Universities and the Future of Innovation – Ekateryna Nova at TEDx Terry Talks

Ekateryna Nova at TEDx Terry Talks 2014 | Photo by Sruthi Sreedhar

Ekateryna Nova at TEDx Terry Talks 2014 | Photo by Sruthi Sreedhar

Is our education system hurting innovation? Are we suppressing the very qualities of creativity and the drive for innovation that we’re trying to promote? Ekateryna Nova certainly thinks so.

According to Nova, scientific and technological advances are driven by people with a broad range of interests – like biologists that study history or engineers that study art. Indeed, multidisciplinary research and collaboration is an essential driver of innovation, and she thinks that it should be reflected in the education system.

However, while working on her current project examining innovation economics with BC’s current attitudes towards multidisciplinary studies, Nova found an alarming trend where education institutions are actually hindering collaboration between disciplines.

As she explains in her TEDx Terry Talk, she believes that this attitude is not only damaging the potential for innovation, but also works in contrast to the career projections of modern times – where an individual is expected to work up to 7 jobs in their life time, often switching through various careers.

 

 

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