If recent responses to the STEM fad by many academic leaders from liberal arts disciplines—i.e., claiming that admissions offices just aren’t working hard enough to recruit students in the arts and humanities or that STEM should be repackaged as STEAM or STREAM—aren’t effectively addressing what’s actually occurring in higher education today, what should administrators be doing in order to position their programs for better success once today’s STEM bubble bursts? There are five strategies that forward-looking academic leaders ought to adopt.
Beyond Programs: Leadership Lessons from Ireland’s Inclusive Universities
During a recent sabbatical studying inclusive postsecondary education in Ireland, I visited four universities—University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, and Mary Immaculate
Ashley Rodrigues
July 20, 2026
