Future of Higher Education

Indonesian youths who are currently pursuing Master's and Doctoral degrees overseas and inside the country really foster a sense of optimism about the future of higher education and the improvement of the overall quality of our human resources.

They are, particularly, the recipients of scholarships from the Indonesian government through the Finance Ministry and the Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP) and there were about 5,000 of them at the beginning of 2016. Several of them who are pursuing Doctoral studies in the Netherlands and Germany are already in their third year, even though they are still only 27 or 28 years old. Most of those at the Master's degree level are 20 years old. If, after earning their Master's, they immediately proceed to the Doctoral level, they will get their PhDs before the age of about 30 years.

That means Indonesia will soon have thousands of young people with new Doctoral qualifications every year and in the future the average productive period will be much longer than at present. In Asia, the "grand harvest" of Indonesia's educated human resources will be surpassed only by China. Since 10 years ago, the Chinese government has been sending its youth to study overseas and 6,000 of them reach the Doctoral level every year.

For Indonesia, the sense of optimism is getting increasingly strong because young Indonesians who are financed by the state do not belong to a laissez-faire generation. They do not see education solely as a vehicle for individual vertical mobility. They are not an "uncaring generation" as described by pedagogue Mochtar Buchori.

As learned from discussions with a number of LPDP scholarship recipients in the Netherlands and Germany, their commitment toward Indonesian development is deeply felt. From the aura of competence, insight, ambition and career orientation they exude, they confirm that their collective potential is formidable and bodes well for the progress of the country in the future if they are properly managed institutionally.

Fresh air

In particular, the presence of young people with Doctoral qualifications will become a fresh breeze for the university world in Indonesia. Even though not all of them will be or have become lecturers, the significant additional numbers of people in the workforce with those qualifications will improve the competitive power of the universities as one of the job choices.

In line with the Law on Teachers and Lecturers, one of the requirements to become lecturers is to have at least a Master's degree. Those with Doctorates enjoy a privileged position because they are classified into a rare group. By 2013, the number of people with Doctoral degrees in Indonesia still accounted for only 11 percent of the total 154,968 fully employed lecturers at universities.

On the other hand, many lecturers with Doctoral qualifications have approached or passed the age of 50 years. Their productivity has also been receding. As a result, in many places we meet lecturers with Doctoral qualifications whose performances do not contribute too significantly to the improvement of the competitiveness of universities in Indonesia.

With the entrance of thousands of young people with Doctoral qualifications into the workforce in the next several years, the selection of university lecturers would become more stringent. Like in Germany, someone's biological age, the age of his or her Doctoral diploma and the average number of publications based on the comparison between the biological age and the age of the Doctoral diploma constitute interrelated factors that are used as basic considerations in selecting candidates to be lecturers. The objective is to get a candidate with the most potential, productivity and working life duration as possible.

The academic atmosphere in universities is expected to also become increasingly dynamic. There will be a time when Doctoral qualifications alone do not guarantee quality and expertise. Someone with a Doctoral qualification will be required to do serious post-doctoral research and consistently publish in order to survive scientifically. All of this will undoubtedly become commonplace in Indonesian universities over the next several years.

Youth leadership

However, all of the optimization opportunities for the collective potential of young people with Doctoral qualifications will be lost if employment, career systems and reward mechanisms in Indonesia are less competitive. Our youth with Doctoral qualifications will look for better opportunities in other countries. The government investment will be useless. These challenges will be greater because the ASEAN and Asia-Pacific free trade enables the migration of educated people more easily.

The university world as one of the job choices may miss an opportunity from the presence of young people with Doctoral qualifications if there is no quick internal improvement. So far there are complaints about the lack of laboratory facilities, libraries and research funding. Even though these things are crucial, I think the root of the problem is in the stagnation of the system and work climate caused by the character of university leadership in general, which is not adaptive and is slow to respond to reforming ideas.

On average, the leadership of universities in Indonesia is currently in the hands of old people. The academic atmosphere is also determined by the political actions of old people, who make power-plays in the narrow bureaucracy of the campus. Cases in several places show that the spirit and willingness of young lecturers to go forward by developing serious research and academic activities is frequently hindered or even turned off by the bureaucratic mentality of the superiors and seniors themselves, instead of giving them room, direction and guidance.

"Being old" here is not only in terms of biological age, but also in leadership perspective and the orientation of the development of science. The leadership of the old group could contain relatively young people, but their academic work, especially their latest research, was carried out five to 10 years ago, or even more. Among them there are lecturers who do not have any international scientific experience in their fields. It is not known how universities with such a leadership profile can fulfill the mission they enthusiastically formulate for themselves: "To become research universities that are recognized in the world."

The presence of young people with Doctoral qualifications who have a new spirit and perspective has the potential to revolutionize the stagnation of the academic atmosphere and bring about a radical performance renewal. However, it will not take place if the university leadership paradigm is not amended to be ready to accept the presence, progress and work dynamics of the young people.

Therefore, instead of discussing the importation of rectors, which sparks xenophobic and chauvinistic reactions, it is better for Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister Mohamad Nasir (and also President Joko Widodo) to prepare a blueprint for a new paradigm of leadership in universities to be imbued by the spirit and characteristics of the young people. Among them should be those who are progressively agile, open to change and accommodative to the needs and development of the potential of the campus inhabitants. Besides that, with 35 percent of the voting rights for the election of rectors of state universities throughout Indonesia in his hands, the minister of research, technology and higher education himself has to develop within himself the new paradigm of leadership for universities that is oriented toward the younger people.

The paradigm of university leadership needs overhauling so that universities in Indonesia become an interesting and competitive job choice for thousands of young people with new Doctoral degrees who will return to the country and will be ready to devote themselves. If the young people with Doctoral degrees are managed with a leadership that is based on the spirit and the soul of the times so that they have room to develop optimally, then the future of universities in Indonesia will certainly be bright. At that time, the issue of the low ranking of universities and the lack of scientific publications, which unwittingly become the basis of all strategic policies on the management of universities at present, will be resolved by itself through their overwhelming performance.

by Agus Suwignyo

source Kompas, Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Masa Depan Perguruan Tinggi

Pemuda/pemudi Indonesia yang tengah menempuh pendidikan master dan doktor, di luar dan dalam negeri, sungguh menumbuhkan rasa optimistis tentang masa depan perguruan tinggi dan meningkatnya mutu sumber daya manusia kita secara keseluruhan.

Mereka itu khususnya para penerima beasiswa Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) dari Pemerintah RI melalui Kementerian Keuangan. Jumlahnya hingga awal 2016 sekitar 5.000 orang. Beberapa yang studi doktor di Belanda dan Jerman sudah di tahun ke-3 meskipun usianya baru 27-28 tahun. Kebanyakan yang di tingkat master usianya 20 tahunan. Jika setelah master langsung melanjutkan ke jenjang S-3, mereka juga akan menjadi doktor di usia sekitar 30 tahun.

Artinya, dalam waktu tidak terlalu lama lagi Indonesia akan memiliki ribuan doktor baru setiap tahun dengan rata-rata masa produktif keilmuan jauh lebih panjang daripada selama ini. Di Asia, "panen-raya" SDM terdidik Indonesia nantinya hanya kalah dari Tiongkok. Sejak 10 tahun terakhir, Pemerintah Tiongkok mengirimkan pemuda/pemudinya studi keluar negeri, yang pada jenjang S-3 saja jumlahnya sekitar 6.000 orang per tahun.

Bagi Indonesia, rasa optimistis itu makin kuat karena orang-orang muda yang dibiayai negara itu bukan tipe generasi laissez-faire. Mereka tidak memandang pendidikan semata-mata sebagai wahana mobilitas vertikal individual. Juga bukan tipe "generasi tak-peduli" seperti analisis pedagog Mochtar Buchori.

Dari obrolan dengan sejumlah penerima beasiswa LPDP di Belanda dan Jerman, sangat terasa komitmen dan kepedulian mereka terhadap pembangunan Indonesia. Aura kompetensi, wawasan, ambisi, dan orientasi karier mereka menegaskan potensi kolektif yang dahsyat bagi kemajuan Tanah Air di masa depan jika dikelola dengan baik secara institusional.

Angin segar

Secara khusus, kehadiran doktor-doktor muda itu merupakan angin segar bagi dunia perguruan tinggi (PT) di Indonesia. Meski tak semua dari mereka akan/telah berstatus dosen, penambahan secara signifikan jumlah doktor akan meningkatkan daya kompetitif PT sebagai salah satu pilihan lapangan pekerjaan.

Sesuai UU Guru dan Dosen, salah satu syarat menjadi dosen adalah berpendidikan minimal S-2/master. Mereka yang berijazah doktor menikmati posisi istimewa karena sampai sekarang masih tergolong langka. Hingga 2013, jumlah doktor di Indonesia cuma sekitar 11 persen dari total 154.968 dosen tetap PT.

Di sisi lain, dosen-dosen berijazah doktor itu banyak yang telah mendekati/melewati usia 50 tahun. Produktivitasnya pun surut. Akibatnya, di berbagai tempat kita jumpai dosen-dosen berijazah doktor, tetapi kinerjanya tidak berkontribusi terlalu signifikan terhadap peningkatan daya saing PT-PT di Indonesia.

Dengan hadirnya ribuan doktor muda beberapa tahun lagi, seleksi jadi dosen PT bisa makin ketat. Seperti di Jerman, usia biologis seseorang, usia ijazah doktornya, serta rata-rata jumlah publikasi berdasarkan perbandingan usia biologis dan usia ijazah doktornya adalah faktor-faktor saling terkait yang menjadi dasar pertimbangan dalam seleksi calon dosen. Tujuannya untuk memperoleh kandidat dengan potensi, produktivitas, dan durasi masa kerja seoptimal mungkin.

Atmosfer akademik di PT dipastikan juga semakin dinamis. Akan tiba saatnya ketika berijazah doktor saja tidak cukup menjamin kualitas dan keahlian. Seorang doktor dituntut punya riset-riset post-doktoral yang serius dan publikasi secara berkelanjutan dan konsisten agar dapat bertahan secara keilmuan. Semua ini niscaya menjadi atmosfer akademik dan praktik yang lumrah di PT-PT Indonesia beberapa tahun ke depan.

Kepemimpinan kaum muda

Seluruh peluang optimalisasi potensi kolektif para doktor muda akan hilang jika lapangan pekerjaan, sistem karier, dan mekanisme imbal jasa di Indonesia kurang kompetitif. Doktor-doktor kita akan mencari kesempatan yang lebih baik di negara lain. Investasi pemerintah jadi sia-sia. Tantangan ini semakin besar karena pasar bebas ASEAN dan Asia Pasifik memungkinkan migrasi sumber daya manusia terdidik secara lebih terbuka.

Dunia PT sebagai salah satu pilihan lapangan pekerjaan dapat kehilangan kesempatan dari kehadiran doktor-doktor muda itu jika tidak segera melakukan pembenahan internal. Selama ini yang dikeluhkan adalah minimnya fasilitas laboratorium, perpustakaan, dan dana riset. Meskipun hal-hal ini krusial, saya kira akar permasalahan ada pada stagnasi sistem dan iklim kerja akibat karakter kepemimpinan PT yang secara umum tidak adaptif dan lambat merespons ide-ide pembaruan.

Rata-rata kepemimpinan PT di Indonesia saat ini berada di tangan kaum tua. Atmosfer akademik juga ditentukan oleh sepak terjang politik kaum tua, yang memain-mainkan kekuasaan apa pun yang tergenggam di lahan sempit birokrasi kampus. Kasus-kasus di beberapa tempat menunjukkan semangat dan kemauan dosen-dosen muda untuk maju dengan melakukan pengembangan riset dan aktivitas akademik yang serius sering dihambat atau bahkan dimatikan oleh mentalitas birokratis atasan atau seniornya sendiri, alih-alih diberi ruang, diarahkan, dan dibimbing.

"Tua" di sini tidak hanya dari segi usia biologis, tetapi juga perspektif kepemimpinan dan orientasi pengembangan ilmu. Kepemimpinan kaum tua bisa saja berisi orang-orang relatif muda usia, tetapi produk kerja akademik, khususnya risetnya yang terakhir sudah 5-10 tahun lalu, bahkan lebih. Di antara mereka ada yang sama sekali tidak memiliki pengalaman keilmuan internasional di bidangnya. Entah bagaimana PT-PT dengan profil kepemimpinan demikian mewujudkan misi "menjadi perguruan tinggi riset yang diakui dunia" yang telah beramai-ramai mereka rumuskan sendiri.

Kehadiran doktor-doktor muda dengan semangat dan perspektif baru berpotensi merevolusi stagnasi atmosfer akademik dan membawa pembaruan kinerja secara radikal. Namun, hal ini mustahil terjadi jika paradigma kepemimpinan PT tidak diubah agar siap menerima kehadiran, kiprah, dan dinamika kerja kaum muda.

Karena itu, alih-alih mewacanakan impor rektor yang malah memicu reaksi bernuansa xenofobis dan chauvinistik, Menristek dan Dikti Muhammad Nasir (dan juga Presiden Jokowi!) lebih baik menyiapkan cetak biru paradigma baru kepemimpinan PT agar dijiwai semangat dan sifat-sifat kaum muda. Di antaranya progresif-gesit, terbuka pada perubahan, dan akomodatif terhadap kebutuhan dan pengembangan potensi warga kampus. Selain itu, dengan 35 persen hak suara di tangannya pada pemilihan rektor PT negeri di seluruh Indonesia, Menristek dan Dikti harus mengembangkan di dalam dirinya paradigma baru kepemimpinan PT yang berorientasi pada kaum muda.

Paradigma kepemimpinan PT perlu dirombak agar PT-PT di Indonesia menjadi pilihan lapangan pekerjaan yang menarik dan kompetitif bagi ribuan doktor baru yang segera kembali ke Tanah Air dan siap berbakti. Jika doktor-doktor itu dikelola dengan kepemimpinan yang dilandasi semangat dan jiwa zaman sehingga mereka punya ruang untuk berkembang optimal, masa depan PT di Indonesia pasti cerah. Pada saat itu, persoalan rendahnya peringkat PT dan minimnya publikasi ilmiah, yang tanpa disadari telah menjadi dasar dan rujukan hampir semua kebijakan strategis pengelolaan PT saat ini, akan terselesaikan dengan sendirinya oleh kinerja dahsyat mereka. 

oleh Agus Suwignyo 

disadur dari Kompas, Selasa, 21 Juni 2016
English version