Learning Lab Director Lark Park, who has known Mitchell Stevens for more than a decade, caught up with him after the launch of the Learning Society on Stanford’s campus in February 2026. This conversation is about why he launched it, a brief history of the policies and forces that have shaped education and workforce, and what the revolution or evolution of a Learning Society might look like in the future.
As AI ushers in a fourth industrial revolution and universities face the onset of the demographic cliff, what does the future of higher education look like?
In this episode of Ideas Matter, WashU’s Sandro Galea, dean of the Bursky School of Public Health, and Stanford University’s Mitchell Stevens discuss how higher education reached this crossroads and what kinds of institutional changes need to take place in order to create a more equitable society.
Nearly 16 percent fewer adults started college for the first time this fall compared to the previous year. Some say the change represents rightsizing after an enrollment boom, but others say it’s a reversal worth keeping an eye on.
This report details findings from a two-year, mixed-methods study examining how low-wage workers and community college students navigate their careers, including how they access, interpret, and use education and career information.
Aron Kuecker thinks the economics of higher education are broken. As CEO of Hope Chicago, he’s on a mission to fix that.
Jun 2, 2026 12:00 PM PT
Accelerator Faculty Affiliate Mitchell Stevens talks about an initiative to rethink learning so that Americans can prosper in the wake of technological change and lengthening lifespans.
Every era of technological transformation brings the same urgent questions: What happens to jobs and the people who hold them? What does it mean for those just beginning their careers? Today, AI is forcing us to confront these questions again, and with even greater urgency.
To address them, Jobs For the Future (JFF), Stanford Digital Economy Lab, Stanford Accelerator for Learning, and the Stanford Center on Longevity convened leaders across education, philanthropy, industry, and government to design strategies to help early-career workers access quality jobs and advance their careers in the age of AI. A key emphasis for the day was on cross-sector collaboration…
By Allison Wiley, Stanford University
The case that AI is already stealing young people’s jobs is based on a statistical mirage.
Their anger goes far beyond the recent rise of unemployment and the looming threat of A.I.