A New Age
Technology and innovation are becoming ever more important to any entity’s economic health. One can easily list new technologies that pundits predict will “change the world” in the coming decades. From advances in biotech to quantum computing, the world is becoming ever faster-paced as the pace of technology invention and adoption speeds up.
But such a rapid pace of technology adoption comes at a cost to many. In the rush to remain “competitive”, there are many people and businesses that cannot keep up with the pace. As a result, these people have been left behind as the world around them moves forward. One only has to look to the rust belts of the world to get a sense of how formerly prosperous regions can become areas of poverty due to changing economics and technology.
What is needed are policies that foster flexibility and adaptation among the workforce. Workers must be equipped with the tools to quickly adapt to an economy that is changing ever faster. In turn, a flexible and capable workforce is a great draw for entrepreneurs when they are determining where to locate their businesses. As the global economy becomes faster-paced, and as the knowledge economy replaces the old labor-based one, the effective provision of education and training will be the key to driving sustained economic growth.
Trending towards Knowledge
It has become almost cliche that better education is the key to a prosperous future. However, as technology’s importance for productivity increases, this cliché is likely to prove to be true. Education was already becoming increasingly important for workers throughout the 20th century as the industrialized economy took shape. A 2006 study published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that, except for miners, laborers as a proportion of the workforce declined across the board. Instead, the population is increasingly employed in professional and managerial positions.
This trend towards knowledge work continues into the 21st century. Any company that wants to survive in the digitized economy must be able to tap into the new emerging supply and distribution chains. Silicon Valley is the poster child of the increasingly technological orientation of the economy. However, productivity tools incorporating computers and automation are appearing in even the least likely of places. Traditionally labor-intensive industries such as agriculture now use high technology to improve productivity and yield. From aerial photography to automated planting machines, farmers increasingly use technology to improve crop yields and quickly bring their products to market.
Education for the future
It is becoming clear to employees and employers alike that lifelong learning will become necessary in a world dominated by technology. But how to provide this education is a point of contention. Politicians and industry leaders have criticized traditional universities and colleges for failing to keep up with industry needs. Allegations against universities include an over-emphasis on technical and research training rather than professional and industry skills, teaching outdated methodology and technology in their instruction, and focus on theoretical research over actual industrial applications.
Benefits of Traditional Education
These accusations against traditional education institutions do have some merit, but only to an extent. Universities and colleges provide foundational knowledge for students. This foundational knowledge may not be immediately applicable to a specific job a graduate will fill. However, this knowledge does shape how these graduates will solve problems when presented with them.
We must recognize that a solid foundation is beneficial for graduates to be more adaptable when facing unfamiliar problems. For example, if a person must solve an unfamiliar math problem, the person who has taken a more advanced math education is more likely to be able to solve it. Not only would that person have a larger tool set, but her familiarity with similar problems may also assist her to arrive at a solution. In contrast, a person who has not undergone advanced math training will take longer to solve the problem just due to their smaller toolset and unfamiliarity with similar cases.
Furthermore, especially regarding universities, they are research hubs first and foremost. A university’s primary responsibility is to undertake research that is unlikely to generate immediate profit. Nevertheless, society deems the research to be overall “beneficial” and worth the cost. Universities also offer a relatively non-competitive environment where researchers can gather and exchange ideas. Exchanging knowledge is crucial for innovation and knowledge dissemination. By contrast, businesses are less likely to offer environments that are conducive to such kinds of research. Businesses may not see value in investing in research that cannot be immediately commercialized. The competitive environments in many businesses also slow down information sharing and dissemination that takes place naturally in academic settings.
Problems and Reform
Nevertheless, this “traditional” education curriculum is not working very well if its purpose is to supply capable employees. In addition to the previously mentioned criticisms, the many years required for a traditional education program is not something many can afford. For this reason, a new type of shorter and more affordable degrees should be implemented to complement the traditional universities and colleges.
These new degrees should place more emphasis on career training and re-training. This is because the targets of these certifications will be broader than new high-school graduates. Unemployed workers and students from underprivileged households should have the option to take job-ready training should they want it. Additionally, the shorter time span of such programs facilitates lifelong learning for workers. This is a crucial trait in an economy where technology seem to become obsolete in a matter of years rather than decades.
Fortunately, many education and institutions have recognized the need for these shorter certifications. Education institutions are increasingly offering various forms of “micro-credentials”, which are becoming more common in the education landscape. It will be interesting to see where such developments will lead to. Hopefully these micro-credentials will lead to a more adaptable and skilled workforce more aligned with today’s fast-paced world.
Government Intervention
Governments must be a stakeholder in the transformation of the education system to include the new career-oriented education programs. Governments should be involved for two main reasons: cost and stakeholder relationship.
Meeting the Cost
First, the cost of implementing a new type of degree is high. Like all education systems, funding must be found to be able to meet the fixed costs. Fortunately, throughout the 2010s the cost of providing such infrastructure has fallen thanks to the internet. However, internet-based courses are still no substitute for physical infrastructure. The availability of physical infrastructure is even more important for programs targeting industries that require hands-on work. Without hands-on practice, the graduates of a purely book-based education will remain subject to second-guessing by their employers.
Government Stakeholder
Secondly, the government must be a stakeholder in a country’s education system and coordinates with other stakeholders from both industry and education. Government, industry and education must effectively coordinate to create an education system that can effectively retrain people with the best practices developed and tested in business environments. Government involvement also provides quality assurance that counters some of the quality issues faced by private education platforms that currently operate in this area. For example, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms remain not credible to many businesses. The wildly varying quality of courses on some MOOC platforms such as Udemy also harms the prospects of MOOC platforms becoming an accepted method for delivering education and training.
For these reasons, governments must offer some form of quality assurance and footing the bill for these new credentials to become credible. The process should be similar to the recognition of higher education degrees. Without government participation, efforts by just the industry and education providers to develop a new type of education system will take considerably longer and will be less universally recognized.
Looking Ahead
Technical proficiency will be as crucial to sustainable development in the 21st century as literacy proficiency was essential to the 20th. This need for a more educated workforce is not only due to the technology industry. As technology becomes ingrained in almost every industry, technical literacy becomes even more important for workers to adapt to a global economy that is changing faster and faster. Workers must be increasingly able to adopt new technologies and be flexible in using different work processes to survive in the new environment.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the key to facilitating the development of a high-quality workforce is to create an infrastructure that facilitates continuous re-training. Only through such a system can a country’s workforce continue to grow with the needs of the global economy and remain competitive. To develop such a system will be expensive. It requires expansion in physical infrastructure, number of education-related employees, and engagement with the industry to always teach the most up-to-date technologies and methods. For these reasons, governments must contribute to the development and building of this new system. Without government intervention, areas such as the Rust Belt and the run-down former industrial areas will only grow and fuel resentment among its inhabitants.
References
5 out of 20 fastest-growing industries from 2019 to 2029 are in healthcare and social assistance: The Economics Daily: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020, September 4). The Economics Daily. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/5-out-of-20-fastest-growing-industries-from-2019-to-2029-are-in-healthcare-and-social-assistance.htm?view_full#
Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Frankiewicz, B. (2019, November 19). 6 Reasons Why Higher Education Needs to Be Disrupted. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/11/6-reasons-why-higher-education-needs-to-be-disrupted
Kerr, B., & Fuller, J. (n.d.). Udacity’s skills play: Closing the loop on demand and supply. https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/podcast/Pages/podcast-details.aspx?episode=17120021
Stackhouse, J. (n.d.-a). Farmer 4.0: Agriculture’s Skills Revolution. https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/farmer-4-0-how-the-coming-skills-revolution-can-transform-agriculture/?utm_source=event&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=ent_farmer4 Stackhouse, J. (n.d.-b). Shopify’s Harley Finkelstein on the Future of Tech Talent. https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/rbc-disruptors/