Reverse mentoring is a prominent example of intergenerational partnership in which students and faculty from recent generations share knowledge, perspectives, and expertise with more seasoned and veteran faculty. In essence, it reverses hierarchical relationships and creates a level playing field for the transmission of knowledge and skills. Although such mentoring programs are not widespread in higher education, a number of corporations—such as BNY Mellon, Dell, Estée Lauder, Procter & Gamble, and Time Warner—have realized its value in the retention of talent and in promoting diversity.
Beyond the Credential Factory: Why Higher Education Must Shift from Management to Flourishing
For decades, higher education leadership has obsessed over “student success” as a purely operational metric. We track retention and graduation rates and postgraduation outcomes with the same linear precision that
Yoshitaka Iwasaki
August 3, 2026
