CNBC ran an interesting article; "Forget free college. The future of the U.S. workforce depends on a higher education worth paying for."
The following three points Jimmy shared were alarming.
Approximately 918,000 unfilled I.T. jobs were listed in the U.S. over the last three months, as tech job postings continue to rise.
By 2030 the global demand for skilled workers will exceed supply by more than 85.2 million workers. This translates to $1.748 trillion in lost revenue for U.S. companies or roughly 6% of the economy.
Remedying the issue will require providing an education that aligns the interests of schools with not only their students but future employers — and hold higher education accountable for the practical results of its graduates.
I looked into the latest news in higher ed and found this article that gives us hope:
The article is called Bill calls for free college and doubling the Pell Grant by Higher Ed Drive, published yesterday (Busta, 05/21). (Links to an external site.)
This article demonstrates the federal stimulus into the Pell Grant and making the two-year higher education free for students. This bill comes amidst loan fraud and unfulfilled job expectations of higher education institutions. This bill, called The College for All Act (Links to an external site.), will create a free college experience for families earning less than $125,000, eradicating the burden of debt from graduates - a leading cause of college dropouts and college-opt-outs. This bill will also rectify the under-delivered skilled workforce as highlighted by Jimmy in points 1 and 2.
The third point in Jimmy's article, that places the responsibility of creating employability in graduates is something only the higher education leadership can address. How can higher ed create "future-proof" skills in students? The PCRN (Perkins Collaborative Resource Network) promotes the following skills required by employers: Click here to see the list. (Links to an external site.)
In my opinion, integrating the employability skills criteria in an institutional learning outcome curriculum will not be sufficient. The main implementers of any quality curriculum are the faculty (Ornstein & Hunkins (2013)). Training and professionally developing faculty will ensure that students graduate with employable skills. For example, the Workplace Skills like Collaboration, Resource Management, Systems Thinking, and Technology Use - all call for teaching with technology. In my observation, higher ed faculty need professional development in technology integration in their lessons and courses. And this is one training solution! Several other solutions in the form of a Faculty Development Curriculum Plan can be created to implement a quality higher ed curriculum.
References
Bill calls for free college and doubling the Pell grant. (2021, April 21). Higher Ed Dive. https://www.highereddive.com/news/bill-calls-for-free-college-and-doubling-the-pell-grant/598836/?mkt_tok=MTgwLUxTVi02NzIAAAF8mPWnzRxw5NGSwgrMrWRE-qFAyPZMdDcI67agLbWp88A_mD4zJv4eJ_DWF1e9N432c5TutYSeqfiP04fwGvPLSoVEbeQFwg6zvfIXDMq7RSlCHgQ (Links to an external site.)
Ornstein, A. C., & Hunkins, F. P. (2013). Curriculum: Foundations, principles, and issues. Pearson Educacion.
PCRN: Employability skills. (n.d.). Perkins Collaborative Resource Network. https://cte.ed.gov/initiatives/employability-skills-framework
Comments