Trends for Higher Education

How is the world outside your institution changing? While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact every aspect of our lives, other trends and forces are worth watching. This issue broadly explores trends outside higher education.

We’ve organized Trends using STEEP:

• Social: How people work internally (psychology) and with each other (sociology)


• Technology: How people use technology (including hardware and software), how society relies on technology, and how technology affects society


• Economic: Macro- or microeconomics, including global trends, anything related to jobs and skills needed for jobs, and industry shifts


• Environmental: Our external surroundings, including sustainability and our evolving workplaces, cities, and living spaces


• Political: Public policy, governmental systems, the people within them, and the effects of government decisions on our citizens and communities

Each trend includes a brief trend summary, a footnoted source, and discussion questions to help you analyze and act on the trend.