Change in Higher Education: Understanding and Responding to Individual and Organizational Resistance

In many fields, the ability of educators and practitioners to cope with rapid change is essential to sustained success. In veterinary medical education, as in other scientific disciplines, meaningful change is challenging to achieve and subject to resistance from many individual and organizational norms. Individual concerns often relate to fears of instability or uncertainty, loss of current status, or effects on individual time and workload. Sources of organizational resistance may include a conservative culture, fierce protection of current practices, and prevalence of disciplinary or territorial viewpoints. In academia, especially in scientific or medical fields, individuals appear to be strongly independent and conservative in nature, and generally skeptical of educational change. In this environment, a highly participatory process, with regular communication strategies and demonstrations or evidence that supports proposed changes, can be useful in facilitating change. An understanding of the nature of complex change, as well as of the reasons underlying resistance to change, and some methods to overcome these barriers are highly valuable tools for educational leaders.