Earning a
degree in a major field of study may not be sufficient to qualify new graduates
for good jobs in the future. Most likely, according to the results of a new
survey, students will need to take a blend of educational programs to prepare
them for employment as well as lifelong learning.
The survey,
conducted by the Pew Research Center and Elon University, asked 1,400 experts
in higher education, research, government, and technology fields about the type
of education that will be developed to properly train a massive workforce in
the next decade.
More than
70% agreed new forms of education would probably emerge to teach the required
skills. That wouldn’t spell the end of traditional higher education, but
students would supplement their regular courses with more hands-on training and
online content aimed at honing specific skill sets.
“Plenty of
respondents foresee potential for alternate credentialing systems,” noted a
summary of the survey in Campus
Technology.
The survey
also identified a number of impediments to shifting to such a scenario,
including lack of funding, reluctance of leaders to institute change, pushback
from current workers who need retraining or updated skills, and ongoing
difficulties in teaching competence in soft skills.
