Research Centre for Education
and the Labour Market
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated
Rolf van der Velden
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Two topics
• What are the main developments on the labour
market for HE graduates and how is this related to
skills?
• How are these skills related to graduate’s
employability?
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
How does the world of work for HE
graduates look like? Findings REFLEX
• International: 40% firms has an international
scope
• Competitive: 85% firms in private sector faces
strong competition, mainly on quality
• Innovative: 70% of firms engaged in innovative
activities
• Insecure: 50% graduates experienced
reorganisation since start of work
• Professional: strong emphasis on professional
role of graduates
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Main developments and related skills
• ‘Knowledge Society’ -> professional expertise
• ‘Risk Society’ -> flexibility
• ‘ICT revolution’ -> innovation and knowledge
management
• ‘High performance workplaces’ -> mobilisation of
human resources
• Globalisation -> international orientation
• Changes in economic structure -> entrepreneurship
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
1: ‘Knowledge Society’
• Facilitated by: globalisation and ICT revolution
• Post-industrial society: primacy of theoretical
knowledge
• Knowledge most important factor in sustaining
competitive advantage
• Demand for knowledge workers
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Skill: Professional expertise
• Key characteristic of knowledge workers: tasks are
complex and involve unstructured decision making
• Different aspects:
– Specific body of knowledge
– Expert thinking
– Reflectiveness and analytical thinking
• From novice to expert? 5-10 years of experience!
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
2: ‘Risk Society’
• Concept introduced by Beck, 1992
• Closely related: ‘Transitional labour market’
(Schmidt, 2000)
• Distinction between core labour force and flexible
counterpart
• Employability and life-long learning: need for
flexibility
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Skill: Flexibility
• Ability to deal with uncertainty and cope with
changes
• Ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge and skills
• Not just passive but active
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
3: ICT revolution
• The driver of most other developments
• Technological change is skill-biased
• Polarisation of labour market
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Skill: Innovation and knowledge
management
• E-skills: medium- and content-related
• ICT also changes the characteristics of most
existing skills
• Not just digital skills, but also innovation and
knowledge management
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
4: High performance workplaces
• Customised production and fast product renewal
• Less hierarchical levels, more autonomous teams,
delegation of responsibility to lower levels
• Strong implications for skills
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Skill: Mobilisation of human resources
• Ability to effectively use one’s own and other’s
human capital
• This involves:
– Interpersonal skills
– Self-management and organisational skills
– Strategic skills
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
5: Globalisation
• The world a global village (McLuhan, 1962)
• Made possible by the ICT revolution
• Globalisation affects the trade levels, production
processes, information flows and the
competitiveness of the market
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Skill: International orientation
• Fast flow of information, products and people from
different cultures
• Not only foreign language proficiency, but also
intercultural skills
• HE has become more internationally oriented, but
the world even more!
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
6: Changes in the economic structure
• Decline of traditional manufacturing and growth of
service sector
• Growth of SME’s
• ICT major role in small firms’ success
• SME’s key role in innovation and thus in generation
of new jobs
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Skill: Entrepreneurship
• Ability to recognise the commercial value of an idea
and to pursue opportunities to turn this into a
successful product
• Entrepreneurship not the same as self-employed
• Usually regarded a weak point of HE
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
The relation between these skills and
success on the labour market
• Professional expertise most important for success
(even when working outside own domain!)
• Mobilisation of human resources also important
• International orientation important for career
• Digital skills are basic, but innovation and
knowledge management not always rewarded
• Functional flexibility not rewarded in itself
• Entrepreneurship needed in certain types of jobs
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Choices to be made in HE
• Time is limited, so we need to ask:
• Is HE the most efficient environment to develop
these skills?
• Are these skills more important to develop than
others?
• What is the minimum level that everybody needs to
have?
• What is the optimum mix across students?
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Conclusions
• ICT is the major driving force behind other
developments, such as knowledge society,
globalisation etc.
• ICT does not only lead to new digital skills, but also
changes the characteristics of most existing skills
• Main challenge for education:
– Make choices about what and when
– Make good and effective use of ICT
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Sheets panel discussion
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
Challenges for education
• Task for education and teachers is unprecedented:
never before was so much expected
• Main challenge: good and effective use of ICT
• Not only a goal in itself but also needed for other
challenges, such as:
–
–
–
–
dealing with individual differences,
the need for flexibility
the need for life-long learning
decreasing resources
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
ICT and education: developments
• Curriculum: Open content, simulation and virtual
reality systems, authentic tasks
• Staff: communities of practice, distance teaching,
intelligent tutoring systems
• Assessment: diagnostic systems, automated
scoring of text, instrument development
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
But there are major hurdles
• Students more ICT-savvy than teachers: over 40%
of teachers do not feel confident enough to teach
ICT skills
• Even students are not very well skilled in contentrelated ICT skills, like information-processing skills,
logical thinking etc.
• Lack of vision on how education can and should
develop and how ICT fits in
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012
Research
Research Centre
Centre for
for Education
Education
and the
the Labour
labour Market
and
Market
What needs to be done?
• Infrastructure is not enough, nor can
implementation be left to the ‘lone wolf’
• Balance needed between vision, expertise, digital
learning materials and ICT infrastructure
• First and foremost: professionalization of teachers:
– School’s budget for training (10%)
– Act Occupations in Education (Wet BIO)
– Role of professional associations
21st Century Skills for Higher Educated, Brussels, March 26th 2012