For a better future
Today fast-growing countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China are investing heavily in education and expanding their economies when developed countries such as the U.S and European are actually losing global market share and becoming less competitive. The simple reason is the declining in enrollment of students in science, technology, engineering as more and more students are studying business, stock market, finance with the hope to make money quickly. Very few understand that today technology is the seeds of innovation, the key of competitive advantage that enable economic growth. Without it, what do you have to offer?
The 20th century started with the industrial revolution which is a direct result of scientific researches and inventions in Europe. The U.S reaped most of the benefits as European countries were too busy fighting two world wars. The 21st century began with the acceleration of information technology which is a direct result of scientific researches and inventions in the U.S. However, as countries such as India and China reaped the benefits, the question remain on how do the U.S and European countries maintain their competitiveness and ensure high standard of living for their citizens? How do they increase exports to global customers and create more jobs at home? That is not easy because many people in developed countries have adopted a complacency attitude and believe in making money by “Creative” financing and stock trading which brought in the global financial crisis. While countries like India and China are putting their best and brightest students into science, engineering and technology programs, the number of U.S. and European students graduating with engineering or science degrees is still decreasing, even when they have the best universities and training programs.
With globalization, things can happen very fast and unexpected. A small event can trigger big consequences so to survive in this highly competitive world, no matter where you live, you need to have a global perspective to maintain your competitiveness. As students, it is important to track market trends, technology trends to know what is “Hot” and what will be “Hot” and what is “NOT so hot” so you can focus on your studies and prepare for your future. Basically all business that operates globally will be dictated by the law of “supply and demand” so you need to know what skills are in high demand today and the next few years as well as what skill is no longer needed as technology changes quickly. A graduate student may soon find that he is NOT competing with other graduates in his country for job but with every graduates in the world because with globalization, there is NO border to protect you.
It is absolutely critical that we address the issue of education and the readiness of our students. I am sure many of you already know that today all global technology-based companies are facing a critical skills shortage. This is a global issue because no single nation can produce enough talent, or knowledge workers to meet today’s marketplace needs alone. As technology is still the source of innovation and job creation, we can NOT ignore the fact that the world needs more technology workers and country that have the highest skilled workers will be in much better position. I want to emphasize that currently the whole world is having a technology skills shortage, NOT a labor shortage.
More than anything, we need to improve our education, especially in science, technology, engineering and math. We need to get everybody, governments as well as its citizens to engage in strengthen our education system, we need to develop more teachers to develop a new generation of technology students. This is urgent and we can NOT continue to discuss, debate, argue on how to change the archaic education system. The opportunity has a short duration as many countries already moving ahead with their actions and we can NOT afford to be left behind. As I travelled in China, India, Sri Lanka, and Africa to teach, I have seen so many classrooms full of students eager to learn in both big cities as well as small villages. I have seen several students share one old text books, old computers, and everything they could get hold of to learn something. I have seen classes in places where the temperature reached 34 degree Celsius but students did not seem to mind. I have seen classes at night, under a few dimly lit lamps, where students who worked in the fields during day time come and study. They all know that, their future as well as their country’s future depending on their knowledge and skills.
There is one fact that no one can deny which is in today’s global economy, jobs are created only through innovation and educated workforce. In the near future, jobs will be most plentiful in countries where there are plenty of skilled workers. With globalization, jobs will to go to where skilled people live, NOT that people have to go where the jobs are. Today, no country can sit on the sidelines while other nations are improving their economies by having a better education systems. An aggressive and competitive education policy will help economic growth and create more jobs but actually it is up to each of us, as educators to provide our students with the best education possible. We, as educator hold the key of our nation’s future and it is us that must overcome the challenge that we face today to build a better future.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
