Donald Trump¡¯s re-election as US?president has highlighted the need for universities ¡°to?meet people where they are¡± in a?world experiencing complexity ¡°fatigue¡±, a?conference has heard.

Alana Piper, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), said Mr?Trump¡¯s election victory marked a?¡°reckoning¡± for the university sector. ¡°It¡¯s not good enough for us?to¡­try and convince people to?share our values,¡± she told a?symposium organised by?the Australian Technology Network (ATN).

¡°We need to understand what other people¡¯s values are and¡­speak to their values. I?don¡¯t know that we have been as successful at that as we should have been.¡±

It was no easy task in a world craving simplicity, she acknowledged. Universities had ¡°fallen foul of much the same instinct¡± that had propelled Mr?Trump back into the White House.

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The election result represented ¡°a backlash against complexity¡±, and academics ¨C who were ¡°frightened of oversimplifying things¡± ¨C were a natural target.

¡°Things in the world¡­have been difficult and painful and complex and nuanced and ambiguous, and that¡¯s hard,¡± Dr?Piper said. ¡°Now someone¡¯s come along who [says it?is] ¡®simple and people are lying to you. All those people who use big words and tell you it¡¯s complicated are idiots. Let¡¯s laugh at them.¡¯

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¡°I¡¯m glad that universities are¡­out there defending the fact that things are complicated, and the world is full of nuance. But it makes it hard when you¡¯re competing with people who are willing to go for a catchphrase and appeal to people who just want to hear something that makes them feel¡­certain.¡±

Nicky Sparshott, chair of UTS¡¯ industry advisory board, said universities needed to resist a push for ¡°binary¡± simplicity. ¡°We need critical thinkers across all parts of society [who] question constructively [and] agitate with good intent,¡± said Ms?Sparshott, chief transformation officer at manufacturing company Unilever.

¡°The single most important skill that¡­we can instil in students, and in ourselves, is the ability to hold two things to be true at any point of time. That¡¯s my wish for any form of education.¡±

Adjunct UTS professor Christian Bason, a Copenhagen-based expert in societal innovation, said universities should not take ideological stances. But they should ¡°side¡± with complexity, he said.

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¡°There is a role to build a higher tolerance for ambiguity,¡± he told the forum. ¡°I?would much rather live in a society with a high tolerance for critique and ambiguity¡­than the opposite.¡±

ATN executive director Ant Bagshaw said gender and education levels had been major determinants of voting patterns in the US?election. A?similar ¡°divide¡¯ affected Australian universities, as higher education became increasingly feminised.

¡°Education is increasingly a divide in society,¡± Dr?Bagshaw told the forum. ¡°That¡¯s perhaps something [we] need to address. Engaging with these mega-trends is going to be essential.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com