Slippery solutions: the power of exploring contradictions.

“I’m tired of hearing about problems; I want to hear solutions”

- leadership statement in a recent meeting.

In 2014 I had the privilege of wrapping up a Masters degree focussed on Adult Education. In my final project I critically engaged the idea of indigenization in post-secondary education in BC. This term has become embedded within the lingo of post-secondary, along with another slippery term: decolonization. In summary, I had some basic (maybe even naive) questions such as: if a post-secondary institution is named after an early White Settler explorer, or after a territory owned by the Hudson Bay Company (one of the original corporations) - can it really be said to be indigenizing?

It’s not a question I can necessarily answer as a White settler male living on Indigenous territories. However, I do enjoy exploring questions that can travel and present puzzles and paradoxes.

A contradiction is often defined as “a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another.” Or, “a person, thing, or situation in which inconsistent elements are present.”

The etymological roots of this word, are rooted in the Latin word “dicere” which means ‘to say; to speak’. With the preceding “contra”, which means ‘against, in opposition’. The Merriam-Webster dictionary outlines that the word means: “a proposition, statement, or phrase that asserts or implies both the truth and falsity of something.”

We are all surrounded by contradictions. They can be dangerously safe; monstrously small; cleverly stupid; ruggedly handsome; and so on. There is power in contradictions; the ability to explore opposing ideas in one’s mind at the same time. The friction created between contradictions can result in new shapes taking form - a transformation, so to speak.

However, contradictions not explored, can be slippery and treacherous. A un-critiqued contradiction might be like a used car bought with no mechanic inspection; a contract signed with out reading the content; an investment purchased with no research.

Returning to the statement above that I heard this week from a senior leader in the public sector, I could not help but reflect and identify an shiny contradiction. It’s right there in the definition of “solution”.

The MW dictionary defines “solution” in a few ways including:

(a) an action or process of solving a problem; and, (b) an answer to a problem.

See the contradiction?

It can be near impossible to come up with a solution, without knowing what the problem is. Let’s say for example, that I tell you the “solution” is: 22.

Your response is probably: “Great! what was the problem?”

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In the world of post-secondary - and many other public sector organizations - there are many meetings, reports, and commitments to ideas of decolonization and indigenization. Yet, many individuals continue to ask, for example: “what does that mean?” “how do I know if I am engaged in decolonizing?” and so on. (future post to come).

There is another term that also tags along with these complex and contested terms: social justice.

I have used it myself - including in my doctoral dissertation. As I critically engaged the term, I came across an academic paper in the Nursing literature that explored many fields trying to define the concept of social justice. Buettner-Schmidt in the 2011 paper: Social Justice: A concept analysis provided this synthesis:

- Social justice is defined as full participation in society and the balancing of benefits and burdens by all citizens, resulting in equitable living and a just ordering of society.

- Attributes of social justice include: (1) fairness; (2) equity in the distribution of power, resources, and processes that affect the sufficiency of the social determinants of health; (3) just institutions, systems, structures, policies, and processes; (4) equity in human development, rights, and sustainability; and (5) sufficiency of well-being.

- Consequences of social justice are peace, liberty, equity, the just ordering of society, sufficiency of social determinants of health, and health, safety and security for all of society’s members.

Comprehensive, however, setting up another contradiction (or paradox) - that social justice is both a product, and a process. Similar paradox as a ray of light - both particles and waves; but neither can be seen at the same time.

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So here’s a curious contradiction I have been puzzling through.

BC post-secondary institutions face challenging fiscal environments whereby the funding provided by the Provincial government does not meet the operating costs of the institutions. Not even close. Thus, institutions charge tuition fees for most courses and programs. However, the cost of tuition is lower for a domestic (from BC, Canada) than it is for an International student (from outside Canada). In many cases the cost of tuition for an International student can be 3x to 4x more than domestic.

Curiously, the definition of tuition is: “the price of or payment for instruction.” The etymology of the word suggests it comes from Latin tuitionem: "a looking after, a caring for, watching over, protection, guardianship.”

In most cases, International students at many institutions are in the same classes and programs as domestic students, receiving the same instruction; however, paying vastly more for the same instruction. This does not go unnoticed by students or by government institutions. The provincial government is pushing for more transparency on International tuition fees.

Added further to this, in BC, domestic tuition increases have been capped at 2% per year for a long time. However, the same restrictions do not exist for International fees. In many cases, post secondary institutions might increase domestic tuition fees by the capped 2% per year; yet, increase International tuition fees by over double that at 4% or more per year.

The result of this is a growing reliance in many institutions on International tuition fees to meet potential budget shortfalls. In many cases the budget shortfalls can be due to the fact that wages for unionized and other employees grow by more than 2% per year. Also, consider this in light of recent headlines about inflation.

The result of this, is that each year many post-secondary institution’s budgets heavily rely on tuition fees (e.g. revenues) from International students. If each International student pays a fee that is equivalent to 3 or even 4 domestic students; then why not expand significantly in a global market? (some might ask)

As with many things; there are some complexities to the matter. However, the result is that in some institutions, tuition revenues are now dominated by International student fees, even though they may be a minority proportion of the overall student body. In some cases, International tuition revenues may represent 50%-70% of the overall annual tuition revenues in a post-secondary institution; yet international students may be 20%-30% or less of the overall student population.

The question is, with this sort of imbalance, what happens if International travel shuts down (think C-19)? Or, if international students are predominantly from one geographic region, what happens when there is geopolitical instability in that region?

A drop in International students may pose fundamental annual budget deficits for BC post-secondary institutions that have developed a reliance on international tuitions. The result can be austerity budgets as a result - impacting domestic and Indigenous students at the institution, or planning to attend the institution. This is without exploring the concept of, for example, what does it mean to be a community-based institution - like a “community college” or a university created through local community investment.

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Let’s return to questions of social justice and reflect upon the above - does this seem appropriate and just? Is this a ‘just ordering of society’? If post-secondary institutions become heavily reliant on annual tuitions from 'International’ sources - is this decolonizing? Is this indigenizing?

Problems, and “wicked problems” require multi-strategy efforts to address. And… proposed solutions generally require some understanding of the problems that arose in the first place.

One component of Indigenization, offered up in resources developed through the BC Campus Open Resources - Pulling Together: A Guide for Leaders and Administrators - suggests:

Indigenization acknowledges the invisibility of Indigenous Peoples within post-secondary institutions and the absence of Indigenous knowledge within institutional frameworks. To address these gaps, Indigenized institutions will seek Indigenous voices in educational decision making and maintain partnerships with local Indigenous communities, organizations, and institutions while being responsive to these communities’ aspirations of self-determination.

My point here is that generally one’s “solutions” most certainly depend on the “problems” to be solved. In the case of international student tuitions, maybe the issue that gets the most focus is a financial one? Pardon the pun… but at what cost to other priorities and potential ‘solutions’?