Future-proofing not universities’ job alone
The call to “future-proof” our graduates has become the rallying cry of our universities. Higher education is now at the center of economic competitiveness, national progress, and personal ambition. In public forums, on government websites and during education summits, universities are urged to mold graduates to be ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, equipped with digital literacy, adaptability, and innovation. The buzzwords are easy to recite: resilience, employability, global citizenship.
But here’s the hard truth. Future-proofing cannot be the sole burden of universities. While they play a crucial role, the reality is that a student’s capacity to thrive in the future is equally shaped by the broader environment. This environment is marked by inequality, precarity, and governance failure.
Last month’s headlines revealed that thousands of college graduates remain jobless or underemployed. A recent Pulse Asia survey showed that education remains a top concern among Filipinos. Still, families continue to stretch their finances to send their children to college. Meanwhile, many state universities struggle with crowded classrooms, outdated facilities, and contractual faculty. The promise of a future-ready education is often undermined by the very conditions in which the university operates.
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu reminds us that education is not an isolated meritocratic space. Instead, it mirrors and reproduces the social hierarchies that exist outside of it. The university, he argues, is not always a great equalizer. More often, it functions as a “mechanism of reproduction.” In the Philippines, this becomes painfully clear. Students enter college with vastly unequal forms of capital. Some arrive with family support, digital access, and financial stability. Others juggle part-time work, endure long commutes, or rely on borrowed Wi-Fi to attend class.
Yet in public discourse, we expect the university to be a savior. It is tasked with producing agile, competent, and globally competitive individuals. But how can this be achieved when our institutions are themselves struggling to survive?
Consider the situation of many faculty members in public universities. They are overworked, underpaid, and often hired on a contractual basis with no job security or benefits. They are expected to train “future leaders” while navigating their uncertain futures. The knowledge they produce and pass on is often constrained by a lack of funding, bureaucratic bottlenecks, or even political interference. The very people responsible for building the next generation are doing so in conditions that fail to recognize the value of their labor.
From a systems perspective, Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social systems offers a helpful lens. He argues that education is part of a wider network of interconnected subsystems, such as political, economic, and technological. The failure to future-proof graduates may not lie entirely within the university; it stems from dysfunction of the systems around it. Are our industries evolving fast enough to create meaningful jobs? Is the government crafting clear and responsive labor and digital policies? Are we improving public infrastructure, such as transport, internet, and healthcare, so that learning can truly thrive?
The problem is that the burden of the future has been outsourced to education. Other institutions are not held accountable for their roles, reducing education to a tool for survival rather than a space for transformation.
This is not a call to lower our expectations of universities. It is a demand to distribute the responsibility of future-proofing across all sectors. Businesses must invest in real and lasting partnerships with academic institutions, not just offer temporary internships. The government must increase its support not only for science and technology but also for the humanities and social sciences. These fields nurture critical thinking, ethical reflection, and empathy—skills essential in an age defined by artificial intelligence, climate risk, and political uncertainty.
Communities also have a part to play. If we want our youth to thrive, we must look beyond the diploma. We must ask: What kind of society awaits them after graduation? Will it reward not just technical expertise but also civic engagement? Will it offer fair wages, dignified work, and democratic space?
Universities cannot be treated as isolated centers of excellence surrounded by systemic neglect. Future-proofing should not be confined within the four walls of a classroom. It must become a national project; it requires a collective re-imagining of how we value education, labor, and public life.
As students return to their campuses, we must remember this: the future they are preparing for is not theirs alone to build. It is ours to shape together.
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Prince Kennex R. Aldama is a sociologist. He is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños. He was president of the Philippine Sociological Society.
