Happy Tuesday, everyone! On this episode of Grad Pod, our host is joined by Dr. Jeffery Wilson, associate dean at the Graduate School and professor of Educational Leadership in the School of Education. Today’s discussion is all about the value of graduate education in a rapidly changing world shaped by artificial intelligence.
HAYA: There’s a growing conversation about the value of graduate education, especially in a world that’s ever changing and changing faster than ever with new technologies reshaping the workforce, artificial intelligence redefining how we think and work, and global and social shifts influencing every field.
It’s easy to wonder what role advanced education still plays. But if we look closer, we see that graduate education has always evolved alongside change from the introduction of email to the rise of digital learning. And now in the era of AI or artificial intelligence, each new wave of innovation has challenged us to adapt, not to abandon what we know, but to reimagine and how we apply it.
Think about when direct deposit first rolled out. Okay, I know many of us were not there, but I heard many resisted it, unsure about letting technology handle something as personal as their paycheck. Yet over time it became second nature, just like checking your email and, for some, using AI tools every day.
The same is true for graduate education. It continues to grow, to integrate, to prepare students for the complexities of tomorrow. Today on Grad Pod, we’re exploring what this evolution really means. How can we continue to find purpose and value in advanced education when automation and global change are shifting the very foundation of work and learning?
How do we prepare students and ourselves for a future that’s both uncertain and full of possibility? Welcome back to Grad Pod, the podcast where we spotlight the stories, research, invoices shaping graduate education at Virginia Commonwealth University. I’m your host, Hey Hamed. Joining me today is Dr.
Jeffrey Wilson, associate dean of the VCU Graduate School and professor in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership. Dr. Wilson’s research focuses on diversity and leadership in higher education, and he currently serves as principal investigator for VCUs Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Scholars Program.
Throughout his career, Dr. Wilson has mentored countless graduate students who have gone on to senior level positions in higher education. He is also a recipient of multiple honors, including the 2022 Noner Award for Excellence in Scholarly Professional Publication and the 2019 VCU School of Education Distinguished Service Award, and he has served as a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford’s Harris Manchester College.
His work continues to center on how institutions can foster leadership, inclusion, and purpose within an ever changing educational landscape. Dr. Wilson, welcome to the grad pod.
DR. WILSON: Thank you, Haya. Good to be here.
HAYA: Thank you for joining us in an age of automation, Dr. Wilson, and rapid change at a time when graduate education is also becoming more expensive than ever.
How do you think graduate education continues to hold value, not just for careers but for society as a whole? And what would you say to someone who is debating the value of pursuing a graduate degree today?
DR. WILSON: Thank you. It’s good to be here. And I think as I look at that question, education continues to have a place, especially for those who are what we consider lifelong learners.
Lifelong learners, and a lifelong learner: someone who continually wants to be up to date on skills, maybe policy, maybe some of the latest theories and innovations in a particular area. And as we go into this technological age that’s going to incorporate AI, which is clearly the wave of the future, there’s gonna be a need for those who are pursuing graduate education to learn how to appropriately apply some of those skills.
I remember I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago with the presenter. It was my second time going and hearing this presenter, and he spoke about the use of AI, and last year when I heard him, I began to really think about: How am I going to use AI? What is it? What are some things I can maybe adapt from it? This year, he continued that discussion about the use of AI and how it is inevitable, and he likened it to now: those people who are going in and using AI are kind of like swinging blindly with a hammer.
You know, when you have a hammer in your hand, everything’s a nail, you want to swing at it. But what we really do need to produce are carpenters, skill carpenters who are able to take this technology and apply it to whatever skill or craft or whatever industry they’re working in or they aspire for. So I think that we need to look at how are we going to prepare our graduate students, particularly our undergrad students, for jobs of the future that’s gonna incorporate AI. That includes whether it’s rethinking how we’re teaching our graduate students. I know now there is a current committee on AI, and pretty much this committee is looking at the application of policy: How can we? Are we gonna permit students to use it, especially at the undergrad or graduate level? But I think that we need to go a step further.
And to have a task force to look at how can we, as instructors, incorporate into our assignments and making sure that we are preparing our students to incorporate AI technology in their actual work. So whether that’s industry and engineering, or the STEM discipline, or even some of the non STEM areas, I think that there’s always a need to continue to grow and get your education, to learn a new skill.
But I think AI is certainly gonna play a key part in people coming back to graduate school.
HAYA: Thank you for sharing that, and I think you bring a lot of valuable experience as somebody who works in both the classroom setting and behind the scenes on the administrative part of graduate education. Like you said, it’s inevitable that we will have to not only coexist with AI but find ways to use it meaningfully, purposefully, and ethically.
Artificial intelligence is now not just limited to the classroom, but it is also available and evident in our job markets. They are reshaping our job markets. They are doing so by automating certain roles but also supposedly creating new opportunities. So how can graduate programs specifically prepare students to work alongside AI rather than fear being replaced by it, which is a valid and major concern for many?
That AI is going to replace, you know, it’s going to replace some jobs. I mean, it is going to do a lot of things that people normally would do, but it’s not gonna do everything. You’re going to need people who know how to enter or input information into the computer pretty much to work with, to teach AI to do some of the things that it can do.
So there’s always gonna be a need for people, and particularly those who are capable of working alongside AI. That’s why I think it’s critical that we in the academy think about: How are we going to teach this? How are we going to use this tool to inform ourselves as instructors but to also teach our students?
I’m a big believer now after hearing a couple talks and just kind of playing around with AI that we really do need to see how are we going to prepare our students for their future, which is the incorporation of AI. One way that we could probably look at it is the policy that we adopt; I mean, right now it’s kind of all over the place, to where: don’t use it; to where: it’s alright, you can use it marginally; or, you know, you can use it extensively.
One institution, Georgia Tech, they are requiring their incoming freshmen, their incoming students who apply to the institution, they have to use AI in their personal statements. Arizona State University, their president, Michael Crow, he’s an innovative president, he’s been there for a number of years, decades, and he talks about innovation, and one of that involves AI.
They are incorporating AI into their curriculum, even some of the graduate programs. So I think that we as instructors or faculty in general, it’s something to where just like we had to learn how to teach online, especially, I remember when 2008 hit the financial crisis and there was a sort of a dip in enrollment. It’s kinda like: How can we be innovative? And we’re like, well, we need to go online. And so that was really my first test of teaching online courses. And I was a little bit nervous, but as I learned it, I’m like, hey, wow, you know, it’s not so bad. And I think AI is kind of a similar track to where it’s one of those things that’s going to be a tool for faculty as opposed to a barrier.
And if it’s out there, then why are we not using it? You know, if the capabilities are pretty much expansive in that it can really add a benefit for the instructional purpose. I think that we really need to investigate this.
HAYA: Just as a disclaimer, we’re not saying that VCU needs to adopt any of these practices. We’re just scratching the surface. Really, this is the first time that we have discussed AI on Grad Pod at this extent. And like you mentioned, some universities like Georgia Tech and ASU have already begun integrating AI into the curriculum, into the program. But there’s also a growing emphasis on skill based learning over traditional degrees at this time.
You know, speaking globally, geopolitically, how can graduate education balance the need for specialized expertise with the demand for adaptable and transferable skills that align with world? In other words, how do we coexist with the evolving of AI but also the notion that graduate education is expensive and an overall shift or maybe emphasis on skill based learning?
DR. WILSON: I remember actually when I was applying for undergrad, being showed a chart. It kind of shows the payback, you know, the return on investment if you get your undergrad degree, if you get your master’s, if you get your doctorate, and you know, that kind of stuck with me. The return on investment, especially for those who pursue graduate education, is still high.
You know, it’s higher than that, what if you were to just have a bachelor’s degree. Also, you know, as you pursue graduate education, that means that you have maybe an interest in attaining additional information or additional knowledge for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because the industry mandated, you know, there are some fields where you have to have advanced training beyond a bachelor’s degree.
There are some fields to where an advanced degree, a graduate degree, will help you understand maybe theory, maybe understand better how to conduct research or how to maybe do research on your own. It’s whatever reason you’re pursuing graduate education or whatever skill. I think that that human component in terms of being able to apply what you’ve learned in your graduate educational training is still going to be there.
Even with the emerging technology of AI, I think that that human component and that human contact is still gonna be there. I’m not an AI expert, but you know, I’m one of those who’s still learning about this. But I do think that not in the near future, I think in my lifetime, probably in my life work, that I’ll still be in demand. I still will need to be. AI’s not gonna replace me.
HAYA: Absolutely. And you know, thank you for sharing that point about return on investment because I feel that a lot of times when we talk about the return on investment as it relates to graduate education, we think about delayed gratification. It takes a long time for all of those ideas to come into fruition and to apply it and good salary through the degree that you got via your master’s or doctoral.
But leading with that, when people are thinking about AI and how it relates to graduate education, leading with that as a pro for graduate education at this time is really important to think about. And as technology becomes more and more ingrained in many aspects of our life, what do you think are uniquely human qualities, and you kind of already touched on this, but what are some human qualities that graduate education specifically nurtures?
DR. WILSON: I think being able to work in a team. If you are in a program that has a cohort embedded in it, I think some of those really do. I actually teach in a program. Our EDD is cohort based. So students are in that cohort. They’re seeing the same people. They’re taking the same classes with folks who came in with them from start to graduation. I think that forces people to be able to work with someone who they otherwise hadn’t had prior contact with.
So they’re getting to learn that person. They’re being able to work on challenges and address issues, do common research. Another thing is that it teaches you to think, I mean teaching you how to think critically at a more advanced level in your discipline. Graduate school allows you to specialize. Undergrad is kind of like you have a general curriculum, even if you have a major. There’s specific content, especially in STEM.
But when you go to graduate school, that’s an opportunity to learn even more advanced curriculum but also to pursue an area of interest that leads to, if it’s a final product, a thesis or a dissertation at the PhD level. So I think that being able to really specialize and tailor individually what you have an interest in is kind of appealing.
It’s gonna still be that appeal for grad education to give you even a niche, as you enter the job market, especially if you want to teach, if you have a research line that you are particularly fluent in, and that’s something that’s gonna give you a leg up and you can continue. But I think that one of the benefits of graduate education is that it allows you flexibility if you’re looking for some flexibility, and it gives you options and it really distinguishes you from those who are coming out.
You know, because as you go up in terms of those who have a graduate degree, those who have a doctorate degree, that number tends to lessen. And so it really kind of makes you stand apart and kind of gives you some options and some flexibility when you’re looking at jobs.
HAYA: Thank you for sharing that. And everything that Dr. Wilson just highlighted are truly the transferable takeaways, the transferable skills that you take away from graduate education that are multi and interdisciplinary that a computer could never replace, like you said. So thank you for sharing that. Finally, Dr. Wilson, as we are approaching the end of 2025, a year filled with changes, not only as it relates to technology and AI, we’ve seen a lot of changes with AI, lots of news with AI, but overall, all in all, how would you describe this year in one word?
DR. WILSON: It’s really been, from the start, from January to where we are now. There has certainly been a lot of changes at the federal level, at the state level here in Virginia. I think it’s one of those to where you’re just continually monitoring what’s going on, what’s the conversation, how people are reacting to it.
At the same conference that I went to, that I heard the representative talk about AI, I heard a former leader at an institution. It’s at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. FEMA Robowski. He retired. He’s renowned for steering students into the STEM disciplines. They go off to get their doctorates and PhDs, MDs in the STEM discipline.
And so he gave some words of wisdom that I think a lot of college leaders and just in higher education really think about is that it’s one of those things to where higher ed, we’ve been in similar type situations. We do need to see who’s gonna stand out and who’s going to really advocate for what’s important.
And what’s important is the students. How are we impacting our students? So I think that just seeing what’s happening at the federal and state level is ongoing, especially with our latest election results in the governor’s race. You know, that means it’s gonna be change at the state level beginning next year.
So it’s one that is kind of ongoingly eye popping, but it’s one of those to where it’s happening. And you know, I guess the former governor, Doug Wilder, always says, stay tuned. And so I guess that for the next couple years, stay tuned.
HAYA: So what was your one word? Stay tuned.
DR. WILSON: Well, that is two words. That is two words.
HAYA: Yeah. We gotta do that. Yeah. So it will be like, very interesting. No, I would say interesting is my one word.
DR. WILSON: Yeah. That’s fitting. It sounds inclusive.
HAYA: Dr. Wilson, thank you so much for joining us today and for sharing such an insightful perspective. Like I said earlier, we are just scratching the surface on having this conversation about the evolvement of generative AI and technology becoming more and more ingrained in every aspect of not only our lives but also graduate education. As we’ve heard today, the world of higher education is constantly evolving, but the essence of graduate education and learning remains the same.
It’s about cultivating human relations, curiosity, resilience, and purpose. The rise of AI and automation doesn’t diminish the value of advanced education. It challenges us to redefine it. Graduate education is not just about earning degrees or mastering content, it’s also about learning how to think critically, work with other people, communicate thoughtfully, and apply knowledge in ways that uplifts communities and drives innovation.
As we approach the holiday season, we here at the Graduate School wish you a restful and joyful time off. A chance to pause, recharge, and reflect on all that you’ve accomplished this year, personally, professionally, and academically. Whether you’re wrapping up your first semester, finalizing your last, or finalizing your research, or even preparing for new opportunities ahead, remember to celebrate how far you’ve come.
From all of us here at the VCU Graduate School, thank you for being a part of this community of scholars, creators, and change makers. We look forward to sharing more conversations, inspiration, and growth with you in the new year. Until next year, this has been Grad Pod. Happy holidays and take good care.
CREDITS:
Grad Pod is produced by VCUs Graduate School. Haya Hamid is our host. Our producer and editor is Grace Albirtton. Our theme music was composed, performed, and recorded by Austin Sellek and Claudia Andrade, students of Felipe Leitao, assistant professor of Composition and Sound Design at VCU School of the Arts.
Do you have a question for us? Email us at grad school@vcu.edu and we may answer your question on an episode.
