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I’ve always felt very lucky to have spent most of my working life as an academic. The space to read, think and educate others as well as myself has been a joy but last week I found myself sympathising with my more junior colleagues and the pressures they’re facing today. This is not because a university career isn’t still a relatively privileged life but because like so many environments, universities have undergone huge and often unsettling changes. While today student fees and pensions dominate the headlines, these issues have surfaced after several years of governments trying to create a market economy in higher education. We all appreciate that as large civic businesses, universities need to balance their books. But we should also be careful that universities don’t end up becoming governmental projects where academic freedoms, independence and creativity, the very soul of a university, become increasingly difficult to realise. At its heart we are torn about what a successful education should look like. Phrases such as learning for learning’s sake have perhaps always meant little when coming up against the necessity of securing a good job, career and financial prospects. But even if this question has no definite answer, we shouldn’t stop asking it. Because a good education is always about more than acquiring knowledge. All learning is a moral endeavour, and education isn’t just about information but also formation. Higher education should affect how we take the world in, how our knowledge allows new ways of thinking and feeling. In essence like any worthwhile pursuit, a good education should be about the transformation of the self and the betterment of society. And these goals aren’t limited to subjects or disciplines, the often false division between science and technology and the arts and humanities. As I sit here at Glasgow university where I began my academic journey, I’m reminded of how years ago I was criticised by some Muslim communities for teaching rather than preaching – yet over the last 20 years, I’ve realised that universities too are sacred spaces – they allow us to reflect sometimes quietly sometimes in conversation. For some of religious faith, questions and doubt are troubling, to be condemned but even a quick glance into Islamic history shows that the greatest Muslim scholars of the ancient world emphasised learning. Many struggled with their own faith as a result but the moral imperative to seek knowledge in the multiple quranic commands to reflect, to observe, to consider, had greater appeal. Our universities remain some of our greatest institutions and while they should train the young for a good job, I personally think they must also play some part in preparing the young for a reflective life.