In universities across the world, faculty members are busy redesigning curricula for the age of AI. New programmes are emerging, assessment methods are being rethought, and educators are under pressure to ensure that graduates possess the skills needed to thrive in an increasingly automated economy. These are important conversations. Yet, after years of teaching university students and observing the anxieties of younger generations, I have come to believe that we may be focusing on the wrong problem.

The greatest challenge facing education today is not a skills gap. It is a hope gap. Recently, during a faculty development workshop, a senior academic leader posed a series of important questions: Why do students come to university? Why does business education matter? Why does our institution exist? His conclusion was compelling: skill development should be at the heart of what universities do. I agreed, but only partly. Skills matter. However, before students can acquire skills, they must first believe that doing so is worthwhile.

Today's students have........

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