Business and Educational Reform

The Bottom Line

The complex interaction of business, workplace, and education is inescapable. Widespread public education has evolved in part as a societal solution for preparing large numbers of people for varied work roles. If one defines “work preparation” more generally as preparation for earning and holding some economic standing in society, then certainly one of education's historical central roles has been to prepare youth for “business.” With the onset of the industrial age and a concurrent influx of immigrants to the United States seeking prosperity through work in the new industrial society, public education spread as rapidly as new businesses' needs for literate and skilled workers. Education served a role in fostering assimilation as well as in early preparation of ready and able employees.

The social and civic implications of the merge of business and education interests can be debated, but clearly the utilitarian aspect of this relationship has grown much more complex over the decades. This is due to two primary influences. First, as technology and markets have changed at an exponentially accelerating rate, it has become nearly impossible to predict just what education young children of today will need for an industry even 15 years hence. Second, the competitive playing field for which education is preparing youth has expanded to include the entire globe. The influence of local and regional industry on local education is now dwarfed by global companies, shifting political forces, and the counterinfluence of an interconnected global society.

Three aspects of business impact on education reforms are discussed in this entry: the intrusion of market forces and profit interests into education, especially public education; the impact of business and economic needs on the content and focus of education; and the impact of business traditions on the preparation and practices of school leaders.

Accelerated Complexity in Global Markets and Local Education

The current rapid acceleration of business and education interaction began with what may have been the first simultaneous intrusion of the influence of new technology and global competition: the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, in 1957. The cold war–era technology race that was launched along with Sputnik brought government and business interests into the schools like never before, demanding science and mathematics reforms in the interest of national security.

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