Most people in education know the problem but few talk about it. Academia plods along with its research while tech races ahead with the next big thing. Dr. Melissa Patton has spent years with feet planted in both camps, watching the disconnect play out. Once an adjunct at a community college in Des Moines, she climbed to Dean and Chief Academic Officer before jumping into the startup world. Now she’s on a mission to tear down the wall between these two worlds.
Understand the Cultural Divide
Anyone who’s worked in both education and tech knows they run on different clocks. Dr. Melissa saw it firsthand. “Academics move slower. We measure things differently. We understand and synthesize things differently. We’re concerned about student outcomes,” she says, remembering her university days. Then she flips the coin. “But as someone that supports founders, CEOs in a fractional COO firm, I realize they also have a cultural divide and that is about pace, it’s about disruption.”
The gap isn’t just about speed though. It’s about language, priorities, even how they see the world. One side wants peer-reviewed perfection. The other wants to move fast and break things. Dr. Melissa doesn’t sugar-coat it – these differences are real. But here’s where she gets practical. The solution isn’t choosing sides. “I think we can’t talk about understanding the cultural divide without really understanding that cross-functional collaboration and bringing both teams together, product developers and academics,” she insists. “I know that sounds crazy. That is how we bridge that divide.”
Make Research Actionable
Talk to any professor about research and watch their eyes light up. Talk to a startup founder about academic research and watch them check their watch. “In academia, research is king. We can’t live without research,” Dr. Melissa points out. “But we often under-utilize research when we talk about it from the educational technology component.” Her team tackles this head-on. They’re wrestling with a looming problem in STEM education that perfectly illustrates the disconnect. “We already know by the year 2030 in the world of space and STEM, we aren’t going to have enough people to fill the roles that are out there. That’s a huge problem,” she explains.
Most tech companies would jump straight to building a solution. Dr. Melissa pumps the brakes. “Instead of saying, how do we fix this problem and go straight to the solution, we have to work the problem,” she argues. This means digging into data from institutions, stakeholders, and other sources before writing a single line of code. The result? Something neither side could create alone. “It’s brilliant, it’s exciting, it’s refreshing to know that educators, academics, as well as innovators, company owners and founders can do research together.”
Create Shared Metrics for Success
Ask a Dean and a CEO what success looks like. You’ll get wildly different answers. “In the academic world, we’re looking at dissertation opportunities like teaching excellence and outputs from professors,” Dr. Melissa explains. The tech side? Growth metrics, user numbers, and funding rounds. This disconnect in measurement creates constant friction. Dr. Melissa’s solution cuts through the noise. “What if we were both looking for the same answers? And what if we use KPIs, key performance indicators, as our roadmap to get us from point A to point Z?”
It’s not about forcing academics to think like entrepreneurs or vice versa. It’s about finding common ground in the data that matters to both sides. “Together, academics and innovators will be collecting the same data that we need across the board and use those metrics to inform success,” she says. The stakes couldn’t be higher. With education technology booming but educational outcomes still lagging, something has to give. Dr. Melissa’s closing thought cuts through the complexity: “We need to stop treating academia and innovation as opposing forces. Instead, let’s treat them as partners in progress.” After years watching both sides talk past each other, maybe it’s time we listened.
To connect with Dr. Melissa Patton for more insights, follow her on LinkedIn or visit her website.
