Katie Vander Ark
73 million young adults are graduating from college unprepared for the workforce and currently looking for jobs. Sebastien Turbottakes a closer look at the increasing global unemployment rate of young educated adults and discusses programs that are aiming to serve this population in his piece titled Education-Employment; Boost Skills, Bridge the Gap.
Turbot highlights how French President François Hollande has made plans to boost the local economy country wide. Plans include boosting training, education and level of qualifications for workers. Recruiters are realizing that technical and job related knowledge is more important than degrees. French companies prefer if their students arrived equipped for the open jobs, and students are questioning their ROI on investing in a traditional education if they are graduating unprepared for the workforce.
Regardless of steady graduation rates from elite universities around the world, a majority of students surveyed have said they feel unprepared for the job market that they are entering. Why? Because once in the job market, more than 50% of new graduates around the world say that they were unhappy with their chosen field of study.
And the end is not in sight. According to McKinsey & Companyon current trends, the global economy could face a potential surplus of 90 million to 95 million low‐skill workers and a shortage of about 38 to 40 million high‐skill workers by 2020.
Turbot points to new innovative models of education that provide more life-long learning opportunities and what Dr. Tony Wagner refers to as the seven survival skills:
- Critical thinking
- Problem solving
- Collaboration
- Agility and adaptivity
- Initiative and entrepreneurship
- Communication
- Curiosity and analysis
Many global innovative "learn by doing" programs are highlighted in this piece. Many of the programs have an efficient practices to not only teach students how to absorb information but what to do with the knowledge once it's obtained.
- Injaz Al-Arab: Emphasis on internships and entrepreneurship
- Fundacion Paraguaya: Creating financially self-sufficient schools
- Me and MyCity: Learning concept based around entrepreneurship, economy and society
- Big Picture Learning: Schools focused on personalized learning plans. Read more on gettingsmart.com from guest author Chris Johnson about students expectations of school.
- Minerva: New undergraduate model where students gain a global perspective by living in 7 cities around the world for 4 years.
- Thiel Fellowship: Gives $100,000 to young students leave school and spend two years pursuing a new innovative idea. Gayle Allen, Chief Learning Officer of BrightBytes interviewed four recent Thiel Fellows to learn more about their entrepreneurial mindset.
Sebastien Turbot is the Curator and Director of Global Programs at the Qatar Foundation's World Innovation Summit for Education.
About "GenDIY"
eduInnovation and Getting Smart have partnered with The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation to produce a thought leadership campaign called Generation Do-It-Yourself (GenDIY)- how young people are hacking a pathway to a career they love - on The Huffington Post and GettingSmart.com. This campaign about reimagining secondary and postsecondary education and career skills will explore the new generation building a global economy and experiences that are impact driven and entrepreneurial. For more on GenDIY:
Katie Vander Ark is a Senior Development & Strategy Consultant with EduInnovation. Follow Katie on Twitter, @Kvanderark.