Why Is Creativity Important in Higher Education?
It is crucial to move beyond magical ideas about creativity to understanding the mental processes involved. In this way, we can better comprehend this fascinating construct.
As emphasized by Corbalán (2008), this construct represents a universal trait and directly relates to everyday existential and work patterns.
Fig 1 – From Magic to Mental Process
The cognitive approach to creativity seeks to understand the representations and mental processes underlying creative thinking (Sternberg & Lubart, 1995). Along these lines, it is important to note that creative individuals possess characteristics such as perseverance in the face of obstacles, tolerance for ambiguity, openness to experience, willingness to take risks, and strong conviction in their beliefs.
Penagos and Aluni (2000) argue that creativity is to humanity what evolution is to all species. We become more human the more creative we are.
Higher education’s fundamental mission is to overcome the gap between knowledge and the application of what is learned, to achieve better integration into the labor market.
As Altbach (2009) states, the university is the cornerstone institution of the new 21st-century knowledge-based society. Therefore, it is important to analyze how universities participate in training future professionals to meet new demands. Society needs a new profile of professionals, based on a framework of knowledge, skills, and values. The expected mission of the university is to shape this profile, and to achieve this, it is necessary to cultivate an open mind to change and learning.
The professionals who will join commercial and social organizations in the future are the students currently being educated in universities. The education and guidance of professional careers is a profoundly political process. It operates at the interface between the individual and society, between the self and opportunity, between aspirations and realism. This facilitates the allocation of opportunities in life. In a society where opportunities are distributed unequally, education can either reinforce or reduce these inequities (Watts, 2002).
It is important to note how access to higher education has evolved. Figure 2 shows the number of people entering higher education in 1970 and the projected numbers for 2025. These figures, showing a marked upward trend, highlight the challenge facing higher education in the coming years.
Fig 2 – Access in millions to higher education. Source: UNESCO. Own elaboration (2016)
Highly competitive contexts require professionals with skills that enable flexible thinking to resolve conflicts and challenges in uncertain environments. It would be beneficial for universities to integrate more learning that fosters competency development rather than just information acquisition. This kind of competency falls within the creativity construct.
Therefore, the invitation is to keep exploring this topic through various posts, so you can become passionate about it!
Lic. Sonia Grotz
Doctoral Candidate in Higher Education