Pardis Mahdavi, a professor of medical anthropology, founder of Entheon Journeys, and former university president, discusses how higher education can evolve to meet modern workforce demands through technological innovation and cultural transformation. She examines the growing disconnect between student needs and traditional higher education approaches, emphasizing how educational technology can enhance learning outcomes and promote equity. Mahdavi draws from her extensive leadership experience across diverse institutions to outline practical strategies for creating sustainable innovation in higher education. She argues that embracing technological enhancement in education is crucial for maintaining higher education's relevance, supporting social mobility, and strengthening democracy. Transcript Julian Alssid: Welcome to Work Forces. I'm Julian Alssid. Kaitlin LeMoine: And I'm Kaitlin LeMoine, and we speak with the innovators who shape the future of work and learning. Julian: Together, we unpack the complex elements of workforce and career preparation and offer practical solutions that can be scaled and sustained. Kaitlin: Work Forces is supported by Lumina Foundation. Lumina is an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. Let's dive in. Julian: It feels like the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity between the kickoff of a new academic year coupled with our own rebranding Kaitlin. Kaitlin: Oh, I know it Julian, there's been so much activity, and it's exciting to see our podcast and consulting efforts now housed under the Work Forces umbrella. There are so many overlapping themes across our podcast discussions and consulting work that it really just feels right to have everything live in one place. One theme that has emerged over time, and really it's come up time and again, is how higher education keeps pace and remains agile in a fast moving, ever changing economic landscape. So I'm looking forward to our discussion today to dig deeper on this topic. Julian: I'm thrilled to return to the topic of higher ed, and today we have a higher ed leader who is at the forefront of innovation, Pardis Mahdavi is a professor of anthropology at the University of La Verne. Prior to this role, she served as president at the University of La Verne, provost and executive vice president at the University of Montana, as well as dean at Arizona State University and the University of Denver, after serving in multiple roles at Pomona College. Her research interests include gendered labor, human trafficking, migration, human rights, and public health in the context of changing global and political structures, and she's a widely published author. Pardis is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Young Presidents Organization, and has been a fellow at the Social Sciences Research Council, the American Council on Learned Societies, Google Ideas and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She also serves as a board member for the Lumina Foundation, our sponsor, and the Human Trafficking Legal Center. Welcome to Work Forces. Pardis. Pardis Mahdavi: Thank you so much for having me on the podcast. I am thrilled and honored to be here today. Kaitlin: Well, we're thrilled you could join us, and so as we get started today, Pardis, we'd love to learn more about your background and the story of your career path in higher education. Pardis: You know, interestingly enough, my story actually starts when I was a pretty young girl. I'm Iranian-American, as my name suggests, and my parents came here during the revolution. I was initially born. I'm a child of the Revolution, so maybe I'm dating myself, but I was born here. My parents, you know, they came here during the Revolution. So I was born here in Minnesota, and we lived in Minnesota until I was about six years old. And one day I came home from school and there was a sign posted in front of my house, and it said, “Burn this house. Terrorists live here,” which, of course, my Iranian-American mind, my six year old mind, could not get my head around. I thought, you know, my dad is a doctor. My mom is a health provider. We are, you know, and but it would this was, you know, Minnesota and, you know, during Iran, you know, or On contrary, on hostage crisis. And so really, growing up at a time of antipathy towards Iranians, right in this country. And so my father made the very difficult decision to pack everything up once again and move from Minnesota to California. But my father said something to me in that move, and that's really what drives me, you know, in higher ed he said, “you know,” Pardis, “people can take everything from you, they can take your belongings, they can take your home, they can even take your country, but the one thing nobody can ever take from you is your education.” And that's really what drove me to ...
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