Learning Is a Team Sport

For many years, I was on a committee that evaluated applications to a Master's program at MIT. With a very low selectivity percentage, we sifted through several hundreds of applications every year to identify the best candidates for a few dozen spots in the class. It was a difficult process, where many students that were solid applicants were not offered a spot because others were better on their own or better for the class as a whole.

When we selected candidates, we looked at the applicant's past academic results and work experience as a predictor of their individual ability to successfully complete our graduate program. But we also looked at what they would bring to contribute to the class. Diversity of backgrounds and experiences was a factor we considered because we knew that a diverse class was a stronger class, which would produce better graduates. And we knew that our selection process was not only about selecting individuals, but about choosing players for a team. Members for an ensemble.

After 12 years at MIT, half of them as a student and the other half as staff, I believe MIT would be poorer if it accepted candidates without considering their backgrounds. If a single criterion was used for admission, the result might be a class composed exclusively of people who excel at that criterion. They may have a greater individual chance to complete the program successfully, but the class may be weaker as a whole. The experience of students would be poorer as a result.

My own MIT experience was rich and diverse. At a single table, with a dozen people discussing a case study or brainstorming solutions to a problem, I often found five continents represented, ten nationalities, and a rainbow of races, ethnicities, religions, cultures, and gender identities. And the table was always flat, with all voices given equal consideration, with the soundness of the ideas shared being the only thing judged, not the attributes of the person sharing them.

In light of the recent decision by the SCOTUS, I hope that those in charge of admissions to academic programs at universities everywhere remember that learning for life is a team sport, because life is a team activity. We have to teach our students to look at issues from different angles, to consider different perspectives, and to listen to different voices. A homogeneous class that does not reflect the outside world will not prepare the leaders we need for the global challenges that face us today, and will continue to face us in the future.