the globe are provided and discussed. Moreover, evaluation metrics for assessing the results of a behavioral strategy are given.